Mostly Japanese Mountains: Low and local Hikeling to Mazukari and Komyo in Tokyo (Repost from March, 2021)

(Blogger lost this so I'm reposting it.)

This day I wanted to take advantage of the warmer weather and ride my bike a bit as well as go hiking. Over these past several months while snow has made bicycling less attractive, I've been going farther from home and taking much longer hikes in higher elevations. This trek was a return to my roots in a way; combining riding and hiking in places closer to home. It was a few years ago that I got really bitten by the mountain bug and it was making trips like I did today that hooked me.

I remember one day that was particularly pivotal. Occasionally I used to go on what I used to think of as long bike rides (10 miles or so) to the local tourist area. One day on one of these trips I made a split-second decision to turn onto a gravel road. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but it turned out to be really something. That road happened to follow a beautiful stream--and there was nobody around. Eventually, the gravel road became a dirt trail. That eventually became a footpath. I got off the bike and followed the footpath. Soon enough, I found myself on top of a mountain! It was really a eureka moment. That was the beginning of my discovery of the intertwining networks of maintenance roads, logging roads, bike trails, hiking trails and forest ranger roads of the Japanese forests. I have loved these discoveries so much. Since then I have been on a kind of mission to hike or bike every trail, path, road or street.

There is so much beauty to be seen and shared and much, if not most, of what I've been blessed to see is not in the guidebooks.

Since I returned to the roots today and was biking before hiking, I thought I would show a picture from my apartment before getting on the bike. (I love the views from our place. Not only are the mountains beautiful, but when I see the mountains in profile, I am reminded of so many good times with my family or friends on particular mountains we've been together.)

This picture is from later in the morning from a spot between the two peaks I visited. The low visibility is a bummer. I've seen as far as Izu Peninsula from this spot.

This is the bike portion. My place is on the east. The mountains are to the west. That long, brown patch to the north northwest of our place is Yokota USAF Base.

This is on the way. I didn't bother taking pictures on the way, but much of the trip is along the Tama River which is lined with cherry trees. Absolutely beautiful at this time of year. The lighting yesterday just wasn't good enough to get pictures that did them justice though.

This is a recreational business on the Akigawa River called Jurigi Land. You can rent a spot for the day to have a cookout. I took the picture just because I like the Easter Island figure. It weighs 6 tons. (https://10-rigiland.tokyo/ Opens on April 2. Nearest station is Musashi Itsukaichi.)

This is the hike for the day.

My bike is parked on the bottom left of the screen next to the Yozawa River. It's a popular place for fly fishing trout. The building with the green roof used to be an elementary school. Like many other schools, it's fallen into disuse because there aren't enough kids. :-( Now it is used as a kind of experiential nature museum.