New Zealander discovers hidden delights in Baekdu Daegan mountain trails

Roger Shepherd, author of the Baekdu Daegan English Guidebook, poses with North Koreans at Sambong in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, in this August 2017 photo. / Courtesy of Roger Shepherd

By Kang Hyun-kyung

South Korea is off the beaten track for world mountain hikers, despite 70 percent of its territory being mountainous.

Few outside the country know there's a 1,400-kilometer-long mountain range with a magnificent view stretched vertically from Mt. Baekdu in North Korea all the way down to Mt. Jiri in the South.

Koreans call it the "Baekdu Daegan," which means "gigantic mountain range" stemming from the namesake mountain in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, to commemorate its significance as a source of Koreans' spiritual strength.

Roger Shepherd, a former police officer from New Zealand who has lived in the rustic southern county Gurye near Mt. Jiri since 2014, said Korean mountains have plenty of hidden delights.
Shepherd, 52, is the first foreigner-- and maybe the first person on Earth-- who has explored all the mountains of the mountain range in both Koreas.

He said Korean mountain trails are tough to walk but lots of nice surprises await hikers to convince them the adventure is worthwhile.

He said Korean hospitality is one of the hidden attractions foreign hikers would discover, noting elderly locals are warmhearted and open-minded.

"Baekdu Daegan passes through some villages. When you hike the mountain range, you have to get more food, so you want to leave the mountain and go down to a village for food," he said during a phone interview with The Korea Times on Monday. "What happens when those foreigners reach the nearby small village is that the local people there really embrace them and the foreigners are always flattered by the generosity and kindness of the old people there."

Foreign hikers will experience traditional Korean food and alcoholic beverages, such as makgeolli, a fermented rice alcoholic beverage, and realize what they mean for the locals, he said.

"Some foreigners become convinced makgeolli is like the super energy drink for Korean hikers. Their reactions are always positive. I think (adventuring in Baekdu Daegan) comes down to the mountains, the village people and the warmth of the Korean people," he said.

The New Zealander said he learned Koreans' perceptions of mountains are different from those of Westerners. While Westerners view mountains as a place to walk for fun, Koreans, especially older ones, consider them something "sacred" that breathes life into humanity.

"Korean mountains are much smaller but they are scenic," he said. "Baekdu Daegan is a natural mountain range and it became a trail, that's quite important. A lot of long-distance hiking trails around the world are manufactured or developed and became hiking trails. But South Korean ones have a natural ridge."

His fascination with Korean mountains encouraged him to settle down in Gurye County.
In his 20s, Shepherd explored African wildlife and national parks for eight years. His adventures to Africa first began as a young traveler and later he became a guest worker-- he served as a ranger in Zambia. So he is familiar with life as a stranger in a foreign land.

His ties with South Korea began in 1999 when he taught English here for one year. He went back to New Zealand and joined the police force there.

He revisited Korea in 2006, initially planning to hike national parks. But he changed his plans after hearing about Baekdu Daegan while mingling and chatting with local climbers.

He was struck by their explanation that, for Koreans, mountains are much more than a place to hike and rather are identified as their spiritual birthplace. Shepherd was determined to tour all those mountains in the South Korean part of Baekdu Daegan. But his plan met a major obstacle-- he was stuck in the middle of the summer monsoon and couldn't finish the hiking. Shepherd went back to New Zealand as his holiday was over, returning to Korea again the next year.

He took longer leave from his employer in 2007 as he had a mission to complete-- he had a plan to hike the mountain ridge and make a Baekdu Daegan guidebook. While touring the mountains with his friend Andrew Douch, Shepherd took photos of information boards and got them translated into English. He brought back them to New Zealand and put them together during his free time.

"Suddenly there was a story about the mountain range," he said. "It was not only about the Baekdu Daegan but also mountains, villages, temples and Korean history from ancient days."

In 2009, he decided to quit his job in New Zealand to follow his heart. He has since run a small business, HIKE KOREA, to help foreigners tour South Korean mountains. His book, titled "Baedu Daegan English Guidebook," was published in 2010. It was the first English guidebook for the mountain range. It inspired some foreigners to explore Korea's less-beaten trails.

Personally, Baekdu Daegan trails helped the New Zealander change his perceptions about Korea.
"Most people have images about South Korea being a kind of an industrious, busy, economic country as the country reminds them of IT, Olympic Games, and football World Cup," he said. "(While working on the book project) I was a little bit amazed by how much Korea had to offer."

He revised the Baekdu Daegan book last year. To finance his book project, he asked for the Korean public to donate through crowdfunding. He posted stories of foreigners who explored the mountain range on Daum storyfunding to convince Koreans his new book project is worthwhile. Money was raised quickly and exceeded his initial goal of 12 million won.

The new guidebook has maps, altitude graphs and an introductory chapter on the North Korean part of Baekdu Daegan.

It came years after he completed the North Korean part of the Baekdu Daegan in 2012.
He explored North Korea's Baekdu Daegan mountains for six weeks. His adventures to North Korean mountains took a little different form from his hiking of South Korean mountains.

There were no trails in the North Korean mountains. A North Korean guide took him to mountains in a vehicle and local North Koreans guided his group to mountain tops. "There was no recreational hiking there, either," he said. On mountain tops, he took photos of the North Korean scenery.

Shepherd said mountains in the two Koreas are quite similar but mountains in North Korea are harder to hike because they are isolated and lack trails.

"Villages and lifestyle in North Korea are much more natural as scenes there are like South Korea when it was in the 1970s or 80s," he said. He visited North Korea 12 times since his first trip there in 2011. He plans to host an exhibition of his photos taken from South and North Korean mountains this year to raise South Koreans' awareness of the mountain range that connects the two Koreas.