As usual, another excellent article. Well written with amazing pictures.
I don’t mind telling you that my recent excursion into hiking was inspired by your site.

Looking forward to more!

Mike

BillyWest – the mountains have plenty of real-life horror stories of their own.. More grim & gruesome than anything Mr King & ilk could ever come up with!!

Hendrik – yup, never a bad thing to curry favour with the gods, just in case. They’ve been around a lot longer than we have.

Peter – I think you’re right, many times it’s more nervous exhaustion than physical that takes its toll. Glad you enjoyed Tsurugi “The Movie”, it had the same effect on me – I can’t wait to get back up there some time this winter when the crowds have gone home. Didn’t realise Kojima found relics on Kitadake too – I’ll have to do some research on that. The relics he found on Tsurugi were dated to the Heian period – amazing to think someone climbed that over 1000 years ago.

Chris – Japan’s a great place for hiking and climbing, I’m proud to be able to share some of it!

Huong – I’m glad you like them! But taking good photos in Japan is so easy, the scenery does all the hard work for you.

In my point of view, i love your articles and specially your perfect pictures of this wonderful landscape, so I`m still waiting for further articles in your blog.

Keep Working

Chris

I went mostly to enjoy the scenery on the big screen and I felt my legs itching to get moving uphill (it’s been two over months!). I didn’t know that there was evidence of a climber on Tsurugi some several hundred years before. I read that Kojima found some iron on Kitadake with a date inscribed from the 1700s.

Reading the account of the climb I have a mixed reaction. On the one hand you and OE seem to have raced across Souuma and Hakuun, which was for me a steady steep climb with careful descents. On the other hand, you make Takamodoshi sound pretty darn scary. I remember it being a challenge with all the vertical climbing up chains and gruelling in the heat of the day. I also clearly recall becoming tired in the brain every time we had to descend by chain because looking at the world from between my feet was something of a novelty that quickly grew old. But in the end it was not that bad. I mean, I did it, and with more of a tired head than a tired body to show for it. It was the same when my wife and I crossed the Daikiretto. Doing it made my brain tired but after having done it I felt I could do it again. But perhaps I am just naive that way. I tend to think that if others do it often enough then I can do it too.

Reading about the helicopter reminded me of a visit to Kurofuyama, next to Asamayama, back in May of 2006. There was an older man down and his wife and a companion were giving him CPR while at least two people stood by with cell phones and were reporting the incident. It was about an hour later before we saw the rescue chopper circle over Kurofuyama and people below pointed off to the trees where the man had collapsed. The chopper circled twice before someone rapelled down. I realized that help takes time to arrive in the mountains.

Great and inspiring habit of visiting the shrine before a climb, hopefully keeps you safe for a long time.

Ichi for the michi, now that’s a saying that I will incorporate immediately into my vocabulary!

Title of a great Stephen King short story.

Do you ever read horror stories right before you trek out? Or, even beside a campfire on top of some mountain?