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This is Page 2 of 4 - the best of July 2009!
posted: July 31st, 2009
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This page starts with July 11th at 8:31 AM and goes through 1:26 PM, the continuation of the July 10 - 12 climb of Mt. Yatsugatake in Nagano Prefecture. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

July 11th Continues From Page 1 (at 8:31 AM)
  Okay, here we continue with July 11th and now it's 8:31 AM. You can see that it's starting to clear up. If you look closely back up the trail you can see two people with orange rain gear on. We are now getting close to Mt. Yokodake (2,829 meters = 9,281 feet). In the 2nd photo if you look closely you can see a faint Brocken Spectre (a rainbow around Kazuya's shadow). The sun is coming out behind us, our shadows are on the clouds in front of us and for some reason a rainbow is formed around the shadow. The 3rd shot is a rock which suddenly appeared out of the clouds - amazing!
Jul11_Yatsugatake005_TrailRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
005_TrailRC
July11th119_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th119_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake013_Clouds_SceneryRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake013
_Clouds_SceneryRC

  Here is a very intense color contrast - the pinkish/reddish against the green. This is Pedicularis apodochila. The 2nd photo is Kazuya at the summit of Mt. Yokodake (2,829 meters = 9,281 feet). The 3rd shot is a more intense Brocken Spectre - an amazing thing to see. It is nicely described on several websites, so if you want to Google it you can learn more. In addition, if you do a Google Image Search you'll find some incredible shots. It is NOT a common occurrence, so we felt very fortunate to see it.
Jul11_Yatsugatake019_Pedicularis_apodochilaRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake019
_Pedicularis_apodochilaRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake021_MtYokodakeSummit_KazuyaRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake021_
MtYokodakeSummit_KazuyaRC
July11th135_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th135_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Here are 2 more shots of Brocken Spectres - we had to wait a few minutes in between each one, as the sun and clouds kept changing and the spectre would disappear and then reappear once again a few minutes later. You can find a larger size JPG of the 2nd shot on the "Special Items" Page, or you can (CLICK HERE) for it (699 KB). The 3rd shot is our first view of Mt. Akadake (2,899 meters = 9,511 feet).
Jul11_Yatsugatake022a_Clouds_Scenery_Brocken_SpectreRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake022a_Clouds_
Scenery_Brocken_SpectreRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake026Frame2_Clouds_Scenery_Brocken_SpectreRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake026Frame2
_Clouds_Scenery_Brocken_SpectreRC
July11th147_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th147_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  The first shot in this row is another shot of Mt. Akadake. The 2nd and 3rd photos show some beautiful Scenery and Clouds and Rocks.
July11th149_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th149_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th153_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th153_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th156_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th156_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  The first shot here is a mountain hut at the bottom of Mt. Akadake. The 2nd shot shows both the mountain (Akadake) and the hut at its base. The 3rd shot shows Mt. Fuji over the shoulder of Mt. Sansha (2,825 meters = 9,268 feet). This is quite similar to the first shot in the next row, but the exposure is quite different. You'll have to look at the larger size of each photo to determine which one you like best.
Jul11_Yatsugatake032_AkaDakeLowerHutRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
032_AkaDakeLowerHutRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake033_AkaDakeRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
033_AkaDakeRC
July11th160_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th160_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  This is quite similar to the third shot in the previous row, but the exposure is quite different. You'll have to look at the larger size of each photo to determine which one you like best. The 2nd shot shows Kazuya on a ladder - one of several which we had to climb or descend on our hike. There were also several places where a slip was sure death - these places had chains which a person could hold on to for a feeling of security. The 3rd shot shows some scenery from the ridge.
July11th161_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th161_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake037_MtSansha_KazuyaRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
037_MtSansha_KazuyaRC
July11th171_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th171_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Here is a beautiful shot with red, dark blue and white flowers showing in it. Such amazing colors. The 2nd shot is looking back at Mt. Yokodake as it gets clear back that way. The 3rd shot is a wonderful shot of Lagotis glauca with some nice mountain scenery behind it. You may say, "oh, flowers, I could care less", but some of the flowers shown here are once in a lifetime sights unless you are fortunate to climb this mountain again.
July11th180_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th180_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th182_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th182_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th187_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th187_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Here are some ROCKS! The 2nd shot is Dryas octopetala var. asiatica and mountains behind it. The 3rd shot is the Yatsugatake Violet (Viola crassa ssp. yatsugatakeana) as seen on Page 1.
July11th190_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th190_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake049_Flowers_SceneryRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake049
_Flowers_SceneryRC
July11th212_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th212_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Here is a beautiful shot of some RED, BLUE, YELLOW and WHITE flowers. The 2nd shot is another flower one with scenery behind the flowers. In 3rd position is a final shot of the Yatsugatake Violet (Viola crassa ssp. yatsugatakeana).
July11th218_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th218_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th232_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th232_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th225_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th225_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  The 1st shot is looking back the way we came from. The 2nd shot here is like a natural bonsai tree on the top of a rock, along with some flowers. The The 3rd shot shows me with my rain gear still on. I see that I have taken off the pants though, so I guess I was still wearing the jacket because it was still rather chilly.
July11th242_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th242_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th234_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th234_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th251_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th251_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Here are THREE shots, all of which show Mt. Akadake (2,899 meters = 9,511 feet). In the first shot you can see one of those "security" chains which I referred to above. In the 2nd and 3rd shots, you can see that there is another mountain hut, right on the very peak of the mountain.
July11th256_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th256_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake075_MtAkadakeRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
075_MtAkadakeRC
July11th264_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th264_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  The first shot here is a nice scenery photo, also showing Mt. Akadake. The 2nd shot is flowers with scenery in the background. The 3rd shot shows some beautiful purple and white flowers.
Jul11_Yatsugatake079_SceneryRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
079_SceneryRC
July11th338_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th338_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th343_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th343_
YokodakeAkadakeRC

