Sanuk Canadian

Stories and photos from a late February climb up the backcountry of Mt. Takao, Tokyo's most famous mountain, continue. Part one is HERE . Yesterday's post showed the snow and how most of the hikers in our group used snowshoes to traverse up the mountain. Today's post will focus more on the backcountry trail we used to climb up Mt. Takao. As I mentioned, there were a lot of trees. I often joked that I must be lost...not in Japan, but in Canada! Cutenekko's first snow climb...and loving it! After I got my snowshoes on, my friend took this photo. It felt good to be standing ON TOP of the snow, rather than sinking in it (as was the case for the first 40 minutes of this climb...gah!) This guide, if I translate his name into English is "Mr. Morning". ^_^ He taught me how to put on the snowshoes and also loaned me some proper stocks. Mine had the bottoms missing and as a result, when I hiked, my stocks were just stabbing the snow like some sadistic snow k...

Last Friday, I participated in my monthly mountaineering group's hike. This month, we ventured up the unmarked (meaning, no trail) side of Mt. Takao, perhaps the most famous mountain in Tokyo. While foreign readers may think: a mountain in Tokyo??? Tokyo city itself stretches north, where there are a few mountains. Mt. Takao is easily reached from Tokyo station via the Chuo line, in just under 60 minutes. Many city dwellers venture to this point for a chance to enjoy nature and an easy climb -- if you take the marked trails. Our guides for the day took us to the ugara (back) side of Takao Mountain. What made this climb special was the one meter of snow on the mountain due to two large snowfalls in early and mid-February. After catching a bus from JR Takao station, we arrived at the starting point -- an educational forest camp. A solo hiker checks his map: At this camp, we checked our gear and prepared for the snow climb. I borrowed spats from the guide. It was my first t...

A fun hike up this mountain in western Kanagawa, continues.  Part 1 is HERE . Part 2 is HERE .  After lunch, we headed up to the true summit of Mount Oono.  Oono mountain rises 723.1 meters. Our hiking group got a photo at the summit marker: Mount Fuji can be seen in the background, far left. I found out where the woodworker often carves his little animals. In the forest, just below the summit, I found lots of half finished works: The trail down was quite beautiful, but a little slippery in some spots. We passed over one bridge and many fallen leaves: At the base of the mountain, I was surprised to see tea fields. Usually, tea is grown in Shizuoka, the prefecture next to Kanagawa. For those without a car like me, there is a bus to the base of Mt.Oono, but beware: it only comes twice a day! o_O The sign reads: "Fujikyu Shonan Bus. Tsuburano Entrance" The bus times are: 09.22 & 10.22 | 09.10 & 10.10 At a cafe, advertising for hikers ...

Pictures showing this fun hike in Kanagawa, continue. Part 1 is HERE . After passing the viewpoint to observe Mount Fuji, we continued up. This part of the climb was my favorite. It was like marching through a sea of gold. Golden fields: As mentioned earlier, there were many wood carvings along the hike and were extremely fun to spot. This bunny held a sign which read: "(This point is) the same height as the Tokyo Skytree Tower, 634 meters."  We stopped just below the summit to cook lunch. It was quite windy, but the sunshine warmed me up. From my bench, I had a fantastic view of a snowcapped Mount Fuji: View of the trail among the golden fields:  Each member had been assigned to bring something. I was to bring seaweed, which wasn't much, so I brought along some other things too -- grapes and pickles. One lady brought a whole buffet -- pineapple, pears, mini oranges, various pickled vegetables, avocado. We all ate really well! This is my hiking ...