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posted: July 31st, 2010 |
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This page begins at 6:14 AM on July 24th, as we leave the hut after breakfast and continue our climb towards Shakushidake (2,812 m = 9,226 ft) and Yarigatake (2,903 m = 9,525 ft). Tonight we'll stay at the highest elevation Hot Spring in Japan (2,100 m = 6,890 ft). Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin July 24th, 6:14 AM |
The first shot here shows the Shiroumadake Sansou Hut just as we were leaving, at 6:14 AM on the 24th. The 2nd shot is Thymus serpyllum subsp. quinquecostatus - a type of Thyme! You saw this plant on Page 3 (Oze National Park) too. The 3rd shot shows several Lilium medeoloides Lilies.
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 Jul24_001_ Shiroumadake_SceneryRC |
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The first shot in this row, Tone-mapped, shows some yellow flower against a snow bank! The 2nd shot is Gymnadenia conopsea, enhanced with Shadow Illuminator Pro. The 3rd shot shows this gross group of people coming down the hill and catching up with us - we stop all of the time for photos and these groups never stop except when the entire group stops, generally only for breaks and explanations from the guide. This size group should be against the law! Anyway, you can see that clouds are playing with us - it clears up and then it clouds over again and we hope that it finally decides to get clear and not to get cloudy.
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Here is a huge snow field in first position. We will be crossing this snow field later in the day. As I said on the previous page - this area has Japan's largest permanent snowfields. The 2nd shot is Kazuya at the summit of Shakushidake (Mt. Shakushi) (2,812 m = 9,226 ft). The 3rd photo was taken as the weather cleared up. We were looking to the north and you can see the Sea of Japan just beyond the edge of the land!
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In the first shot we are looking back towards the direction we came from, but we did not cross that particular mountain. The 2nd photo is looking ahead to Mt. Yari (Yarigatake) as we descended Mt Shakushi. We happened to look up and we saw that the clouds nearby the sun were very strangely colored. I have no idea what causes this strange phenomenon - it was kind of like a Brocken Spectre, but it was right beside the sun. I have seen it called "Cloud Iridescence".
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Here is one more shot of that weird cloud phenomenon causing clouds beside the sun to be colored a bit like a rainbow ("Cloud Iridescence"). The 2nd shot is me as we come off Shakushidake (Mt. Shakushi). The 3rd photo was taken only 4 minutes later and you have to note that the clouds have totally disappeared since the previous shot. By the way, that is Yarigatake (Mt. Yari) out ahead of us - our next goal. If you look closely you can find that large group of people out ahead of us.
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Here is another snow field in first position. The 2nd photo is a Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. funstonii var. rebunshirensis - notice how the dots on the flower petals are like a gradation - going from yellow down at the bottom of the petal to orange and then to red as you get closer to the outer edge of the petal. The 3rd photo is Leontopodium japonicum var. shiroumense - A Type of Edelweiss - we also saw this type at Oze National Park when we were on Mt. Shibutsu earlier this month (Page 3, Row #8).
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Here is one more shot of Leontopodium japonicum var. shiroumense - A Type of Edelweiss. The 2nd and 3rd shots are both looking back at Mt. Shakushi (Shakushidake) and Mt. Shirouma (Shiroumadake) as we get higher on Mt. Yari (Yarigatake). You can see the Hut where we stayed last night in both photos.
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Here is a shot looking at Tsurugidake (Mt. Tsurugi) and Mt. Tateyama again. The 2nd shot is a panorama looking back towards Mt. Shakushi (Shakushidake) and Mt. Shirouma (Shiroumadake) as we get higher on Mt. Yari (Yarigatake). The 3rd shot is the summit marker of Mt. Yari (Yarigatake) (2,903 m = 9,525 ft).
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In first position in this row is another shot looking at Tsurugidake (Mt. Tsurugi) and Mt. Tateyama - this time from the summit of Mt. Yari. The 2nd shot is another photo of the Mt. Yari summit marker. The 3rd shot was taken 33 minutes later, as we descended Mt. Yari.
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In first position is one more shot of a large snowfield with people on it - this is also one which we must cross in a while. The 2nd photo is looking back at Mt. Yari (Yarigatake). The 3rd shot is where we turn and head down to the Yari Hot Spring Hut.
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Here is a very nice shot of Dicentra peregrina - Cropped & Enhanced with Shadow Illuminator Pro. The 2nd shot is a nice scenic shot, enhanced with Shadow Illuminator Pro. The 3rd shot is that Kinugasa japonica aka Paris japonica again.
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We have crossed all of the snow fields we need to cross and now we are headed down the final slope to the Hut and Hot Spring where we will spend the rest of today and sleep tonight. The time is only 12:18 PM. We've only been hiking for 6 hours today, but that's enough. We'll be very happy to relax and soak in the Hot Spring several times before we sleep tonight. The 2nd shot was taken by Kazuya while he soaked in the Hot Spring. As you can see, the pool was outdoors, and the scenery was amazing! This photo was taken at 4:39 PM.
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| End July 24th, Begin July 25th |
We got up at 4:00 AM and left as quickly as we could get ready. We had to get down the mountain and get back to Hakuba Station and then back home at a reasonable hour today. This first sunrise photo was taken at 4:40 AM. The 2nd one was taken at 4:43 AM. The 3rd photo was an hour later. We had to cross some huge snow fields, something which we were not aware of. Remember, it was only around 4:45 AM, so the snow was hard. We did not have cramp-ons. It was dangerous as heck and we were scared that we were going to die. As you can see in the photo, if you slip you go sliding down and there is nothing to stop you. We had no means of self-arrest or anything, so we had to kick in with our boots as much as we could and go slowly! Yeah, we were scared, we weren't doing much talking while we were crossing the 3 snow fields which we had to cross.
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Ah, we survived the crossing of the snow fields. Now we are getting pretty low and we are coming across several of these Kinugasa japonica aka Paris japonica plants/flowers. Kazuya took this one to give you a better idea of the size of them. Although the weather is HOT down at this elevation, I am wearing a hat and "turban", gloves and a long-sleeve shirt because we got so very sunburned on the first day that we cannot afford to get any more sun! The 2nd shot is some nice mountain scenery. The 3rd shot is looking back towards the Hot Spring. Amazing how small and insignificant it is on the side of the mountain, eh.
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In the first shot in this row I have zoomed in to the Hot Spring. The 2nd shot is probably Mt. Yari (Left) and Mt. Shakushi (Right). The 3rd shot is a final shot of Kinugasa japonica aka Paris japonica plants/flowers.
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Here is the goal! Now we can take a bus down to Hakuba Station. We started hiking from the Hot Spring today at 4:30 AM. We arrived here at 8:56 AM, a hike of about 4 hours and 30 minutes. It was supposed to take about 3 hours and 40 minutes according to the map. Amazing that we made it so quickly considering those snow fields which we had to cross so slowly. The final shot was taken in front of Hakuba Station at 9:34 AM. Shiroumadake (Mt. Shirouma) is on the right in this photo, Shakushidake (Mt. Shakushi) is in the center and Yarigatake (Mt. Yari) is on the left. And that is the end of this adventure, no amazing photos from the train window or anything.
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| End Page 5, End July 25th, End July 2010's Photos |
Here are links to separate web pages. The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT coverart of all of our DVDs.
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| February 22, 2009 DVD Collection, Movie of Home Theater System & TV Pictures (new window) |
Link to DVD collection in DVD Profiler Click Here. (new window) |
Our DVD Collection Front Coverart Pages Click Here. (new window) |
 Please check it out by clicking on the above button. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.) |
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