Snow country
February 19, 2008 | Filed Under Hiking, Japan
“I think the roof is collapsing.”
Kevin’s headlamp shone out from the small opening in his sleeping bag, illuminating the snow cave we’d dug a few hours before, lighting up the ceiling. A ceiling which by this time had dropped to less than six inches away from my face. Pulling on his jacket he slithers out of the shrinking entrance, and I follow. It’s 3a.m. and our lamps sear through the snowstorm outside, freezing the flakes momentarily in their crazed descent. Kevin and Tomoe pull their gear from the cave, pitch the tent and crawl in. I drag my bivy bag outside and smother myself in its warm down, letting the snow cover me and the patter of heavy flakes lull me back to sleep. How deep would it be by morning?
We woke and pushed through waist-deep snow for a few hours the next day before taking stock and deciding to turn around. The storm of the previous night had given way to a cobalt blue sky, but our tracks had been obliterated by another couple of feet of fresh, heavy snow.
“Fifty paces then switch?” Kevin suggested. We took it in turns to lead and break a path through the fresh, before swapping and resting. I managed no more than thirty paces before my thighs gave out in a blaze of lactic fatigue. The snow clung thick to my snowshoes which refused to float on the snowpack. Kevin ploughed ahead on his kanjiki, the traditional snowshoe equivalent of Japan, and pounded the snow into submission.
By nightfall we’d reached the house, and an hour later we were at the local baths, swapping cold waist deep snow for blistering neck deep water. Sakae-mura is a small village, and news of our plans had traveled far and wide.
“So you didn’t climb Naeba?”. No, we’d abandoned that plan.
“Heh, why climb in this weather anyway?”.
That’s the kind of question that can only be answered with a grin and a shrug.
Kevin’s (much better) account of the hike can be found here.
He and Tomoe run One Life Japan, an organization dedicated to tours and programs that provide unique participation in the rural traditions of Japan. What they are doing is both fascinating and important - I’d urge you to take a look.
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12 Responses to “Snow country”
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Oh my goodness - you take the most beautiful photos..!!
And write beautifully, too. I’m so glad you took the time to comment at my place, so I could come visit here. It was a fabulous experience!
Thanks Ika, glad you could come here too!
awesome!!!!!
I like your wonderful photos! I hope you enjoy Japan.
Hey Maco! Thanks for coming by, I’m happy you liked the photos. Japan’s a great country, I’m having a lot of fun here.
Hello cjw,
So AHA! You’re the one Kevin was talking about. How did I never notice your blog before? It’s wonderful! You’ve got some inspiring photography and are a man after my heart when it comes to mountains and being outside. I hope I get a chance to speak more with you. And to meet you while on a walk with Kevin and Tomoe!
Hi Miguel - yes, that’s me! Kevin & I called off the climb up Naeba, but I think we could definitely give it another shot later this year if you’re interested…
Very beautiful photos! I haven’t had a chance to hike up north yet, but I am making an info trip and hike up Mt.Fuji this August. Until then I guess I will keep trudging around Kyushu. I look forward to reading more of your wonderful posts!
Hi Ben - thanks for stopping by, I’ve added your blog to my blogroll and RSS feed, and look forward to reading more about your exploits down south! I really enjoyed the mountains down there when I went last summer, especially Kuju-san - the campsite at the bottom of the south route is one of the nicest (in terms of view and atmosphere) that I think I’ve ever been to.
My blog’s been a little quiet these last couple of months - a mix of a credit crisis, poor weather and moving apartment have kept me out of the hills. I plan to rectify that in April!
cjw, your outstanding photographs and style of writing are truly inspirational. I have been following the updates for a while, and was relieved to see from your Kaikoma post that the “credit crisis” (personal, or hedge-fund employer?) was not permanent.
That was a long, long walk-in from Todai! Were there any footprints along your route, or anyone camping at Kitazawa-toge?
Hi @Hana - I’m really pleased you’re enjoying the blog. The credit crisis (the U.S. one that is) rolls on, but there’s only so long you can stare at the screen waiting for sanity to return to the markets, and in the meantime there are mountains waiting to be climbed…
Kaikoma was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to giving it another crack in a couple of weeks time. I’m actually quite glad that I had the opportunity to walk in from Todai, it’s such a beautifully powerful valley. There were no other footprints (apart from the bear’s…) in either the valley or on the mountain, and no-one camping at Kitazawa-toge. I guess they’ll clear the road up there before GW starts..
The Hanameizan blog is great - I’m looking forward to reading through it properly at the weekend!
Calling your site inspirational was not just a platitude - it really did inspire me to set up (at last, and with much difficulty) a site for my own trips this year, even if it is dull by comparison with your work of art!
Have you roughly planned which peaks you’ll tackle this year?
Thanks @Hana - this site came was inspired by many others (notably bastish.net), so I’m glad that I can keep the chain going and pass on some of the blog-karma (blarma?). I know your frustration about getting it up and running however. I was miraculously lucky with the English version (and mistakenly assumed that all installs were similarly easy), but getting the Japanese version running took almost 2 days and I’m still not convinced that the RSS feeds are quite as they should be…
I don’t have a list of peaks worked out for this year as such, although over GW I’d like to get back to Kai-koma, and see how many of Senjo, Hoo and Kita-dake I can do at the same time. My wife is keen to do Daisen, and we’ll probably do Ryogami as well, as it is near her folks’ place. Mizugaki is also probably on the cards as she enjoyed the climb up Kinpu.
A lot depends on business too - there’s always the chance that I might end up with a lot more free time this year. So it’s not all bad…