sunset from the lab a couple of weeks agoWork and social life have taken off with the onset of warm weather here.
I finally sat down with my Fujisan buddy and booked the flights to Tokyo- so July 18th me and the Bolivian mountain goat -like friend will be skipping up Fujisan (well he'll be skipping, I'll be gasping and crawling my way up I suspect). With the imminent threat of long grueling climbs approaching I decided to start weekend walking/climbing training.
2 weekends ago I climbed Moiwa yama, which is a really lovely hike in the suburbs of Sapporo- I added an extra twist of taking the long route back and breaking in my new boots and hiking poles
New boots+ climbing mountains= blisters, at least its better to get them now rather than up Fuji...Last weekend, Oyomesan and I escaped the city and headed to Biei in Central Hokkaido. It was great, felt much longer than one night and 2 days away. We stopped off at a sculpture park in Bibai
And stayed in a lovely little pension in the hills around Biei, which had 2 gorgeous retrievers (Nana and Nuts) so I got my dog fix, and 2 goats. We stuffed ourselves on the BBQ dinner they provided, watched the stars from the bedroom window and listen to the birds and cicadas...The weather was great -so clear and sunny, Hokkaido is so beautiful and so green at this time of year
From there we headed to the Daisetzu mountains and the onsen (of course). And (pat on the back) and I did a 9km walk round Shirogane onsen, singing loudly because it was very quiet and very much in the woods which had bear warnings posted... fortunately only birds and deer for company. Maybe the bears don't like Scottish songs (or my singing)...
I met back up with Oyomesan at the onsen, and then headed back to Sapporo.So only 5 more weeks till Fujisan assult... I hope the weather is as good as this...
3 comments:
Ouch, that foot looks painful :/
Good luck with Fuji! I climbed the same weekend in 2005 - be prepared for lots of people. We made the mistake of stopping in one of the huts for a few hours - when we came out there were so many people that it was basically just a very steep, slow moving queue after that. In the sleety rain and winds which had started when we were resting. Up until then it had been quite fun! You have to try and strike the balance right because if you arrive up the top too early nothing is open. Friends who climbed the year after me were treated to an amazing sunrise but had spent the previous 3 hours huddled in a toilet with some American soldiers for warmth!
International relations in a toilet on Fuji! We were going to stay in a hut, but we're not booking it..maybe thats good after what you've said. So did you see the sunrise?
No :( It was still really cloudy so just gradually got lighter so that we could see the masses of people. We did have a lovely sunset though. Hope you have better weather!
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