Family Visit: Days 8

By the eighth day in Japan, my family was getting pretty worn down! But we kept trekking and conquered a mountain, literally. Japan is a country that has many beautiful and scenic mountains. The family really wanted to give mountain climbing a try but Mt. Fuji was closed and covered in snow. So, I took them to the closest and easiest mountain in the Tokyo area: Mt. Takao. It was also a plus that I had hiked there before. We took the train and started our hike around 11:00. I thought it would take us about 4 hours all together about one and a half hours each way with a stop for a picnic lunch at the summit. We took a bit longer than expected to get to the summit but we made it!

We're off!

We made it! Checking out the view!

Triumphantly standing at the mountain top with Fuji in the background.

The hike back down is where things got a bit interesting...We started back down the main path. I knew that there was a temple on the way down but we didn't stop there the last time that I was at the mountain. It was a very large compound with many beautiful temples. It was dedicated to the god who fought the Tengu, a long nosed demon. It was very interesting to see all of these epic statues of the two of them in battle scattered around. The way down was also lined with sacred trees and a lucky octopus statue that we all stopped to touch for luck.

This is the god's shrine

Lucky statue!

A bit of perspective on the massiveness of these trees

After the temple side trip is where things got a bit interesting. We were going down the main path and came across a side path that led to a waterfall. After much debating, we decided to head down into the path. As we went farther and farther down, we started to get nervous. The sun was setting and we were on a path that wasn't even on the map guide. The path was also getting harder and harder. In a moment of slight panic, we split up. My siblings kept going towards the waterfall while my mom and I went on a path labeled as towards the station. In a random act of trail mapping, my mom and I ended up in the parking lot of a hospital. Luckily I was able to ask a bewildered nurse where the station was and I started to head that way while my mom stayed behind to watch for my siblings. As I headed down the road (I was literally walking in the street), I heard my siblings voices. They were on a different path that I could see from the road. I called out to them, grabbed my mom, and we found where their path ended into the street I was walking on. We just kept following the road and finally found the station! *phew* what an adventure!

Mt. Takao hike

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've been busy, busy, busy! But, last week, I had the time to go on a hike up the closest mountain to Tokyo, Mt. Takao. I went with my Tokyo adventure club so it was a lot of fun. One of the things that initially drew me to this opportunity was that it was also a service opportunity. We weren't just hiking up the mountain, we were cleaning the mountain as well! Also, we collected donations to go towards the Tohoku earthquake relief. As soon as I saw that, I really wanted to go! What a great opportunity to be helpful to the community that I am living in!
I met the group at the train station by the mountain as it would have been out of my way to go to Shinjuku and then to the mountain. We found ourselves a partner and we were off! My partner and I ended up at the back of the group so we didn't get much trash to pick up :( But, we had a great time hiking up the mountain and admiring the trees. It is amazing to me how the trees still have leaves in December! Back home, there would be nothing left so I was really appreciating the view! The people who were hiking on the mountain were also very nice! People kept walking by and thanking us for our hard work.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a hike and we made it to the summit in no time. Since it was such a wonderful day, we were able to see clear across to Mt. Fuji. It was a stunning view!

The view

There's Mt. Fuji!

Me at the summit :D

We stopped here and had a picnic lunch. I just brought a sandwich, chips, and an orange. We then started to make our way down to measure which team collected the most trash. On the way down, we did some extreme trash collecting. I tried my hand at it going off the trail to retrieve a bottle. It was difficult and I got dirty but at least I tried! We also stopped at a temple on the way down where I rubbed the statue of an octopus for good luck. It was a very pleasant afternoon with nature!

I hope I get some good luck!

Going off trail a bit to get a bottle

The trash I collected