Welcome to Hike Korea
Hike Korea is a foreign owned company specializing in cultural research and independent travel promotion through photography and writing. Its core philosophy is to brand Korea's image to the world as a travel destination of unique and intriguing discovery. Hike Korea emphasizes strongly the link Korea has with its ancient mountain culture and uses this as its foundation for its empirical studies. Its long term goal is to one day see most of Korea’s wonderful cultural and historical attractions interconnected by a series of national trails that pass through mountains, rivers, valleys, villages, and cities.
Its short term goal is to develop a series of English books and photographic essays on Korea's unique mountain culture. As Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea is a highly experienced hiker with two expeditions to the Baekdu-daegan, (including some sections in North Korea) six completed through-hikes of Jeong-maek (subsidiary ridges more than 200kms in length), and numerous other long distant walks on other ridges, Hike Korea therefore conducts its cultural research with the expeditionary study of Korea's mountain-scape and unique arterial-like topography.
Some of its trail themes are based on the footprints of some of Korea’s most famous heroes from various stages of its respective Kingdom Period’s. These cultural trails are discovered by using a series of old and new mountain tracks that sends the traveler bounding over mountains, down valleys, through villages, along rivers, and sometimes into cities. Along the way the traveler gets to experience pieces of Korea’s transcendent history of indigenous Folk Customs, Shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity.
Outside its larger cities, South Korea is a fusiformed mixture of all of these traditions co-existing against a backdrop of stunning mountain-scape. This is what Hike Korea does; it sets out to discover Korean identity through Mountain Culture.
Latest Reviews/Articles:
- Sojourns in North Korean mountains Jan2012 (Korean only). More links to articles on Literature page.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITIONS OF MOUNTAINS OF THE BAEKDU DAEGAN 2012
Roger Shepherd will be exhibiting 70 images in three separate exhibitions of mountains of the Baekdu Daegan from North and South Korea. The exhibitions are kindly sponsored by KOREA FOREST SERVICE.
Venues and dates:
SEOUL: Gyeongbukgung Station Gallery, Feb 17-22
NEW ZEALAND: Pataka Museum of Art and Culture, Mar03-Apr02
DAEJEON: Government Building Complex, April 2012.
You can view some of the images below. More news and links will follow soon.
Services
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As Hike Korea is highly experienced in the cultural knowledge of Korean Mountain it is also available for guided walks anywhere in Korea. Refer to the Trails page for courses.
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Hike Korea is also a published author,writer, and exhibited photographer. These services are also available for assignments throughout Korea. Go to the Photography page for sellable prints.
“Gazing at mountains I love mountains more
Without me searching the Way finds me”
Stonehouse d.1352
