Ganbaeksan, North Korea

Ganbaeksan 2162m, is a range on the Baekdu-daegan in North Korea. It is part of the volcanic plateau in Samjiyon-gun, near Paektu-san. The area is protected and uninhabited. There are old pathways that were used as routes by locals and before that the partisans during the Japanese occupation of Korea. A beautifully harsh mostly waterless environment the anti-Japanese partisans built their fly camps in forested valleys around secret springs. Due to an inability to move undetected over an open volcanic plateau, the Japanese forces rarely tried to enter the valleys and forests of this region as they knew scouts would be on the high ground and the partisans could set up an ambush or evade capture.