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posted: April 30th, 2013 |
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This page begins with the final few photos from our April 5th adventure to the Hikage Creek, Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-Yama, Mt. Kagenobu and Kogesawa Area.
Then there are 4 photos from an April 6th visit to Jindai Botanical Garden. Those are followed by Kazuya's April 7th trip to the Minami-Takao Area. Next, are photos from
Kazuya's trip on April 12th to Western Tokyo and then the final adventure on this page is an April 13th trip to Mt. Kakuda (481.7 m = 1,580 ft), in Niigata Prefecture.
Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| April 5th Continues From Page 1 (at 2:48 PM) |
Now we are still coming down Kogesawa (=Koge Creek). The first photo in this row shows a very nice example of Viola eizanensis. The 2nd photo shows Kogesawa (=Koge Creek) and the 3rd photo shows some nice Spring Greenery along the lower portion of Kogesawa, after the trail meets the old logging road.
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 Apr05_154_Kogesawa_ Viola_eizanensisRC |
 Apr05_169_Kogesawa _KogeCreekRC |
 Apr05_178_Kogesawa _SpringGreeneryRC |
In this row you can see an image which was created by Tone-mapping with Photomatix Pro using 3 exposure-bracketed photos and the Details-Enhancer Option. The 2nd photo shows a bright Azalea Bush along the roadside and the 3rd photo shows some more nice Spring Greenery.
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 Apr05_189_190_191_ TMDE_Kogesawa_SceneryRC |
 April5th_ Kogesawa220RC |
 April5th_ Kogesawa222RC |
| End April 5th, Begin April 6th |
On Saturday, April 6th, there was a heavy storm warning, so in the morning before the storm came in we went to Jindai Botanical Garden again, specifically for the Violets exhibit. I am not including any photos from that exhibit. The plants were all growing in pots and to me that is not so exciting. It's much more fun to find them in the wild. So - here is a shot of Cherry Petals floating on the pond and then a 2 shot panorama of the big lawn. On the right hand edge you can see the big clump of Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana) which we often show you beautiful photos of in the Autumn.
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 April06_03_JindaiBG _CherryPetalsOnPondRC |
 April06_11_12_Panorama _JindaiBG_BigLawnRC |
Here is a photo of a double-petaled Cherry Tree and then a shot of a flowering peach tree. By the way, this is a different tree than the one you saw on Page 1 in Row 10. And, that's all from this adventure - and, in case you are wondering, yes - it did rain cats and dogs later in the day. In fact it started raining lightly before we even left the Botanical Garden.
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 April06_16_JindaiBG _CherryBlossomsRC |
 April06_21_JindaiBG _PeachBlossomsRC |
| End April 6th, Begin April 7th |
On Sunday, April 7th Kazuya went out to the Minami (=South) Takao Area in search of violets. I relaxed at home because I did not feel well that day. He did not find any new violets, but he did find that the Rhododendron kaempferi has started to bloom and he also found that the Viola phalacrocarpa is still in bloom.
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 April7thMinamiTakao012 _RhododendronKaempferiRC |
 April7thMinamiTakao082 _ViolaPhalacrocarpaRC |
 April7thMinamiTakao037 _RhododendronKaempferi |
| End April 7th, Begin April 12th |
On April 12th Kazuya went out to Western Tokyo and climbed 3 mountains which we often go to at this time of the year. I stayed at home because we had a rather major outing planned for the following day and I did not want to get too fatigued, as the place he went is rather a difficult hike/climb and takes several hours. He found Viola sieboldi and Viola violacea var. makinoi, as you can see in this row. He also found more species, which you will see in the following rows.
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 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 002_ViolaSieboldiRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns011_ ViolaViolaceaVarMakinoiRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns037_ ViolaViolaceaVarMakinoiRC |
In first position in this row is another shot of Viola violacea var. makinoi and then a Mountain Cherry Tree in Bloom. The 3rd shot shows you some scenery, which shows that spring has not fully arrived at this elevation.
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 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns049_ ViolaViolaceaVarMakinoiRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 054_CherryRC |
 April12th_Takamizu 3Mtns098RC |
In this row are 2 specimens of Viola rossii and one more shot showing that spring is still to fully arrive here.
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 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 114_ViolaRossiiRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 127_MtIwatakeishiRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 202_ViolaRossiiRC |
These 3 shots were taken as Kazuya descended, and show that spring is arriving at this elevation. The first shot shows some beautiful Rhododendron dilatatum flowers at a small shrine on the side of the mountain. The 2nd shot is some Peach Blossoms and the 3rd shot is some young Maple Leaves.
