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posted: September 30th, 2010 |
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This page begins with September 3rd and ends with September 5th, a trip to and climb of Mt. Kumotori (2,017.7 meters = 6,620 feet). We spent 2 nights in the summit hut and a day of just wandering around the summit area. It has been such a hot summer in Tokyo that we went there to escape the heat. It was wonderful - 17 degrees C at night and a maximum of 24 degrees C in midday! We really enjoyed ourselves. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin September 3rd |
As the header says, Kazuya and I climbed Mt. Kumotori on September 3rd. It has been a terribly hot summer in Tokyo and we have used every possible opportunity to escape the heat. We assumed (and rightly) that it would be much cooler at Mt. Kumotori. The first shot in this row was taken merely 10 minutes after we left the bus stop at 9:30 AM. The 2nd shot was taken only 13 minutes after we left the bus stop - the body of water down there is Okutama Lake. The 3rd shot is Lychnis miquelina - a beautiful bright orange flower.
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Here are 2 shots of a Toad Lily (Tricyrtis sp.). The 3rd shot is the place where you can get water on the side of Mt. Nanatsuishi. In past years there has been much more water at this spot. Even though there is not so much water this year, it was extremely cold and refreshing. The time of this shot was 1:10 PM - we've already been hiking for 3 hours and 40 minutes, so we are very happy to drink some COLD water as the water in our water bottles is getting pretty warm now. We were both in less than great condition for this climb - the heat of the summer has caused lots and lots of sweat and we have lost amazing amounts of salt and other essential chemicals, trace elements and minerals from our bodies - stuff which is not easily replaced by drinking hot weather supplements. We were moving slowly.
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Here is me at the summit of Mt. Nanatsuishi (1,757 meters = 5,765 feet) at 1:38 PM - we're now 4 hours and a bit into the climb - my legs have started cramping due (probably) to my having lost too much potassium in the summer of heat and perspiration. This is the 8th time we've been at the summit of this mountain, but the first time this year. The 2nd shot shows the summit of Mt. Kumotori - our goal. In this shot the yellow flowers are Ligularia dentata (Marubadakebuki in Japanese). The 3rd shot is zoomed in to the summit of Mt. Kumotori so that you can see the summit hut - our goal.
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In this row you can find 2 closer shots of Ligularia dentata (Marubadakebuki in Japanese) and a shot of Kazuya at the summit of Mt. Nanatsuishi.
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Here is a shot of Kazuya taking photos of Ligularia dentata (Marubadakebuki in Japanese), a shot of a small flower - probably Saussurea tripetera and a snag up quite high on Mt. Kumotori. Every time we climb Mt. Kumotori we shoot photos of this snag. There is one very nice sunset shot of this snag taken on May 2, 2004 at 6:47 PM HERE. We are always kind of surprised to see that this snag is still standing.
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The first shot in this row shows you that we are getting close to our goal - the summit hut. The 2nd and 3rd shots show Kazuya and myself at the summit sign of Mt. Kumotori (2,017.1 meters according to this sign, but 2,017.7 meters according to other sources). We arrived at the summit at 4:30 PM - 7 hours after we started. We hoped to heck that not too many people would be staying in this hut. It is a bare bones hut - no workers, no meals, nothing but a building. It is officially an "emergency shelter". In past years we have taken our tent and set it up to sleep in, but we started depending on the hut last year. Whew! Including us, there were only 5 people in the hut.
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It was pretty cloudy at sunset time, so we had no good colors. Back in 2002 when we stayed here for the first time we saw the most amazing sunset we've ever seen in our lives, so we always hope for something to match that experience. You can find a photo of that sunset HERE - it was taken on September 21, 2002 at 5:50 PM. Anyway, the first shot in this row was our most interesting shot around sunset from this day. It shows sun rays shining through the clouds. After dark the deer came out, as they always do on Mt. Kumotori.
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Here is another shot of deer browsing the grass and weeds around the summit and then a starscape shot. Our cameras have a maximum exposure time of only 15 seconds so, disappointingly, we cannot capture the Milky Way - but we make the attempt whenever we get a night like this one was. And, that finishes up September 3rd.
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| End September 3rd, Begin September 4th |
Okay, now it's Saturday, September 4th. It's time to see if we get to see the sun rise today. The first photo was taken at 4:54 AM - that's Mt. Fuji off in the distance. Looks like we'll have a nice sunrise. The 2nd photo is 5:01 AM - getting some nice colors in the east. The 3rd photo - a panorama with Mt. Fuji - was taken at 5:09 AM.
