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This is Page 2 of 3 - the best of June 2009!
posted: June 30th, 2009
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This page starts with June 13th and goes through June 19th - the continuation of the trip to Hakone, followed by Hydrangea Blossoms in the Tokyo Area. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin June 13th
  This page continues with the trip to Hakone. The previous page ended with June 12th and this page starts the following morning - June 13th. The first photo is the nice Hot Spring bath which is at the Youth Hostel where we stayed. The next shot is from the ropeway which we took to the top of Mt. Komagatake (1,357 m = 4,451 ft). Notice all of the flowers in the trees down below us - these are Mountain Dogwood trees and flowers. The 3rd shot shows the Ropeway car which we rode in and Lake Ashi down at the bottom.
June13th_Hakone_SengokuharaYH003_HotSpringRC.jpg
June13th_Hakone_Sengokuhara
YH003_HotSpringRC
June13th_Hakone_Komagatake009_RopewayRC.jpg
June13th_Hakone_Komagatake
009_RopewayRC
June13th_Hakone_Komagatake011_RopewayRC.jpg
June13th_Hakone_Komagatake
011_RopewayRC

  Here is a shot of Lake Ashi from the summit of Mt. Komagatake. The 2nd shot is Kazuya with the wind blowing through his hair. The 3rd shot is the summit sign.
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb12_LakeRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb12_LakeRC
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb14_KazuyaRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb14_KazuyaRC
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb15_SummitSignRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb15_SummitSignRC

  The first shot in this row shows the building which houses the Ropeway machinery, a small souvenir shop and so on. The next photo is the shrine at the summit of Mt. Komagatake. When we were here in October 2007 we were able to get some great shots of Mt. Fuji, but this time it's too cloudy to see Mt. Fuji. If you want to see this area on a clear day I suggest you look at the photos taken in October 2007. From here we hiked the trail to Mt. Kami (1,438 m = 4,718 ft). Mt. Kami is the highest mountain in the Hakone Area. The 3rd shot shows the "Kamiyama" summit sign. From the summit of Mt. Kami you can't see much, it is not treeless and barren, unlike Mt. Komagatake.
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb17_BuildingRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb17_BuildingRC
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb20_ShrineRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb20_ShrineRC
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb30_SummitSignRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_Kamiyama
Climb30_SummitSignRC

  From Mt. Kami we hiked the trail back to Owakudani - the place where we were yesterday. The first shot in this row shows the place where they cook the "Black Eggs", which were shown on the previous page. From Owakudani we took the Ropeway down to Lake Ashi and took the "Pirate Ship" down to the south end of the lake. We had a 3-day "Free-pass", which gave us access to all rides in the area for free. In addition, a round trip train or bus ride from Shinjuku was included in the price. So, we rode everything except the Komagatake Ropeway for FREE all weekend!! The Komagatake Ropeway is owned by a different company, so that was not included in the price of the Free-pass. The 2nd shot here shows the Pirate Ship which we rode. The 3rd shot shows the top of Mt. Komagatake from Lake Ashi - and the building which houses the Ropeway machinery.
June13_Komagatake_KamiyamaClimb35_OwakudaniRC.jpg
June13_Komagatake_
KamiyamaClimb35_OwakudaniRC
June13th_Hakone_Ashinoko002_BoatRC.jpg
June13th_Hakone_
Ashinoko002_BoatRC
June13_HakoneBoatRide08_KomagatakeRC.jpg
June13_HakoneBoat
Ride08_KomagatakeRC

  The first 2 shots here were taken from the Pirate Ship - the first shot is a Hotel at the base of the Komagatake Ropeway, it looks like a Castle though, so it is very photogenic from the lake. The 2nd shot is another Pirate Ship as it passes us going the other way. The 3rd shot is our lunch - Lake Ashi Pond Smelt and other stuff.
June13_HakoneBoatRide10_CastleRC.jpg
June13_HakoneBoat
Ride10_CastleRC
June13_HakoneBoatRide14_OtherBoatRC.jpg
June13_Hakone
BoatRide14_OtherBoatRC
June13th_Hakone_Ashinoko016_LunchRC.jpg
June13th_Hakone_
Ashinoko016_LunchRC

