After leaving the point overlooking the valley, my companions and guides and I continued along the ridge towards the mountain's summit. We were well over halfway through our climb, but the last several hundred meters rose rather sharply and an easy hike actually involved some honest climbing. The trail became less of a straightforward path as it began to spiral around the mountaintop.
At this point, we began noticing an abundance of small stone statues, carved vaguely in the shape of humans, many of them with red cloths tied around their waists. Kubota-san explained they were there for spiritual purposes and served as guardians of the mountain spirit who was said to live near Kazekoshi-yama's peak. These tiny peacekeepers guided our way around the mountain, lining the paths and occupying makeshift staircases that had been hewn into the mountainside.
As we came around the bend, our path abruptly came to an end as we were faced with a tangle of tree roots that ran sharply upward interlaced like latticework. The roots provided many hand and footholds, making for an easy climb, but
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Kazekoshi-yama Pt. II: Up, Up & Away
I'm going to start off this post with a small disclaimer - I'm not good at approximating distances. Never have been. Unless I know the exact length or height of something, my estimations have been, historically, inaccurate. 30 feet might be 60. A mile might be two. That being said, other than the exact height of the mountain, take my distance estimations with a grain of salt.
After we abandoned the mountain hermit, Yamashida-san's pickup truck, we started off past a faded sign making the trail, up a zigzagging path up the mountainside, with hairpin, near 180-degree turns every 200 meters or so. The degree of ascent was sharp, around 30-35 degrees by our guide's estimate, but the path would somewhat flatten out once the back and forth trail reached its end, he promised. Thankfully, I was in much better shape than I was back then, and the climb, while robust, ended shortly enough.
As the zigzags came to an end, I tried to see back down the mountainside from whence we came, but when I searched for the hermit's truck, it was long lost among the trees. As our guide, Yudai Kubota, promised, the path was a bit more level after that initial climb. As the trail widened,
After we abandoned the mountain hermit, Yamashida-san's pickup truck, we started off past a faded sign making the trail, up a zigzagging path up the mountainside, with hairpin, near 180-degree turns every 200 meters or so. The degree of ascent was sharp, around 30-35 degrees by our guide's estimate, but the path would somewhat flatten out once the back and forth trail reached its end, he promised. Thankfully, I was in much better shape than I was back then, and the climb, while robust, ended shortly enough.
As the zigzags came to an end, I tried to see back down the mountainside from whence we came, but when I searched for the hermit's truck, it was long lost among the trees. As our guide, Yudai Kubota, promised, the path was a bit more level after that initial climb. As the trail widened,
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