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[at-l] Japanese hike

Well with everyone sharing they're first hikes of the season, so I figured
why not tell all about mine.... No its not an AT adventure, but its an
adventure of its own.... But hey Hiking in Japan is always interesting to
say the least.

I ditched class and work on a Friday early last month, snagged all my gear
outta the closet, and was packed in less than thirty minutes. I told the
wife I'd see her Sunday evening, gave her a kiss, and i was off!!! I caught
the subway at rush hour (its bad enough here in Tokyo without trying to cram
in with 40lbs of pack weight on my back) and rode it for two stops till I
had to change to an elevated train. I rode the train for 5 stops till I
reached Shinjuku station (over 19 million people pass thru it daily...
navigating thru the commuying salarymen can be more difficult than most
climbs!!!) and grabbed an express train leaving Tokyo (AHHHHH finally free
from the masses, everybody was coming in and I was heading out!) After an
hour it was time to change again... Next was a local train that ran only
twice an hour, as i waited i loaded up on some grub (hungry hikers will eat
almost anything, but this was pushing it!!!). After an leisurely hour of
riding the train being gawked at by hordes of school children dressed in
their little uniforms and backpacks, I reached my destination, Okutama.
After leaving the train station I was amazed to see the cherry blossoms
beginning to bud down in the valley below, I thought to myself "what a great
day for a hike".

A thrity minute bus ride left me at a stop next to a lake, where an access
road headed up the mountain. I found the trail about 400 yds up the road. As
I hiked I noticed how the first signs of spring were beginning to appear and
after a few minutes i was lost in thoughts as the stress fell away and the
sweat began to pour.... I am not sure how long or how far i had hiked by the
time my thoughts were interupted as I got my first glimpse of
Kumotori-san!!! The mount really deserved its name as the cloud grabber
despite its elevation of only 2047 meters, I was in awe as i saw it still
covered in white and was able to see the summitt protruding through the
clouds.... MAN this beats work anytime!!!

It was the first really nice and semi warm day of the year with only more
predicted to come this weekend. After a short lunch of 7-11 sushi and a can
of coffee, I shed my fleece pants and continued with my hike. The trail
meandered along a finger ridge-line up towards the moutain, which I could
occaisionally see through the forested woods. The first hike of the year
always is sorta strange with the awkwardness of adjusting to the peace and
serenity of the woods, I was once again lost in my thoughts of what had
brought me to this point in my life.....

I made it to the mountain hut, which had about twenty hikers staying at it
and discovered that it was in a draw filled with snow and that the campsites
were covered as well... I thought briefly of coughing up the cash to stay
indoors with the others, but I decided to pass when I realized that it would
just be another night filled with drunken salarymen asking the same
questions, chain smoking cigarettes, and trying to get the crazy gaijin
hiker drunk.... No I wanted the peace which the streamside snow covered
campsite provided. (Wilderness camping is not permitted in 95% of Japan...)
After setting up camp, fixing a dinner, I decided to spend the 500 yen and
hit the steam bath to releive the aching muscles and stoke the internal
furnace. It did the trick and afterwards I decided to call it a nite!

The next morning I awoke to a fresh layer of about 4-6 inches of snow and
the sun glistening through the trees.....Oh the majestic silver forest!!! I
quickly cooked up MAC-N-Cheese, scarfed it down, and packed up camp cuz I
was getting cold!!! The thermal breeze was howling through the draw!!!

I got back on the trail and saw the mountain engulfed in clouds and began to
wonder what the snow situation was like??? Yesterday nears 50s, today in the
teens.... hmmm icy trails??? I put on my best machismo attitude and figured
that a couple hundred yards more of elevation and it would be packed snow
and the it was an easy sloping trail with only half the elevation difference
from the way i had come... I happily was trudging through the fresh snow,
slipping and sliding on yesterdays snow-melt feeling my way up the trail...
By noon I had made it to the 1800 M mark and quickly realized that my
biggest concern should not be the previous snow, but the quickly
intensifying snow which was quickly becoming a storm!!! I looked at my pack
and realized why it felt so HEAVY!!! Uh it was caked with fresh wet snow and
probably added another 4-5 lbs... HMM time to rethink... where are all the
guys from the hut? why aren't there any fresh tracks? Should I be doing
this? As the snow turned worse and visibility dropped to 100 yards or so, I
decided to head down another trail to an access road which ran along a
stream... An hour and a half later I found all the guys from the hut, they
weren't hiking, but drove up the road to fish.... They too had decided to
call it a day.... With the wind raging and the visiblity I dropping i gladly
accepted the ride down to town. Once in town they insisted to take me to the
Ramen stand and buy the strange American some hot soup. After exhausting my
limited Japanese, they dropped me off at the station and back to the
concrete jungle I journeyed...

I began to have some intestinal irritation on the way.... The next day I was
struck with intestinal flu.... Oh (*&% literally!!! After fourdays, i
decided it was worth seeing the doc..... He diagnosed it as dehydration from
the flu- antibiotics and an I.V..... Four days later the cold symptoms
subsided, but gee the intestinal problems were still lingering... A nice
stool sample showed a bacteria/virus which had probably come from drinking
water or food... But hey i filtered!!! More pills, another I.V.. and a rx of
rest!!

I decided to check out my filter, and discovered a strange sort of slimy
fungus stuff had been lurking inside... Hmm did i forget to clean it last
year? I guess so!!! Oh well, coulda been from food.... Gee come to think of
it, I never had replaced the lement either... I guess it was from water, but
I was in such a hurry, I didn't even bother to look....

Oh well another hiking season has begun, oh yeah, I just bought a new filter
element today!!!! Happy trails Y'all....


Slasher



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