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posted: June 30th, 2011 |
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This page begins with June 18th at 5:42 AM as we begin the 2nd day of our adventure on Mt. Akita-Komagatake. This page does not include all of the photos of June 18th - it goes through only 11:27 AM. You'll have to go on to page 3 to finish June 18th. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin June 18th |
The first photo in this row was taken at 5:42 AM as we left the hut after cooking and eating our breakfast, packing our backpacks and so on. As you can see - it is cloudy again. The 2nd shot was taken at 6:53 AM at Amidaike (Amida Pond) - up at 1,535 meters in elevation (= 5,036 feet). The 3rd photo was shot at 6:56 AM - also at Amida Pond. Is it going to get sunny, will the clouds burn off, only time will tell.
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This is Mt. Onamedake (1,637 meters = 5,371 feet), the highest peak of this mountain complex. We will climb it later on this afternoon - when we return to this area. Right now we are going to leave our packs at the Amida Pond Hut and then hike in a huge circle. The 2nd and 3rd shots in this row are Viola crassa - you may recall from the previous page that this is the first time we have ever seen this species, so we are a bit excited about finding it.
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The first shot in this row is a fine example of Potentilla matsumurae and its abundance right now. We were here at the peak of flowering season for this species. The 2nd shot is looking down into Moomin Valley through the thinning clouds. You may say "what is Moomin Valley"? Well, Moomin Valley is a fictional place, where the Moomins live in the tales by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Moomin Valley is a quiet, peaceful place somewhere in Finland. It was first discovered by Tove Janson in 1945. In Moomin Valley, eggshells turn into clouds and the rivers are periodically full of Raspberry Juice. In Moomin Valley, giant snow horses come to life and the Queen of the Cold rides across the sky on winters nights. Sounds like a magical place, eh? We'll hike through Moomin Valley in a while. The 3rd shot here is a Dicentra peregrina with a small flower bud. It was still too early to find many flowers of this plant, but we did find a few. Note that there is also a Viola crassa in this photo.
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Here is a single flower of Dicentra peregrina, the common names of this plant include "Bleeding Heart" "Dutchman's Breeches" and more. The 2nd shot shows a huge volcanic scree slope which we are hiking across. The Viola crassa and the Dicentra peregrina thrive in this type of soil. The 3rd shot is once again, looking down into Moomin Valley (see Row Text for Row #3).
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In 1st and 3rd position are shots of Viola crassa. In 2nd position is a Panorama of the "Big Scree Slope" and it also shows a portion of Moomin Valley.
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Here are 2 additional shots of Viola crassa and a signpost which shows us which way to turn. We came from the 1,583 direction. Now we are going to turn to the right and end up - eventually - back at the Amida Pond Hut. When we get there we'll retrieve our backpacks and come along this same trail again. When we arrive back at this signpost later today we'll go left - to a Hot Spring.
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Here is a nice patch of Geum pentapetalum and then a shot looking back at the trail behind us. In the 3rd shot we are just entering Moomin Valley and the photo is looking back up at the "Big Scree Slope" Area.
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Here is a nice shot looking up at the "Big Scree Slope" as we get into Moomin Valley. The 2nd and 3rd shots are Primula nipponica in nice bloom.
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Here is an additional shot of Primula nipponica. The 2nd shot is the "Big Scree Slope" - if you can see all of those little green plants - we think those are all Dicentra peregrina plants! The 3rd shot is interesting - it's like Bonsai trees on the slope there.
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Here are 3 shots in Moomin Valley - the first one shows Kazuya on the boardwalk ahead of me. The rivers were not filled with Raspberry Juice today, but the entire valley surely felt like a magical place. There were not many people here, the scenery was amazing and we could imagine that on a sunny day it must feel really magical.
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Still in Moomin Valley. The first shot is looking up at a smoking Mt. Medake. This mountain blew its top in recent history - I forget when, but I think it was sometime during the 1970's. You may be able to notice the area of dead vegetation around the smoke. Either it gets very hot from time to time or else very poisonous gases are emitted from time to time. The 2nd shot is looking up towards the head of Moomin Valley and the 3rd shot is once again a smoking Mt. Medake.
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The first shot is another one looking up towards the head of Moomin Valley. The 2nd shot shows a large rock with Potentilla matsumurae growing on the top and the 3rd shot is zoomed in to the top of the rock shown in the 2nd shot.
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Here is me beside a snowfield in Moomin Valley. The 2nd and 3rd shots are looking up towards the head of Moomin Valley. The 2nd shot is much more zoomed in than the 3rd shot.
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In this row are 3 shots taken as we followed the trail and began climbing up out of Moomin Valley. Notice the person in the 1st shot - he/she is on the snow right near the center of the photo. The 2nd shot shows the amazing abundance of Glaucidium palmatum here and the 3rd shot shows a single Glaucidium palmatum plant.
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The 1st shot here is looking back down into Moomin Valley as we climbed up out of it. The 2nd shot shows a Glaucidium palmatum flower and also a Viola brevistipulata. The 3rd shot is Mt. Kotake - a mountain which looks amazingly like a snail shell. This is the mountain which is on the Index Page for this month.
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Here is a patch of Glaucidium palmatum flowers, a scenic shot as we climbed up out of Moomin Valley and finally - a shot showing Kazuya walking up the trail towards me.
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Here is another patch of Glaucidium palmatum flowers and then we topped the ridge and were suddenly able to see Amidaike (Amida Pond) again. We have nearly completed our circle and are nearly back at out backpacks.
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But - before we returned to the hut to retrieve our backpacks and eat our lunch - we climbed Mt. Onamedake and here are photos showing each of us at the summit of Mt. Onamedake (1,637 meters = 5,371 feet).
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Here, in 1st position, is a shot of Amidaike (Amida Pond) taken from the summit of Mt. Onamedake. In 2nd position is a shot of Mt. Odake (1,623 meters = 5,325 feet) - note that although it looks higher than we are it is actually 14 meters lower than us. In the 3rd shot we are sitting down at the Amidaike (Amida Pond) Hut area and eating our lunch and looking back up at Mt. Onamedake.
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In 1st position in this row is a photo of Mt. Odake, in 2nd position is a shot of Mt. Onamedake and in 3rd position - we have finished our lunch and retrieved our backpacks and are once again hiking. We saw many of these Heloniopsis orientalis flowers on this trip, but we only stopped at this one group of them for a photo or two.
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Here is a shot of Mt. Kotake - Snail Shell Mountain - and you can see the boardwalk in Moomin Valley. The 2nd and 3rd shots both show the "Big Scree Slope" Area. We're going to hike along this ridge once again to get to our destination for today. In the 3rd shot you can also see the Moomin Valley boardwalk.
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Here is a panorama of the "Big Scree Slope" Area, a shot which shows both a part of the "Big Scree Slope" and also Mt. Kotake (Snail Shell Mountain) and then a 2 shot panorama of Mt. Kotake (Snail Shell Mountain).
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| End Page 2, but June 18th continues on Page 3 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation and conclusion of June 18th -- at a Hot Spring with green water. |
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