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 friend, Y-san, who introduced me to this group. She is an avid hiker and has climbed mountains in: Nepal, Switzerland, and of course, Japan. She'll travel to Italy this summer to do another hiking tour. Whenever I saw her mountain climbing photos, I couldn't help but say: "I want to do that!"
In the photo below, Y-san helps to make mochi (pounded rice cakes) by boiling them:
~ Culture point ~
In Japan, there is a system called "senpai"[sen - pie] and "kohai"[koh - high], which loosely translates to "senior" and "junior". Seniors are responsible to teach juniors. In return, juniors show deep respect to their senpai, by speaking to them using honorific language, giving gifts, doing small favors, etc. I would consider Y-san to be my senpai, as I really want to learn how to be a serious mountain climber. When we hike together, I often call her "Y-senpai".
You can see the senpai / kohai system in junior & senior high schools, at university, even in the workplace in Japan.
One very amazing hiker prepared these elaborate bento boxes (lunch boxes) for each member of the group -- a total of 10 boxes! Everyone marveled at the selection of homemade pickles, sausages and cheeses.
My bento, provided by hiker, S-san:
After a long lunch and clean up, we began hiking again -- this time, to the summit. I was surprised to find snow along the trail! (It was late January)
See you again soon! ^_^
~ Information ~
Mount Oono is located in Western Kanagawa, close to the boarder of Shizuoka prefecture. A map is HERE.
Access:
From Yokohama:
JR Tokaido line to Kozu, change to JR Gotemba and get off at Yaga station. Cost: ¥1,100 one way ($11)
From Tokyo:
JR Shinkansen line to Odawara, change to Odakyu Line going to Shin Matsuda. Change again to JR Gotemba line getting off at Yaga station. Cost: ¥3,840 one way ($34.80) Travel time: about 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Information about the mountain and hiking in the area is HERE. (Japanese only)
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