  The first shot in this row is a Torii for a Shrine to the Lake God - this was taken on our return trip on the Pirate Ship. The 2nd shot is Sengoku Kogen where the "susuki" grass (Pampas grass) (Miscanthus sinensis) is growing. This is the same place as shown in the final shot on Page 1 - but this shot doesn't have the benefit of sun and blue sky.
June13_HakoneBoatRide24_ToriiRC.jpg
June13_HakoneBoat
Ride24_ToriiRC
June13_PampasGrassField04RC.jpg
June13_Pampas
GrassField04RC
End June 13th, Begin June 14th
  On June 14th we went to the Hakone Botanical Garden of Marshy Plants. They have plants other than just Marsh Plants though. In fact, the first 2 shots in this row are Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum). The only place we have ever seen this in the wild was last summer at Mt. Gassan (See August 2008's photos). The 3rd shot is a Bleeding Heart (Dicentra hybrid). This is a plant of high elevation scree slopes. We have only seen this plant in the wild (Dicentra peregrina) at Mt. Shirane, back in September 2006 (q.v.).
June14th_Hakone_Shisseikaen009_Leontopodium_alpinumRC.jpg
June14th_Hakone_Shisseikaen
009_Leontopodium_alpinumRC
June14_SengokuBotGarden018_Leontopodium_alpinumRC.jpg
June14_SengokuBotGarden018_
Leontopodium_alpinumRC
June14_SengokuBotGarden019_Dicentra_hybridRC.jpg
June14_SengokuBotGarden
019_Dicentra_hybridRC

  The 1st shot is a nice Orange Day Lily. The 2nd shot is a species of "Pitcher Plant", a type of insect eating plant - this one is Sarracenia leucophylla. The 3rd shot is an actual (non-hybrid) Dicentra peregrina - the same as we saw at Mt. Shirane in September 2006. And, that ends the trip we took to the Hakone Area. On the way back home we stopped at a famous Hot Spring, but there are no pictures of it - kind of embarrassing to try and take photos of naked people at a Hot Spring - and also prohibited!
June14_SengokuBotGarden063_OrangeDayLilyRC.jpg
June14_SengokuBotGarden
063_OrangeDayLilyRC
June14th_Hakone_Shisseikaen017_Sarracenia_leucophyllaRC.jpg
June14th_Hakone_Shisseikaen
017_Sarracenia_leucophyllaRC
June14_SengokuBotGarden090_Dicentra_peregrinaRC.jpg
June14_SengokuBotGarden
090_Dicentra_peregrinaRC
End June 14th, Begin June 19th
  On Friday, June 19th, Kazuya and I went to Takahata Fudou Temple to see Hydrangea flowers. We had never gone out specifically to see varieties of Hydrangea, so we thought it would be interesting. It was! We had no idea that Hydrangeas came in so many shapes and colors. The 1st shot is a Blue Colored Hydrangea with perfect snowball flowers. The 2nd shot in this row shows you the Takahata Fudou Temple itself. The 3rd shot is also a Blue Flowered Hydrangea, but this one only has the large flowers around the edge of the flower.
Jun19_Takahatafudo07_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo07
_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo04_TempleRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo04
_TempleRC
June19th_TakahataFudou010_HydrangeaRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou010_HydrangeaRC

  The first shot here is another blue flowered Hydrangea, the 2nd shot is a pink flowered one. The 3rd shot is a double petaled one of the type which just has the large flowers around the outer edge.
Jun19_Takahatafudo16_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo16
_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo20_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo20
_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo22_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo22
_HydrangeaRC

  The first shot here is a white/pink flowered one. The 2nd shot is me standing on the path through the Hydrangea part of the Temple. This Temple has 88 "stations" along the trail. The 3rd shot is a pink flowered one of the type which only has the large flowers along the outer edge.
Jun19_Takahatafudo30_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo30
_HydrangeaRC
June19th_TakahataFudou028_Hydrangea_DanRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou028_Hydrangea_DanRC
June19th_TakahataFudou030_HydrangeaRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou030_HydrangeaRC

  Here is a bright pink flowered variety. The 2nd shot shows part of the crowd along a part of the trail, near the start. The 3rd shot is a weird colored one - a combination of pink and white.
June19th_TakahataFudou031_HydrangeaRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou031_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo41_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo41
_HydrangeaRC
June19th_TakahataFudou037_HydrangeaRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou037_HydrangeaRC

  The first shot in this row shows my hand for scale - now you can get an idea of how huge these flowers can be. The 2nd shot is a double-petaled one. The 3rd shot is a weird shaped one - note the elongated flower heads and also note that the leaves are much different than all of the others.
Jun19_Takahatafudo50_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo50
_HydrangeaRC
June19th_TakahataFudou089_HydrangeaRC.jpg
June19th_Takahata
Fudou089_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo64_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo64
_HydrangeaRC

  These final 2 shots at Takahata Fudou Temple show a curly-petaled variety flower and the final shot is another shot of the Temple itself.
Jun19_Takahatafudo77_HydrangeaRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo77
_HydrangeaRC
Jun19_Takahatafudo84_TempleRC.jpg
Jun19_Takahatafudo84
_TempleRC
End June 19th, End Page 2
  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 gotten - behind on his blog again, but if you want to take a look at it you can find it 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 conclusion of this month's adventures. Go To Page:

The Violets Page
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