Last Saturday, the weather was strange. It would rain one moment, and be super sunny the next. We had decided to climb Mount Himekami and although I was having second thoughts about it, Mr. kanmuri was adamant: we were going to climb that mountain no matter what. Once he sets his mind on doing something, there nothing I can do to stop him; all that was left to do was to follow.
Compare to the other mountains in the area, Mount Himekami, with it's 1123 meters, is not really high. That doesn't mean it wasn't rough, tho. At the foot of the mountain, the path winds in a forest of tall straight cryptomeria japonicas. Mr. kanmuri explained to me that this was not a natural forest and that the tree had been planted there because their straight trunks make perfect lumber. Unfortunately, most Japanese people now suffer from allergies due to the trees' pollen.
The path we chose was the Ipponsugi trail (One cryptomeria tree trail) and we soon came to understand the meaning of the name when we stumbled upon a gigantic cryptomeria. I didn't find any signs saying how old it was but it must have been at least 4 or 5 hundred years old.
Funny sign. I think the bunny is trying to put out the fire, but it still looks like a maniac.
Compare to the other mountains in the area, Mount Himekami, with it's 1123 meters, is not really high. That doesn't mean it wasn't rough, tho. At the foot of the mountain, the path winds in a forest of tall straight cryptomeria japonicas. Mr. kanmuri explained to me that this was not a natural forest and that the tree had been planted there because their straight trunks make perfect lumber. Unfortunately, most Japanese people now suffer from allergies due to the trees' pollen.
The path we chose was the Ipponsugi trail (One cryptomeria tree trail) and we soon came to understand the meaning of the name when we stumbled upon a gigantic cryptomeria. I didn't find any signs saying how old it was but it must have been at least 4 or 5 hundred years old.
One cryptomeria tree trail sign.
Dude! It's huuuuge!!
After that, the path did stay in the cover of the treeļ½ but we were soon out of the cryptomeria forest. That was the beginning of my suffering; from that point on, it was going to be stairs only. It did make sense to have them there, since the clay soil was really slippery but it still made the hike a whole lot more difficult for me. Mr. kanmuri, of course, was flying up ahead of me... He has the bad habit of forgetting that I am there when we hike; I always have to yell at him to make sure he waits for me.
Hell's Stairway
Wait for me!!!
Once we finally reached the top of the last flight of stairs, a path becoming ever more encumbered with boulders lied ahead of us. At that point, the trees were significantly shorter and had lost more of their foliage. It smelled of autumn and kinda reminded me of home. I actually really enjoyed that part of the hike. A few meters before the summit, the path disappeared under hundreds of boulder and we had to skip from one to the other to make our way. That was a lot of fun, too.
The view at the top was beautiful. We had a perfect 360 view of the land surrounding us. Mount Himekami is just high enough that we can clearly see everything below. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy for my camera to take a good shot. We were lucky enough to find other people at the summit and so we asked them to take a picture of us. Once again, my camera threatened to die but it survived just long enough for us to get a nice shot.
The whole hike took us about three hours and a half (including our stop at the top.) It is a nice hike, in spite of the stairs, and I recommend you give it a try if you're in the Morioka area.
Unless we climb any mountains in South East Asia, this was our last hike for this year.
Mr. kanmuri likes to do dangerous things to see me worry.
I swear, I didn't mean to push him off the cliff...
The view at the top was beautiful. We had a perfect 360 view of the land surrounding us. Mount Himekami is just high enough that we can clearly see everything below. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy for my camera to take a good shot. We were lucky enough to find other people at the summit and so we asked them to take a picture of us. Once again, my camera threatened to die but it survived just long enough for us to get a nice shot.
The whole hike took us about three hours and a half (including our stop at the top.) It is a nice hike, in spite of the stairs, and I recommend you give it a try if you're in the Morioka area.
Unless we climb any mountains in South East Asia, this was our last hike for this year.
3 comments:
Goodness you two hike and climb a lot, so lucky! Well, luck has got little to do with it I guess.
Love the photos of Mr. Kanmuri being dangerous.
So what is the nanowrimo?
Gorgeous scenery. It looks like you had a great time. I love the fire prevention sign. That does look like one maniacal bunny.
@Ruth: We do climb a lot. Mr kanmuri and I don't have too many things in common but climbing mountains is something we both enjoy. As for Nanowrimo it is short for National Novel writing month. The nanowrimo happens each year in November. It's really simple, the only rule is to write a 50k words novel in one month. I did it last year and it was a lot of fun. Check their website for more info: www.nanowrimo.org
@Margaret: The view made the hike totally worth it ;)
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