Monday 26 March 2012

(Travel Jeju)Mt. Halla, the highest holy Mountain in South Korea




Mt. Halla which rises 1,950m above sea level is the highest mountain in South Korea.
There is a crater and lake located at the summit of Mt Halla and its name is Baengnokdam(White deer rock lake) and about 40 parasite craters around the summit. A beautiful sight of steep and fantastic rock cliffs are designated in 1966 and 1970 as Nature Monument and National Park respectively, and in 2002 it was designated as a bio-reserve area by UNESCO.
As the peak of Mt.Halla is made of diverse volcanic characteristics, depending on the angle of one's view, one can feel its uniqueness. To the west of Baengnokdam crater, a steep shape formed by basalt lava of high viscosity is found and to the east, low viscosity basalt lava formed a gentle plateau. The south is so beautiful that it is captured in a folktale which states the story of immortals that played in the lake.
 Mt. Halla is also a mountain where fir tree forest is found which is unique of its kind in the world.
At 1,400m above sea level an endemic species of cinder cones including pine trees are grown. It also possesses an outstanding biological research value in the study of cinder cones. Besides this at 1,700m, are distributed 39 different kinds of polar species which play very important part in the study of alpine life such as, jeju weasel, Jeju salamander, women diver snake, etc... are seen in Mt. Halla.
Well endowed with natural resources of scientific values, Mt. Halla is a noted mountain worldwide.