came back from Hakuba

Last night I came back to Tokyo from Hakuba.

First I thought it would be a package to enjoy
a field of alpine flowers and to soak in a famous
hot spring in Shinshu. There would not be any
difficult things for me to get over, I thought.
But I was wrong.

The two day package contained hard trek,
which I was informed of the previous night
by phone from a tour conductor.
22 members including 5 gentlemen joined the tour.

On the first day we went to Tsuga-ike, which is
about 1830 meters high. We went there by taking
a ski lift and a cable car. We enjoyed walking
in Tsuga-ike Shizen-en for two hours.

All the summer flowers were gone but there was still
a lot of greenery. The weather turned out to be fine
and I was so happy to walk in the summer greenery,
sometimes looking up at the blue skies with white
clouds. That night I enjoyed bathing in an open-air
hot spring at Hakuba-onsen.

On the second day (yesterday) we took a lift and
a cable car again and went to the first cairn
on Happo-one, which is 1831meters high. Then we began
to climb from there to Happo-ike.

There were such a lot of rocks that it was very
difficult for me to climb. It was really a hard and
long way for me to Happo-ike, because we did not
take a rest.

Most members of the group were experts of climbing
and they didn't need any rest. I was encouraged by
their kind words and managed to get to Happo-ike.

Happo-ike was a small pond but how happy I was
when I saw the pond!
I cried to myself, "Hello, Pond, I made it!" It was
one hour and a half climbing. Going down the mountain
was more difficult and dangerous.

It was a hard trekking for me but I was filled
with a sense of achievement.
No gains without pains, as the proverb goes.

(in Tsuga-ike Shizen-en )






(snow ravine I saw at Happo-ike)