Otsuki-shi to Uenohara-shi hike

Greetings cave dwellers.  I hiked from Yanagawa Station to Uenohara Station (on the Chuo Line between Takao and Otsuki) yesterday.  

Unfortunately, I lost my binoculars.  😢😢😢Now I can't 👀as far as I used to.

I'll just put a few pictures up.  Visibility wasn't great, so there aren't many to choose from.  Too bad.  One spot had what would be a great view of Fuji.

This day I was hiking to the south of Koshu Kaido (Route 20) and the Chuo Line for the first time.  This picture is looking north to the other side.  I've hiked these mountains in the picture below before.  

I really, really like seeing places from different perspectives.

Passing through the residential area between the trailhead and the station I was impressed by the flower gardens in private homes.

Next week I am planning an overnight to Kobushigatake.  I am looking forward to that.  It will be interesting to see how crowded it will be during this year's Golden Week.

 

Mountains rock

Greetings cave dwellers.

I had a full day of doctor's appointments this day.  If I were to compare it to car maintenance, I would say they checked under my hood and kicked my tires.  They checked my oil and other fluids ran computer diagnostics and tested my emissions.

I was kind of depressed about this health check because for more than a year my schedule has allowed me to go hiking every Wednesday and I didn't want to break my streak.

On the way home from the hospital I realized that I could get in a short hike if I hurried.  I got home at 3:30, was out the door by 3:40, and on a trail by 4:15.  I was able to get in a few miles and was on my way home not long after dark.  It wasn't as far as I would have liked and there wasn't that much to see but just being in the woods is so rejuvenating.  

I've been on these particular mountains several times but never at this time of day.  The sights and sounds were different at twilight than during the morning or afternoon hours.  The sound of the birds singing around sunset was particularly exquisite.

This area is just a few miles from Musashi-Itsukaichi Station and is accessible by bus or car.  There is trout fishing and camping nearby.  It's near the Jurigi intersection and not far from the Seoto no yu onsen.

Thank God for nature.  Thank you to the Japanese for keeping the mountains clean.

I did this hike during the golden hour but, unfortunately, this area doesn't have many great views.

Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date.  I should have an interesting report next week.

The Glory of Point of Sale Selling/100 Famous Mountains' Swag

Welcome cave dwellers.  Let me tell you about the 100 Famous Mountains.  In Japanese 100 Famous Mountains is written 百名山 and pronounced "hyaku meizan".

In 1964, a mountaineer by the name of Kyuya Fukada wrote a book about what he determined were Japan's most famous 100 mountains.  The content has become a bucket list for many hikers.  The present emperor was hiking his way through all the mountains on the list until he had to give up hiking when he ascended the throne.  (I would have given up becoming emperor if I were given the choice.)

I've climbed 9 of them.  That basically includes most of the ones I can get to for a day trip or, at most, a one-night stay.  I want credit for climbing more than 9 though.   Some of them I've climbed 5 or 6 times.  (Did I say 9?  It's 10.  Of all mountains to forget, I forgot to include Fuji among my list.)

Yesterday I returned to one of the 100, Mt Daibosatsurei.  The lodge at the Daibosatsurei Pass sells a lot of swag.  When I get the chance to do one of the 100 for the first time, I always buy some memento, usually a badge.  I wasn't planning to buy anything yesterday because I already had something.

Some of the things the lodge sells are banners and noren* which list the mountains.  Seeing this, I thought it would be a cool topic for a post and whipped out my iphone to take a picture.  *( Noren are traditional Japanese fabric dividers hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric, allowing for easier passage or viewing. )

When I pointed my phone at the noren, I encountered this sign:

I took the point well.  Since I put so much effort into posting my pictures on this blog, I'm a little sensitive to the idea of stealing images and don't want to do something similar to someone else.  (I hope they don't mind I took a picture of the sign.)

The sign worked.  I bought a banner.  I like it.

You can see each of the 100 listed with their elevations.

This is my badge for Mt. Daibosatsurei.

I get a kick out of the use of the word "EIKO" on this badge.  Eiko translates to glory.  It often makes me chuckle because Japanese like the word eiko and use it at times we probably wouldn't use glory. 

Up it has gone onto the wall of my second mancave.  (As you know, my real mancave is the mountains.)

That's probably my last post for a few weeks.  I can't go to the mountains again for another 15 (but who's counting?) days.  It's just as well.  My hiking boots are at the cobbler for some needed repairs.

Take care.  I hope you can enjoy something beautiful today.

 

Just about the perfect day on Mt Daibosatsurei. 大菩薩嶺

 

Welcome cave dwellers.

One of my favorite mountains is Mt Daibosaturei.

Yesterday was one of my favorite trips up it.

Grab a handful of trail mix and let me show you some stuff.

This mountain has a lot going for it.  Some of the views are really breathtaking and from different parts of the trails, you can see in all four directions of the compass. 

 

This lodge at the Daibosatsurei Pass is one of the many lodges in the area.  There are also family campgrounds and the like in the area.  Many of the facilities are accessible by car and not that far from the mountain so this mountain is family-friendly.  There are also more arduous trails available for more of a workout.  The route I chose yesterday was 20 miles.  It didn't feel that long because it was so much fun!

I bought some swag here yesterday.  I think I will make another blog post about that.

Mt Fuji!

Missed it?  Look again.  Unfortunately, Fuji was playing hide and seek today.

Peanut butter on homemade banana bread.  This bread is really yummy even though it's healthy.  Comment for the recipe.

One of the wonderful things about yesterday's trek was that I didn't see many people.  I don't think I saw more than 10 hikers the whole day.  I felt like I had the mountaintop all to myself.  

This mountaintop is so unremarkable that they didn't even write the name on the marker.  I liked the name, though so I stopped by.  The name is 中指, "Nakayubi", which translates to "Middle Finger" in English.