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In the first photo in this row you can see that the sun is rising behind a bank of horizon hugging clouds. The time is 5:14 AM. The 2nd photo shows the sun as it climbs above those horizon hugging clouds - the time is 5:19 AM. The 3rd shot, 5:27 AM, shows Mt. Fuji. I took more photos from this same angle as the day progressed - keep watch for them.
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Here is a panorama in first position - Mt. Fuji from approximately the same position as the previous shot, but the time is now 6:11 AM. For the 2nd shot I aimed at the bright sun and shot - the time was 6:12 AM. The 3rd shot was taken at 8:25 AM - same approximate place as the previous 2 similar shots. Clouds are beginning to form on the left side of Mt. Fuji now - what will today's weather ultimately bring?
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Here is a shot of a Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes). This bird hung out around the summit quite a bit. The 2nd shot is a nice silvery snag at the summit - the sun really made it show as silver. The 3rd shot is Mt. Kitadake - we were very surprised to be able to see this mountain from here - it is very far away, according to Google Earth it is about 42 miles or 68 kilometers. We climbed Mt. Kitadake last year, at 3,193 meters (=10,476 feet) it is Japan's 2nd highest peak. We were able to identify it here only with the help of a type of metal map planted on the summit of Mt. Kumotori.
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Here is the fourth and final shot of Mt. Fuji from approximately the same place as the other 3 shots. The time is now 9:09 AM. At this time we went for a hike and we didn't return until about 12:00 Noon. Mt. Fuji had become totally cloudy and we never saw it again the rest of today. We relaxed and slept some more in the afternoon and the next shot in this row, a seedhead of Ligularia dentata (Marubadakebuki in Japanese), was taken at 2:13 PM. The 3rd shot in this row shows the sunset for today - it's now 6:03 PM. Not quite enough clouds to make for a brilliant sunset, unfortunately.
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The 1st shot in this row was taken at 6:05 PM. The 2nd shot - a panorama - was taken at 6:25 PM - it shows the most brilliantly colored cloud which we saw on this day. The 3rd shot is one more summit snag at sunset time. It's now 6:34 PM and I had to push this up to ISO 400 to get an image which was bright enough to show something.
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Here are 2 starscapes. These were taken looking somewhat westerly I believe. You can see several stars and some constellations, but I don't know constellation names so I can't tell you which ones are visible. In the 3rd shot - looking higher up into the sky - you can see the Big Dipper (Ursa Major, The Big Bear) and also Polaris or the North Star. Can you find them - mouseover on the photo in Row 16 for the answer. The north star is at the very edge of the photo. That ends September 4th. Oh, by the way, there were 7 people in the summit hut tonight.
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Here is a "mouseover" of the third image in Row 15 - when you hold your mouse over the image you see the answer to the question asked above.
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| End September 4th, Begin September 5th |
Well, we had 2 nights at the summit hut, today we have to head for home. We climbed the mountain on Friday, stayed here Friday and Saturday nights and today we have to go home. The first here was taken at 4:45 AM - let's see what we get for sunrise today. The next shot was taken at 5:12 AM - is the sun going to come up today? The 3rd shot - the rising sun - was taken at 5:18 AM.
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The first shot in this row - Mt. Fuji through lower clouds - was taken at taken at 5:20 AM and the 2nd shot was taken at 5:21 AM. Amazing difference in 1 minute, eh? The 3rd shot is that same snag again as we head for the bus stop - the time is now 5:59 AM. We have eaten our breakfast, packed our gear and are on the way down. We left the hut at 5:50 AM and there is a bus to Okutama Station at 10:32 which we hope to catch.
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Here is a final shot of Ligularia dentata (Marubadakebuki in Japanese) and then a very bright orange colored fungus of some kind. And that's it for this wonderfully refreshing trip. We actually arrived at the bus stop at 9:20 AM - about 40 minutes earlier than we had expected to - and took the 9:32 AM bus to Okutama Station. Then we walked to the Okutama Hot Spring and spent 3 hours soaking in the hot water, relaxing, loosening our tired muscles and so on. We then caught a train headed for home. We got home at around 4:15 PM and it was 38 degrees C (101 degrees F) in the house - it had been closed up for 3 days. It was not much cooler outside. We were back to the summer heat!
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| End September 5th, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the next September adventure. |
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