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posted: July 31st, 2013 |
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This page covers a portion of our 3rd trip to Hakuba and the Northern Japanese Alps Mountains. On this page we'll climb Mt. Norikuradake (2,437 m = 7,994 ft), arrive at and spend the night at the Ooike (= Big Pond) Mountain Hut and then start July 6th and continue through 8:03 AM on July 6th. The weather - not so great! Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin July 5th |
On July 4th Kazuya and I took a night bus from Shinjuku to Matsumoto Station. We arrived there at about 4:40 AM and found a place to eat breakfast. Then we took the first train headed to Hakuba, at 6:00 AM. From there we took a local bus, a Ropeway and a Gondola to Tsugaike Kogen. We visited Tsugaike Kogen in the late winter of 2010 when it was very beautifully snow-covered. If you're interested, you can look at those photos HERE (new window or tab) and continuing through about 1/2 the length of Page 3 of that month's photos. Then, we came here for real mountain climbing again in July, 2010 and if you're interested, you can look at those photos STARTING HERE (new window or tab) and continuing through the remainder of that month's photos. Our 3rd time here was in August, 2012 and you can review those photos STARTING HERE (new window or tab) and continuing through the end of Page 3 of that month's photos. So, this is the 4th time we've been to this mountain area, but actually only the 3rd time we've climbed some of the peaks in the Japanese Northern Alps Mountain Range. This time was the worst weather we've ever experienced while we were here! Our first day was "RAIN HELL". Our 2nd day started out fairly decent, but then later on it changed to "WIND and RAIN HELL". The 3rd, and final day started out with us heading off into the clouds and then later on it started raining while we were descending the "BIG SNOW CAIRN" (Daisekkei in Japanese), so it was "SNOW AND RAIN HELL" on that day.
Anyway, The first shot in this row shows a Day Lily (Hemerocallis middendorffii var. esculenta) with Daniel beginning the hike up the start of the trail. This was right outside the building where we exited the Gondola. The 2nd shot shows Daniel tightening his boot laces at the Tengu Hara Marsh area and the third shot shows a Lagopus muta japonica - a Female Ptarmigan. We had never seen a Ptarmigan in the wild while hiking in Japan before this, and then on this adventure we saw a total of 5 of them - one today and 4 tomorrow! |
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For the first 2 hours or so we hiked up a trail which had so much rain water flowing on it that it was a creek! No fun at all. Now it has pretty much stopped raining and I have gotten my camera out. The first shot shows Kazuya with a big smile - it has stopped raining - something to smile about. The 2nd shot is a scenery shot of a pretty much snow covered mountain near Mt. Norikuradake. In the 3rd shot you can see me, still with rain gear on, but wearing a smile. In the background is the Ooike (Big Pond) Mountain Hut - our destination for today.
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Here are 3 more shots which were taken after we passed the summit of Mt. Norikuradake and were getting closer and closer to our destination - the Ooike Mountain Hut. The 1st and 3rd images are both 2 shot panoramas.
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Here are the final 2 shots from this date. The 1st one is the Ooike Mountain Hut, taken using the Vivid Mode of my camera. The 2nd shot was taken from the front door of the Ooike (Big Pond) Mountain Hut - we'll be going up that way tomorrow morning.
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| End July 5th, Begin July 6th |
The first photo in this row was taken at 6:08 AM on July 6th as we were leaving the Ooike (Big Pond) Mountain Hut for Mt. Korenge, Mt. Shiroumadake and finally the Hakuba San Sou (Hakuba Mountain Hut). This photo shows practically everybody who was climbing today - not many people actually. The 2nd photo was taken looking back towards the Ooike Mountain Hut as we ascended the trail. The 3rd photo is a nice shot of Dicentra peregrina - a very early blooming one. We did not see many of this flower on this climb, much to my disappointment, as it is one of my favorite mountain flowers.
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Here are 3 more shots taken looking back at the Ooike Hut as we got higher and higher. The 2nd image is a 2 shot panorama, which is why I said THREE MORE SHOTS. The 3rd shot is one of the four Ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) which we saw on this date. This is a male.
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In first position in this row is a female Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta japonica). This bird was in very close proximity to the photo of the male just previous to this. We assumed that they were a pair as they were hanging around eating only about 4 or 5 meters apart. The 2nd and 3rd shots show Pinguicula vulgaris - The False Violet. It's an interesting flower and we had only seen this flower 2 or 3 times previous to this. In the 3rd shot you can see that there are quite a number of them.
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Here are 2 final shots of Pinguicula vulgaris - The False Violet. In the 2nd shot you can once again see that there were quite a large number of them here. The 3rd shot is zoomed in quite a bit to view the Ooike Mountain Hut, the place where we stayed last night. You can see that there is still quite a bit of ice on the pond.
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The first shot in this row is more zoomed out and again shows the Ooike (Big Pond) Mountain Hut. The 2nd shot shows an example of Schizocodon soldanelloides f. alpinus and the 3rd shot is me on the trail. You'll note that although not sunny, the weather is not bad - not raining anyway.
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The first shot here shows Kazuya on the trail, and you can see that we're heading up into the clouds. The 2nd shot shows Mt. Shiroumadake (right) and Mt. Shakushidake (left). This was the best view of them we had on this adventure. The 3rd shot shows Dactylorhiza aristata (the purple flower) and Anemone narcissiflora (the white flower).
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Here is a Veratrum stamineum in first position - just beginning to flower. The 2nd shot shows Dactylorhiza aristata - an Orchid. The 3rd shot includes both Trollius japonicus (the yellow flower) and Anemone narcissiflora (the white flower).
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Here is a closer shot of the patch of Trollius japonicus (the yellow flower) and Anemone narcissiflora (the white flower) shown previously and then one from a little further away. The 3rd shot is Erigeron thunbergii ssp. glabratus, we did not expect to find this in bloom so early in the season! This photo, the final one on this page, was taken at 8:03 AM - there is still a lot of this day ahead of us!
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| End Page 1, but July 6th 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 adventure beginning at 8:05 AM on July 6th. |
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