This is a kamoshika.  It's a serow, in English.  Sometimes they are called Japanese antelope.  I bumped into this guy near dusk.  For all the time I spend in the mountains, this is only the third time I have seen one.

Saturday in the (Japanese National) Park

Greetings, cave dwellers.

It was a great day for a hike so I went back to the same area I went to a few days ago.  Last time I started at Mitake Station and climbed Mts Iwatakeishi and Takamizu.  Today I started on the north side of those hills and knocked off Mt. Kuro on the way.

One thing I appreciate about these mountains is that there is so much variety and so much beauty that the same place can have a completely new appeal on different days.  Taking a different trail to the top of the same mountain gives new perspectives and often offers different types of terrain to traverse.  Today was a bit crisp, almost fall-like, so the views were much better than my excursion just two days before.

This is where I started, Nariki, in Ome City.  Can you believe this is Tokyo?  I love where I live.  I climbed 5 mountains this day and was home by 3:30.

This is an unusual perspective of these mountains.  Mt. Otake has a very distinctive profile when viewed from other angles that doesn't show up from this direction.

Notice Fuji just to the right of Otake.

I took some pictures from this same spot two days previously.  They looked completely different than today's.

I'm really not used to seeing so many people in the mountains.  This is the kind of scene I go to the mountains to avoid.  I had planned on eating lunch here but gave up that idea pretty quick.

I did not invite these interlopers to my mancave.

(All kidding aside, it is nice that people are out and enjoying life!)

Aren't these flowers beautiful?  They are right next to an outhouse.  I guess the grass is always greener . . .

More soon.  Leave a comment.  Leave your email and you'll be kept up when I post.  Have a good day.  

Ps 118:24

Mitake Station~Ikusabata Station; No pain, no gain.

 

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Clive Staples Lewis

Greetings cave dwellers.  Drop your club by the entrance and pull up an easy rock by the fire.

This quote by Lewis was on my mind all day as I hiked.  One of the things I believe we should be grateful for is pain.  Our nervous system is really a gift. But for nerves to alert us to danger, we could bleed to death after nicking ourselves shaving.  Or we might find ourselves trying to stand on a shattered leg after an accident.  

The thing that brought this topic to mind is a headache I had last night.  About 10:30, my head was pounding and, because I know the remedy for me, I dragged myself out of the futon and went walking for a few hours.

I learned that for me the remedy to a headache is to go for a walk through long experience.  I used to get headaches all the time.  When I was chainsmoking and eating McDonald's every day, I got splitting headaches on a weekly basis.  Inevitably when I am walking, I eventually find myself praying.  Then the headache goes away and I can go home and get to sleep.  

I believe God talks to us through all of our pains.  In the case of a cut, the message is, "Get a bandaid."  (That's American for "plaster" for all you Brits.)  In the case of emotional pain it might be, "Stop being so selfish." or, "Forgive."  

In my case, with all those headaches, I think one message was, "Stop smoking, Fatso."  

Another message was, "Talk to me and listen to me.  Let's take a walk together." 

I haven't had those headaches for years.   Maybe because I stopped smoking and I  do so much walking these days.  

Maybe I've learned what those headaches were meant to teach me.

  

Let me tell you about today's walk around Ome.  First, have a look at this perpetual motion machine.  Cool, huh?

I went for a long bike ride yesterday and had planned on not going anywhere today and just taking it easy.  

That plan went out the window as soon as I woke up.  A short hike never hurt anyone, right?  

I started behind Mitake Station and went to Mt Sogaku, Mt Iwatakeishi and Takamizu.  I've been on all of these before but one portion of the trail was new to me.  

It wasn't the clearest day for viewing, but the mountains are always beautiful.

Map at Mitake Station.  

Right around Mitake Station there are lots of touristy things.  Cafes, a hostel, rooftop barbecue, river rafting company.  You can rent a bicycle from a vending machine in the station.

This second-hand store is a few doors down from Mitake Station.  It is awesome.  It is packed with serious gear.

https://www.maunga.jp/

Up the hill . . .

To change the subject a little, I'd like to tell you about the first time I climbed Mt Takamizu.  I was parking my bike at Ikusabata Station preparing to hike up the mountain when I encountered another cyclist who had just arrived by train with his bike for a day of cycling around Okutama.  Since we had the same model bicycle, it was natural to strike up a conversation.  When I told him I was hiking up to Takamizu, he asked "why?"  He said I could ride.

Well, if I could ride it, I didn't see anything wrong with that.  Off I started.  The road was steep but certainly doable.

After about a mile of this, I hit this stairway.  I figured that must be one of the things you have to deal with in mountain biking, occasional obstacles.

I expected it to smooth out soon after the stairs, but it never did.

Never.

Today I walked down this trail not able to believe I had actually carried my bicycle up and down it before.  I know I did that.  I just can't believe it.

I carried, pushed or pulled my bicycle for the last mile or so up the mountain.  It never was rideable after that first staircase but every inch of mountain I pushed that bicycle up was another inch invested in my quest.

If I ever find that other guy again, I might punch him in the nose.

Yes, I pushed it up these stairs, too.  And then farther beyond.  The people I met at the top looked at me like I was insane.

Post Script  I've been telling that story for a few years now.  I still might punch that guy in the nose if I find him, but I have since realized he wasn't exactly lying.  It was on my second or third trip up to this area that I saw there is a maintenance road that reaches near the top of this mountain, but it doesn't go anywhere near Ikusabata Station.

I'll leave you with another gif of the river just because I love these things so much.

Remember to leave your email address to subscribe.  Don't worry about me selling your email address.  I don't even know who my cave dwellers are.  (Lousy squatters.)  

I'd love a comment or two.  I am not sure if that feature works.