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posted: June 30th, 2009 |
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This page begins with June 7th and takes you through June 12th - a climb of Mt. Takao for the annual viewing of Dendrobium moniliforme orchids and a trip to Hakone. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin June 7th |
On June 7th Kazuya and I went out to Mt. Takao to check out the status of the Dendrobium moniliforme orchids. They were out, but unfortunately so were the crowds of people. We couldn't believe the number of people. The second photo shows the crowd right at the trail-head. This made it impossible to set up the camera tripod and concentrate on getting great pictures. This year Kazuya did much better than I did as far as capturing the flowers, and for that reason most of the pictures below are taken by Kazuya.
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 June07_MtTakao04_Dendrobium _moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan014 _CrowdRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan023_Dendrobium _moniliformeRC |
Here are 3 more photos of Dendrobium moniliforme and note that all 3 of them were taken by Kazuya. You must keep in mind that these orchids are up high in the huge old cedar trees - they are not something you can get down on your knees and concentrate on, unlike most flowers. One must try and zoom in on a branch of a cedar tree 75 feet away and at an angle which cranes your neck. It's a much easier task when using a tripod, but using a tripod was out of the question this year.
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 June7th_TakaoSan027_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan030_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan035_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here are 3 more - all by Kazuya.
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 June7th_TakaoSan049_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan042_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan052_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here are 3 shots which I took. My camera has a more powerful zoom, so that's why these shots "seem" closer - because of the zoom capabilities of my camera.
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 June07_MtTakao25_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June07_MtTakao27_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June07_MtTakao30_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here is a final shot of Dendrobium moniliforme followed by 2 shots of Helwingia japonica. A bush which has the fruits in the center of the leaves.
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 June7th_TakaoSan085_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan094_ Helwingia_japonicaRC |
 June07_MtTakao47_ Helwingia_japonicaRC |
Here is a shot of one of the shrines on Mt. Takao. The 2nd shot is a Pseudopyxis depressa - Inamorisou in Japanese. The 3rd shot is our Lunch - we ate at a soba shop at the base of the mountain. Soba is buckwheat - so these are buckwheat noodles. We had them with Tempura and a Tororo Sauce; which is the sauce in the front center. One dips the noodles in the tororo sauce before eating. The brown sauce on the front left is for the Tempura.
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 June7th_TakaoSan101 _ShrineRC |
 June07_MtTakao57_ Pseudopyxis_depressaRC |
 June7th_TakaoSan115 _LunchRC |
| End June 7th, Begin June 12th |
On June 12th, 13th and 14th Kazuya and I went to the Hakone Area via Hakone-Yumoto, Gora, Sounzan and the Ropeway across Owakudani. The 3 photos in this row show the ropeway ride across the hot sulfurous gorge just before Owakudani. They have drilled all of these holes in the bottom of the gorge in an effort to relieve underground pressure so that the area does not explode into the air in a sulfurous eruption once again.
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 June12th_Hakone_Oowakudani004 _RopewayRC |
 June12th_Hakone_Oowakudani007 _RopewayRC |
 June12_Owakudani08_ Ropeway_SulfurRC |
The first shot in this row is the final shot from the Ropeway. The 2nd and 3rd shots show Mt. Fuji from Owakudani. The 3rd shot shows some fantastic clouds.
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 June12_Owakudani12RC |
 June12_Owakudani16_FujiRC |
 June12_Owakudani19_FujiRC |
Here are 3 photos of escaping steam and sulfurous gases. The smell is sometimes terrible due to Hydrogen Sulfide gas. There are several sensors in the area so that alarms go off when the gas levels become high enough to be dangerous to people. We have never heard the sirens, but the smell is often terrible.
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 June12_Owakudani23 _SteamRC |
 June12th_Hakone_ Oowakudani048_SteamRC |
 June12_Owakudani29 _SteamRC |
Here is a crow sitting on a rock - guess he doesn't mind the smell. The 2nd shot is me at the place where they make hard-boiled eggs in the natural hot water (see next row for eggs). The 3rd shot is a great view of Mt. Fuji framed by a bush.
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 June12_Owakudani36 _CrowRC |
 June12th_Hakone_Oowakudani 067_BlackEggsPlaceRC |
 June12_Owakudani39 _FujiRC |
Here are the eggs cooked in the sulfurous hot water. It turns the egg shells black, but it has no effect on the taste. They are delicious and each egg eaten is supposed to add 7 years to your life. The 2nd shot here is a beautiful cloud formation and steam escaping.
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 June12_Owakudani43 _BlackEggPlaceRC |
 June12th_Hakone_ Oowakudani070_CloudsRC |
They cook LOTS of eggs per day here - so many that they need a special little cable car to carry the eggs to the egg-cooking place and to send cooked eggs back down to the parking area - for people too lazy or unhealthy to be able to walk to the place where they actually cook the eggs. The final shot here was after we took the Ropeway down the other side of the mountain - from Owakudani to Togendai and then took a bus from there to Sengoku Kogen where the "susuki" grass (Pampas grass) (Miscanthus sinensis) is growing. See October 2007's photos HERE for the beautiful grass photos in the autumn. In this photo the contrasting green and blue is amazing!
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 June12_Owakudani44 _EggsRC |
 June12th_Hakone_Sengokuhara002_ PampasGrassFieldRC |
| End June 12th, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this months adventures. |
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