 |
posted: July 31st, 2011 |
Go To Page:
|
|
This page begins with July 1st, a trip to Takahata-fudo Temple to view the Hydrangea Blossoms. Then on July 3rd we'll go to Mitake and Mt. Mitake for a day trip. The next - and final day on this page - is July 8th and a trip to Niigata Prefecture and climb of Mt. Ohtake (1,432 m = 4,699 ft) - the first summit of Mt. Sumondake. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
|
| Begin July 1st |
On Friday, July 1st, we took a trip to Takahata-fudo to see how the Hydrangea Blossoms were doing. We last visited there on June 19, 2009, so we were a bit later this year. The blossoms were much better when we visited in 2009 - if you want to compare June 19, 2009 with July 1, 2011, please CLICK HERE to see what it was like in 2009. This time we were also close to the Tanabata Festival - I'm not going to go into detail about what Tanabata is, if you're interested you can Google it, but these colorful ribbons on the streets are for Tanabata. The 2nd shot shows the poster they made for the Hydrangea Festival. The 3rd shot shows the 7 story Takahata-fudo Pagoda off on the left.
|
 July1_02_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_04_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1st_Takahata Fudou003_TanabataRC |
Here is a beautiful blue Hydrangea Blossom, followed by a photo of the Takahata-fudo Pagoda. The 3rd photo shows more Hydrangea flowers - these are pink ones.
|
 July1_17_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_11_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1st_Takahata Fudou007_HydrangeaRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Hydrangea Flowers around the temple.
|
 July1_24_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_20_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1st_Takahata Fudou009_HydrangeaRC |
The first shot here is nearly white in color. The 2nd is a reddish blossom and the 3rd photo shows a mixture of colors.
|
 July1_29_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_31_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_33_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
Here is a brilliant red colored flower followed by me crouched down beside some Hydrangea Bushes - for scale.
|
 July1_37_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1st_TakahataFudou 016_Hydrangea_DanielRC |
In the first photo here you can easily distinguish between 2 types of blue flowered bushes. The 2nd shot is a white flowered one. The 3rd shot is an incredibly colored butterfly.
|
 July1st_Takahata Fudou017_HydrangeaRC |
 July1_48_Takahatafudo _HydrangeaMatsuriRC |
 July1_50_Takahatafudo_ HydrangeaMatsuri_ButterflyRC |
| End July 1st, Begin July 3rd |
On July 3rd we went out to Mitake on the earliest Okutama Holiday Special Train from Mitaka (7:58 AM at Mitaka - arriving at Mitake about 1 hour later). We took the bus to the bottom of the cable-car and then took the cable-car to the top. From there we walked around for an hour or two and then ate our lunch, which we brought with us. Next, we hiked back to the top of the cable car and went down. Then we hiked down to the Tama River, bought some beer at a convenience store and drank beer and ate potato chips with our feet soaking in the cold and clear Tama River. The 1st shot in this row shows a Yama-Ajisai (Mountain Hydrangea). The 2nd shot is an unknown flower - I should know it, but it has been forgotten and I don't want to spend the time to look it up. The 3rd shot is a beautiful wild rose - a Rosa rugosa.
|
 July03_15_MtMitake_Yama Ajisai_MtnHydrangeaRC |
 July03_17_MtMitake _WhiteFlowerRC |
 July03_25_Mt Mitake_RoseRC |
Here are 3 shots of Saxifraga stolonifera, which you can find a nice description of in our book "Outdoor Photography of Japan: Through the Seasons", which is available through this website, through Amazon.com or through your local bookstore - just get the ISBN from Amazon.com and order it at your local bookstore.
|
 July03_28_MtMitake_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
 July03_29_MtMitake_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
 July03_32_MtMitake_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
In 1st position in this row is a Campanula punctata. In 2nd and 3rd positions are shots of a yellow flowered Impatiens noli-tangere.
|
 July03_34_MtMitake_ Campanula_punctataRC |
 July03_39_MtMitake_ YellowImpatiensRC |
 July03_40_MtMitake_ YellowImpatiensRC |
Here are 2 shots as we descended Mt. Mitake via the cable-car. We had never ridden in the back seat before, these shots are looking back up from where we came. In 3rd position is a pink Hydrangea flower which we found as we walked downstream along the Tama River after we got off the cable-car and then hiked to the river.
|
 July03_49_Mt Mitake_CableCarRC |
 July03_56_Mt Mitake_CableCarRC |
 July03_63_Tama River_HydrangeaRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Hydrangea flowers. We were never really aware that Hydrangeas could be found along this section of river.
|
 July03_69_Tama River_HydrangeaRC |
 July03_71_Tama River_HydrangeaRC |
 July03_72_Tama River_HydrangeaRC |
Here are 3 shots of day lilies which were growing along the river. Kazuya identified this as Hemerocallis fulva var. longituba. In the 2nd and 3rd shots you can see the beautiful river.
