Camping on Mt. Kita

The view from my tent-site.

My second, and final, adventure of the summer was going camping in the South Japan Alps with my boyfriend, Takeshi. (Yes, you read that right.) He loves mountains and hiking more than I do, so in August when he finally got more than 1 day off, we headed for Mt. Kita, the 2nd highest mountain in Japan (behind Mt. Fuji). Because I’ve been harassed by bronchitis since June, I figured climbing Mt. Kita would probably not be in my best respiratory interests, so I settled for 3 days of camping while Takeshi headed up Mt. Kita for his first over-night back-packing trip….which he unfortunately had to do by himself. Nothing like trial by fire! But the good thing about hiking in Japan (depending on how you look at it), as you might remember from my Fuji blog, is that you’re almost never actually hiking alone, even if you’re the only person in your party; you and 200 of your closest friends on the trail.

View towards the peak of Mt. Kita.

Anyway, there’s not actually much to report, but wanted to share the photos, because the Japanese Alps are definitely beautiful, and make a fantastic get-away from the summer heat in the lower altitudes.. The whole trip was pretty low-key and uneventful, except for the helicopter visit to the mountain the morning Takeshi was supposed to be coming down, which is, of course, never a good sign on a mountain. Luckily it wasn’t for him.

Closer-up of the Mt. Kita peak area...always shrouded in clouds. Yes, that white spot is snow!

The weather was beautiful until our last night (bits of rain here and there and VERY windy). While Takeshi was on the mountain, I mucked about in and around the river next to the campsite, and because in the end I couldn’t NOT hike at all while I was there, I did a short bit of the trail up the mountain. The day after Takeshi’s return I made him play Anah’s river-stomping roll and hike with me all the way up the river (IN the river) to a rock dam.

View from the dam back down the valley towards the camp-site area.

The only saving grace for having to return to society was the final week of the Olympics. :-)

P.S. Sorry, I didn't happen to take any photos of me or Takeshi during this trip, so you're just going to have to wait. ;-D