Hiking...and fireworks: a busy Saturday

On the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, we hiked up Mount Odake, the highest peak in the Hakkoda Mountains. John and I are so proud of Matthew, who did the whole hike himself! And I am grateful to John, who carried Meghan in the backpack the entire way.


That's a 30-pound pack for 11k with a 1500 ft. elevation gain. My husband is a saint!

I wanted to do the hike to see if I could survive it and to get an idea of what climbing Mt. Fuji might be like in a few weeks. I survived, so I guess we're going to Fuji. Pray for me on August 3. ;)

The hike starts off from the parking area above Sukayu Onsen


in pine forest with lots of bamboo in the underbrush.

The terrain varies along the way from rocky forest


to sulfur-smelly ravine


to a freshwater spring (where we refilled our water bottles and enjoyed our lunch--wish I had taken a photo),

in the swampy meadow (what a relief to walk on the level boardwalk!)


Above the treeline, the trail is very steep, with rocks held in place by metal fencing, and the weather became even more foggy and windy as we neared the rocky summit.

Somebody left his jacket in the car. We didn't hear one complaint, though.

Shinto, one of Japan's two major religions, worships nature. Mountain tops are holy places, and there is always a shrine at the top.


On Odake-san, there are two. The tiny one, above, is at the summit. The larger one, below, was tucked in just below the summit, protected from the strong winds.

The usual offerings of yen coins, sake, and beer.

The only disappointing part of the hike was that it was so misty/foggy at the top of Odake-san that we couldn't see the caldera at all.


The wind was fierce, so we didn't stay at the top for long.

The kids fading off into the fog as they start down.

On the steep descent, the path crossed snow!


John was relieved to find man-made stairs that made his descent with Meghan more stable.

There were lots of man-made stairs,


and a restful downward stroll on boardwalk through much more of the marsh.




We stopped at an observation platform for a snack.


It was a challenging hike on a real mountain with rocks to scramble over,


narrow wood bridges to cross,


and some lovely flora along the way





not to mention the deliciously-scented Aomori pine forest.

At lower elevations, much of the trail was muddy, so we were grateful for the boardwalk!

We met only a few hikers along the way, which I know is different from Fuji. At times, especially as the afternoon drew on (we are slow hikers), we felt as if we were the only ones on the mountain.

Peaceful!

If there has ever been a time to sing the "Te Deum" it was when we reached the onsen again.


We were tired


and not a little bemused by the Japanese teens who appeared to be camping in the parking lot.


But we were not too tired to stop at Lake Towada on the way home for their summer festival. We enjoyed some festival food: yakitori, corn dogs, and potato balls (with no fish in the middle-yay!). We found that we were very hungry for some reason.

We heartily enjoyed the Towada-ko fireworks display, especially because bad weather cancelled Misawa's fireworks on the July 4th weekend.


While we waited for the post-fireworks traffic to dissipate, we enjoyed some delicious, Japanese soft serve.

Matthew remarked today that Saturday night was the first time he can remember actually wanting to go to bed and sleep.