|
 July03_73_Tama River_DayLilyRC |
 July03_76_Tama River_DayLilyRC |
 July03_82_Tama River_DayLilyRC |
| End July 3rd, Begin July 8th |
Our next outing was on the weekend of July 8th. We took a night bus to Nagaoka, in Niigata Prefecture and then a train to Koide. In Koide the owner of the Inn where we would be staying tonight picked us up and gave us a ride to the trail head to climb Mt. Sumondake. Mt. Sumondake is made up of 3 peaks - Mt. Ohtake (1,432.4 m = 4,699 ft), Mt. Aokumodake (1,487 m = 4,879 ft) and Mt. Hakamadake (1,537.2 m = 5,043 ft). The first shot here is an abandoned Mountain Hut at the start of the trail. The 2nd shot is looking the opposite direction. The 3rd shot is Kazuya, just as we started. It had rained during the night, so the trail was wet and somewhat slippery, but at least it had stopped raining.
|
 July08_002_Sumondake Climb_StartingPointHutRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon002RC |
 July08_006_Sumondake Climb_Starting_KazuyaRC |
The first shot here is a scenic shot. The 2nd shot is a Chamaepericlymenum canadense - a Canada Dogwood. The 3rd shot is a Drosera rotundifolia - a sundew plant. In case you don't know it, this is an insectivorous plant. It is usually found in wetter locations than this area seemed to be. It was surprising to find it here.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon010RC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon013RC |
 July08_013_Sumondake Climb_Drosera_SundewRC |
Here is the flower which we came here hoping to find - a Lilium rubellum - a delicately colored pink lily. This lily only grows in a limited area of Niigata, Fukushima and Yamagata Prefectures. Of course we had never seen it before. So, please expect to see a lot of this flower on the remainder of this page and a few more on the next page. The 2nd shot is another scenic shot and, of course, the 3rd shot is another pink lily.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon016RC |
 July08_021_Sumondake Climb_SceneryRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon037RC |
Here are 3 shots of Lilium rubellum
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon055RC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon058RC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon062RC |
Here is one shot of Lilium rubellum followed by shots of Kazuya and then of me at the summit of Mt. Ohtake (1,432.4 m = 4,699 ft) - the first summit. The bear bell had a very nice sound.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon083RC |
 July08_087_SumondakeClimb _MtOhtakeSummit_KazuyaRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon094RC |
Here is a scenic shot in first position. The 2nd shot is a Lilium rubellum with Mt. Sumondake in the background. The 3rd shot shows you the Mt. Aokumodake (1,487 m = 4,879 ft) and Mt. Hakamadake (1,537.2 m = 5,043 ft) area of Mt. Sumondake.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon090RRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon101RC |
 July08_089_SumondakeClimb _SumondakeFromOhtakeRC |
Here is a beautiful close shot of Lilium rubellum and then 2 shots which kind of show you how abundant it was in this area after we passed Mt. Ohtake.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon114RC |
 July08_090_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
 July08_092_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
And here are 3 absolutely amazing shots of this flower.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon122RC |
 July08_096_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon127RC |
Three more shots of Lilium rubellum.
|
 July08_100_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon132RC |
 July08_103_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
The first shot in this row gives you an idea of the abundance of this plant. The 2nd shot is a 3 shot panorama of the Mt. Aokumodake (1,487 m = 4,879 ft) and Mt. Hakamadake (1,537.2 m = 5,043 ft) area of Mt. Sumondake. This image has been Tone-mapped. The 3rd shot is a side on view of Lilium rubellum.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon138RC |
 July08_104_05_06_TM_Sumondake Climb_SumondakeFromOhtakeRC |
 July08_109_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
Here is a shot showing 3 buds of Lilium rubellum, then an overview of a small area. The 3rd shot is a kind of Day Lily - Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta.
|
 July08_111_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon158RC |
 July08_112_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_medeoloidesRC |
Here is the final row of this page and therefore the final 3 shots of Lilium rubellum. Do not fear - there are only 2 more shots of this flower on the following page. Why didn't I just include one more row on this page?! The final shot on this page was taken at 10:05 AM. The first shot on the following page will start at 10:11 AM.
|
 July8th_Mt Sumon161RC |
 July8th_Mt Sumon162RC |
 July08_117_Sumondake Climb_Lilium_rubellumRC |
| End Page 1, but July 8th continues on Page 2 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this Mt. Sumondake adventure. The final shot on this page was taken at 10:05 AM, the following page will continue at 10:11 AM. |
Go To Page:
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Link to Amazon.com (new window).
We get 2% of whatever you spend if you go to Amazon from this link!! Please shop on Amazon from here.
| If you would like to donate to our hiking & traveling fund or show your appreciation for our efforts you can donate through PayPal. A single donation will entitle you to request a single full-sized photo IN THE DONATION MONTH - which you may then use as a desktop wallpaper or whatever. The copyright will be retained by us and the photo will be inconspicuously marked with the copyright symbol (©), year and photographer's name. (Donation probably not tax deductible.) |