  Now we are hiking back north after going to Mt. Akadake - we are crossing back over the same path and we are finding different things because of the clouds earlier. The 1st and 3rd shots here are 2 more shots showing Lagotis glauca and scenery behind the flowers. The center shot is Dryas octopetala var. asiatica and Mt. Akadake behind it. This might be the same group of flowers shown above in row 8, I'm not sure.
July11th357_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th357_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake125_WhiteFlower_SceneryRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake125_
WhiteFlower_SceneryRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake115_Lagotis_glauca_SceneryRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake115_
Lagotis_glauca_SceneryRC

  The first shot is another example of Dryas octopetala var. asiatica with beautiful scenery behind it. The 2nd shot shows 2 people on a ledge below the rock! How did they get there, how will they get down from there? You can't see the entire ledge and rock, but we really wondered how they got there! With a zoom lens we could see that they had a climbing rope, but it seemed that the mountain was too high for the rope. Oh well, they disappeared after 15 or 20 minutes, so I guess they got away. The 3rd shot is a general scenery shot.
July11th383_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th383_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
July11th405_YokodakeAkadakeRC.jpg
July11th405_
YokodakeAkadakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake131_Scenery_MtIodakeRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake131
_Scenery_MtIodakeRC

  Yikes, are the clouds going to return? It's only 1:19 PM, please don't get cloudy again! The 2nd shot is a fine example of a white flowered Dicentra peregrina or Bleeding Heart. We saw only 2 or 3 of the white ones during the 2 days when we saw this plant. And - the 3rd photo is the hut where we stayed last night, we are now getting ready to pass back by that spot. It's now 1:26 PM and we still have some miles to go before we sleep. We started at around 6:45 this morning.
Jul11_Yatsugatake132_MtYokodakeRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake132_
MtYokodakeRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake136_Dicentra_peregrinaRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake136
_Dicentra_peregrinaRC
Jul11_Yatsugatake141_MtIodake_HutRC.jpg
Jul11_Yatsugatake
141_MtIodake_HutRC
End Page 2, but July 11th still continues on Page 3
  This is a link to a separate web page showing some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV.
    February 22, 2009 DVD Collection,
Movie of Home Theater System
& Sharp Aquos TV Pictures
(new window)

Kazuya has updated - his blog and it has some truly exquisite photos of our climbs! Please check it out HERE. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.)

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation of today's magnificent adventure. Go To Page:


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