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 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns209 _RhododendronDilatatumRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 225_PeachRC |
 April12th_Takamizu3Mtns 226_MapleLeavesRC |
| End April 12th, Begin April 13th |
On the morning of April 13th we got up at 4:30 AM, got ready and left the apartment. We took a train from our local station at 6:01 AM and then took the very first Joetsu Shinkansen of the day to Tsubame-Sanjou Station. From there we took a couple of local trains and ended up at Maki Station, Niigata Prefecture, at 9:28 AM. We took a taxi to Kakuda Beach and we were going to take a different trail to the summit than we took back in 2011. We searched for that trail for around an hour, and we finally found it, but after hiking it for about 20 minutes we decided that we did not like it and decided to go back down and try to find the course we took to the summit in 2011. We could not find it exactly and we ended up at a vertical rock face and had to go back down. An old man told us of a shortcut to the Lighthouse Trail from where we were, and we took that way. I had an accident on that vertical rock face I just talked about and I had several muscle aches and pains and a few minor injuries, but we made it the summit of Mt. Kakuda (481.7 m = 1,580 ft) at around 2:30 PM! As I said, we also visited this area in 2011 and you can find those photos HERE. The 1st and 3rd photos in this row show where we started from - Kakuda Beach! The 2nd image, out of chronological order for landscape/portrait mode balance, shows a beautiful Viola vaginata flower.
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 Apr13_001_Mt Kakuda_SceneryRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda 007_ViolaVaginataRC |
 Apr13_004_Mt Kakuda_SceneryRC |
In this row is another example of Viola vaginata, an unknown fungus which was quite photogenic and a Trout Lily (Erythronium japonicum).
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 Apr13_006_Mt Kakuda_Viola_vaginataRC |
 Apr13_011_MtKakuda _UnknownFungusRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda023 _ErythroniumJaponicumRC |
Now we get into what we truly came here to find - the wild mountain Hepatica which grows on this mountain (Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna). Here are 3 great photos which show this species. If you visit the 2011 pages from this trip (HERE) you will see that we found a wider variety of colors then.
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 April13th_MtKakuda031_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
 Apr13_015_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda039_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
Here are 3 more examples of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna.
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 Apr13_022_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_026_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_032_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
Here is a Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna in 1st position, a Heloniopsis orientalis in 2nd position and a scenery shot in 3rd position. That is the Sea of Japan out there.
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 Apr13_034_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda050 _HeloniopsisOrientalisRC |
 Apr13_040_Mt Kakuda_SceneryRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna.
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 April13th_MtKakuda057_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
 Apr13_043_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_048_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
Here are an additional 3 examples of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna. You may get the idea that this flower impresses us, well you would be correct. It's partly that this is the only place we know of where it can be found in such abundance. It's partly because it comes in so many colors and it's partly because the precise place where we go to find it is dangerous and difficult to get to.
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 Apr13_050_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_059_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_065_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
AND - another 3 examples of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna, the 3rd one being a very interesting pink color. In the center photo you may notice the Erythronium japonicum or Trout Lily in the background.
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 Apr13_080_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda084_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
 Apr13_089_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
In 1st position is another pink Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna and that's followed by 2 bluish colored examples.
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 Apr13_091_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_094_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
 Apr13_097_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
Here are 2 shots of Erythronium japonicum (Trout Lily) with the sun behind it and then a white colored Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna.
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 Apr13_104_MtKakuda _Erythronium_japonicumRC |
 Apr13_107_MtKakuda _Erythronium_japonicumRC |
 Apr13_111_MtKakuda_Hepatica _nobilis_var_japonica_f_magnaRC |
In 1st position is nearly the final example of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna and then 2 scenery shots from the Lighthouse Trail ridgeline.
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 April13th_MtKakuda097_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
 April13th_ MtKakuda107RC |
 April13th_ MtKakuda110RC |
In 1st position is another scenery shot and that's followed by 2 shots of Erythronium japonicum. When we were here in 2011 we somehow managed to get some quite impressive shots of the Trout Lily and I recommend that you also look at those photos HERE if you love Trout Lily.
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 April13th_ MtKakuda118RC |
 April13th_MtKakuda125 _ErythroniumJaponicumRC |
 Apr13_121_MtKakuda _Erythronium_japonicumRC |
Here are 3 more Trout Lily (Erythronium japonicum) shots and in the 1st one you'll notice the Sea of Japan down there.
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 April13th_MtKakuda127 _ErythroniumJaponicumRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda166 _ErythroniumJaponicumRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda148 _ErythroniumJaponicumRC |
Here is a shot on the summit of the mountain. It was 2:30 PM or so when we finally arrived there, so we ate a hurried lunch which we had brought with us, and then we headed down. I had a sore back and left shoulder and I was not moving so fast and the final bus from the trailhead back to the station from this side of the mountain was at 5:11 PM. In center position is a Luehdorfia japonica butterfly. It is becoming more scarce as its previously lightly managed open woodland habitats are destroyed in favour of agriculture or intensive forestry. It is restricted to Honshu Island. In 3rd position is a shot of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna which was taken near a small shrine, practically at the bottom of the mountain.
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 Apr13_127_MtKakuda _Scenery_SummitRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda179 _LuehdorfiaJaponicaRC |
 April13th_MtKakuda180_Hepatica NobilisVarJaponicaFMagnaRC |
Here is a final scenery shot from the ridgeline which we descended by and that is followed by a shot of Mt. Kakuda which Kazuya took from the train which we rode to Niigata City, where we had hotel reservations.
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 April13th_ MtKakuda183RC |
 April13th_ MtKakuda198RC |
Here is a collage of individual Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna flower photos which I created from photos which we took in 2011. The 2nd photo shows the abundance of these plants in a small area which we were fortunate enough to discover back in 2011.
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 April15th_MtKakuda _Many_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda149 +Many_HepaticaRC |
| End April 13th, End Page 2 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation of this month's adventures. |
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