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.
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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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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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.). |
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  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! |
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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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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  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. |
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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) |
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