Climbing Mt. Hakusan.....

I am so sorry I didn't do my regular update this weekend! I was absolutely stuffed. I had three hours of sleep on Thursday night (stoopid computers), and was on a train to Takayama one hour after finishing work on Friday night. The plan for the weekend was to hike Mount Hakusan on Saturday. The photos in which you see the weather is really nice was actually Sunday. Saturday was a miserable day weather-wise and made the hike a little more challenging...

The photo below is of myself and Megan. In the distant background is the peak of Mt. Hakusan. (on the right, behind the mountain in the foreground... you can see it through the branches of the tree). We walked from where we are standing in the photo to the peak. The hike was 6.9 km one way, and 2.7km high.

This is some of the group which went on the hiking weekend. On Friday night we stayed at a temple converted into a hostel (really nice and warm). Waking at 5.30am on Saturday to depart at 6am was an absolute killer. By 7.30, twelve of us were starting our trek up the mountain.

This is at the beginning of the hike. There was a huge lake, and we were surrounded by the beautiful autumn colours. Of course, I must remind you that this is NOT what it looked like on Saturday. It was grey and murky. We couldn't really see very far into the distance..

The first couple of kilometres was a lot of path and steps surrounded by yellow and red leaves. It was pretty slippery due to the rain. The first kilometre was a little difficult because we went off a bit faster than we should have.

Some of the group had already climbed Mt. Hakusan a few weeks ago and they had explained how gorgeous the view was. This view is the best I could come up with. We would mostly just look into the distance and see cloud everywhere. The steam coming off the surrounding mountains was pretty awesome looking though.

The trees were my friend on the hike. They helped me when I slipped. I slipped quite a lot....

We had a brief rest at the 4km mark. It was really cold and my tracksuit pants were almost around my ankles from being so wet. I was not so well prepared with proper clothing..... About half of the group turned back at the hut because they didn't want to challenge the weather (besides, they had already hiked the trail). After we left the little hut, we came across some snow! It was so exciting to see my first snow in Japan.... we were having snow ball fights and even decided to make a snowman on the way down.

However, the excitment only lasted a matter of minutes.......

For most of the last kilometre to the top, we were knee deep in stupid snow. I was seriously tempted to take my pants off because they were so uncomfortable. My glasses also frosted over so I couldn't "appreciate" the scenery. Prior to the hike, there was a promise of hot ramen (noodle soup) at the top of the mountain. This is what was spurring me on to finish. However, one of the quicker hikers passed us on the way back and told us that there was absolutely nothing open at the top of the mountain. I was so pissed off at this!

So I decided to turn back at the 6.5km mark. Why on earth would I want to continue on to the peak of a mountain which I couldn't see anything from and not eat ramen?! I wanted to call a helicopter to get me down the mountain quickly, but that was not an option. So I trudged down the mountain slipping and sliding. It was first raining, it then started to hail. After that, there was snow which was going horizontal.

However, the last few kilometres weren't so bad, because I knew there was a worthwhile goal at the end! Wating for me was a fabulous onsen (below). It's a natural spring which was on the side of the lake. It was the best thing to do after a freezing walk.

This is the cabin thing that we stayed at on Saturday night. It was weird because they had a couple of bear skulls brewing on a stove in the middle of the room. It wasn't put into our food, so I suppose it was to fragrance the air or something..... We stayed up drinking a bit and having fun with some crazy Japanese guys. I was one of the first in bed because I am turning into a Grandma....

After leaving Hakusan on Sunday morning, Megan and I shopped around Takayama for a bit.

It was good to get a few items bought for presents!!! I was so wrecked on Sunday though. I hit the wall at about 3.30 and was ready for home. It was funny to see all these Japanese tourists taking photos of weird things like eating these rice ball things on sticks.... so I decided to have a photo taken too. Maybe I will know some day what it was that I ate. I think it must be famous for Takayama...

OK, that's it for me tonight. I also went to Ise Shrine last Thursday. I have photos and will post them up maybe tomorrow night. Cya L8R Alligator!!!!