Weekend Hike

Friday night, we enjoyed a night on the town. We tried to go to a monthly flea market at Toji temple in southern Kyoto, but we didn't really get there in time. (I got to see them closing up, and I also got to see a gaggle of very disappointed Italian tourists.) But Renee and I still had a nice dinner and finished with an hour of karaoke.

Saturday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from my sister. I hadn't spoken with anyone in my family for over a month, and it was really great to talk to her! Sugoi desu ne!

Later on Saturday, we hiked up the hills near our house to see the view from one of the characters from the Daimonji festival we went to last month. It was a hot and sticky afternoon, so it took about three times as long going up as coming down. We have a friend who runs -- runs! -- up this hike every morning. We barely survived, although on a cool morning we might have done better. It was hazy, but we still got a great view of Kyoto! At the bottom, we treated ourselves to some delicious black sesame ice cream.

I want a T-shirt...

that says "I survived the Northern Japanese Alps!" to commemorate our incredible weekend hiking trip!

According to Rieko's guide book, the hike we took was supposed to be for beginners, but it was quite difficult. Maybe alpine hiking beginners are supposed to have wings or something to fly over the crazy parts where you need to crawl up and over very steep rocks using your hands and feet so that you don't plummet to your doom. ;)

The first day was sunny, breezy and clear. We had amazing panoramic views and saw abundant alpine wildflowers. There were also several raicho sightings. Raicho are cute birds and are also called "Thunderbirds" because they (usually) come out only when it is overcast and according to legend protect people and buildings from fire and thunder.

The second day was a great challenge. The weather shifted and it was rainy, cold and windy. Clouds and the mist were on the trail, so it was kind of spooky and dark. We kept joking that we were on the "path to Mordor" from Lord of the Rings.

Pretty crazy way to start my hiking career, huh? Kind of like starting to run with a half-marathon or something. :) But, I'm sold. I hope we can go back again! I feel like it was a real achievement.

Domo arigato gozaimasu to Chris and Rieko for being such patient friends in handling my new-hiker "jitters" and lack of proper hiking boots. You guys are AWESOME!

Hiking in the Japanese Alps...

That's what we'll be doing for the next two days. We'll hopefully get good weather, and hence, good pictures.

Provided, of course, that the bears don't eat us.

Note to Easily-Worried Mothers: This is a Colbert Report reference, and you should not actually worry about us being eaten by bears.