Bouncing Red Ball

So what did you do during the Golden Week?

We had a choice: have a leisurely picnic at a nearby park or hike up a 2,400-meter mountain a hundred kilometers away. We didn’t need to think twice. After we made a final check on the weather, bought raincoats from Joyful Honda just in case and stuffed our packs with provisions and cameras (digital and film, APS-sized to medium format), we woke up one fine morning at 5AM and drove all the way to Chuzenjiko in Tochigi, at the foot of Mount Nantai, ready to start the climb.

I had thought that, with freezing temperatures at night (we planned to sleep on the mountain) and the dubious fitness of the climbing party (not to mention the 10% chance of rain), the misery level of this little adventure would approach that of waiting in line for a ride in Disneyland. Fortunately, even with snow on the mountain (which we didn’t expect — but should have) and our heavy packs (besides the cameras, we brought a tent and sleeping bags) wearing us down; and even with one of us getting leg cramps during the first day, all went well in the end. We climbed up and back down and brought home some really nice pictures.

The photo above is a crop of the original picture taken just below the peak and shows Chuzenjiko (the lake) on the background. Click for a bigger version. Notice we don’t have our day packs; we left them inside our tent halfway up the mountain. ^_^;;

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get colder than this I just got word that it will probably snow tomorrow morning. I can’t make up my mind if that’s good or bad news. Still, the thought of spring brings happy memories of flowers, hanami, and runny noses. The picture above was taken last year and shows two Japanese taking pictures among the tulips near the windmill at Kasumigaura Park.

Mount Fuji picture shot near the Lake Tanuki in Fujinomiya City.

A few weeks ago, I went to Fujinomiya City (in Shizuoka Prefecture just south of Tokyo) with a couple of friends and drove around Mount Fuji to a lake and a waterfall. I have never seen the snow-capped Mount Fuji as close as I have during the trip. I’ve stood on the peak of Mount Fuji before but that was in summer when there’s no snow. I remember when I told an old Japanese friend about the climb he said, “Fujisan is for looking at from a distance, not for climbing.” A non-climber, he probably could be excused for preferring the lowlands but the sight of Fujisan in winter is rewarding enough for many.

It looks peaceful and benevolent from a distance but this is a very dangerous mountain for people who actually have the audacity to climb it in winter. Mount Fuji is officially “closed for climbing” in winter but the truly fanatic mountaineers would hike from its foot (the summer climb starts halfway up the mountain where the bus will take tourists) just to have a go at it. There are many stories of people who have been frozen to death or blown off from its slopes during storms in winter. If you want to experience the harsh conditions of an 8,000-meter Himalayan peak without the astronomical cost of actually going to Nepal, climbing Mount Fuji in winter is for you. As for the rest of us, we’ll probably just admire the view from a distance.

The first sunrise of 2007, on the summit of Mount Tsukuba.

More Mount Tsukuba pictures on Flickr.

It was pretty cold outside — minus 3 degrees celsius according to Yahoo Japan — but we still managed to wake up and leave the house at around 2:00 AM and drive towards Mount Tsukuba (筑波山). The traffic was barely moving when we got to the foot of the mountain and when we reached the torii halfway up, it was already 4:00. We took pictures of the Tsukuba Shrine and the people milling about and then lined up for the cable car up the slope. (Short on time, hiking up was out of the question for us.) When we walked out of the cable car station at the other end, it was only a 5-minute walk to the peak (Nyotai-san, the higher of the two peaks of Tsukuba-san). We managed to get a good place just below the summit before throngs of mobile phone-toting young Japanese came, some of them almost pushing us off the piece of crag we were chilling our butts on.

When the sunrise came, we took pictures (my friend, testing the anti-shake feature of his K10D, took many shots of the sun on the horizon and the surrounding landscape while I took mostly pictures of people taking pictures). On a clear day, Mount Fuji with its majestic snow-capped summit could be seen down south but no such luck today. When it was time to leave, we decided to hike up the other peak (Nantai-san) of Mount Tsukuba to warm up our frosted fingers and toes. On that peak, in front of the shrine, we threw coins, clapped our hands and said a silent wish for the coming year. All in all, not a very bad way to spend the New Year’s Day in Japan; no noise or polluted air, only the mountain and the life-giving sun.