This time on a solo day hike to Mount Mitake.
Yes I made a comedy of errors today , my aim was to Mountain
Bike .
Mount Mitake was the target.
Mount Mitake is 929m tall and covers 1250 square kilometers
of mountains, hills , wild animals flowers and various kinds of Birds. Mount
Mitake and surrounding mountains belong to Chichibu Tama Kai National Park
To my surprise I got to know at the base of the mountain
that there are no Bike Rentals although I read about it on the net earlier yesterday
.
I decided to Hike to
the temple and the mountain has many trials , I chose The Road not taken
I wanted to enjoy the green trees wearing a shorts with rays
of sunshine falling on me so I took a trial on the mountain which was not
crowded .
“H “for happiness
..its not too difficult to make friends in Japan....lolz....
I started my Hike and there were numbers printed on trees
which was a landmark indicating that iam on a the right track there were a few
people behind me . I was sure that I was on the right track..
Joy and Happiness..under the sunshine…
As I hiked up ..suddenly
For a moment I saw ghosts of trees right in front of me without any numbers …look
at these trees. There were nobody around….where the hell did rest of the few
disappear??
I was alone..all
alone in the forest in Japan for the first time ..not
sure what to do?
I Further hiked up
and above hoping that at some point I will
be able to reach the trial but I ended
up in the forest .. I saw myself heading to a moderately steep rocks ,dense forest
and birds were too noisy ….all I missed
was the cry of the wild fox …
I reached the other side of the mountain range.
The view was beautiful and I was praying all the way that I should
not hopelessly get lost in the mountain forest…. I crossed Mount Mitake and made it to Mount Hinode enjoying the amazing view- my mind was
constantly asking me to set off down the trail but the view was breathtaking… …
I must have hiked a 1000 Plus meters ,
There was nobody
around and I could see only my shadow,
I know that I risked but I followed my heart the view was
breathtaking .
I decided to give myself a break and hike back down without
risking. I wanted to reach home before it gets dark..
Thankfully a group of people who intentionally were trying to get lost inside the mountain spotted me and showed me the way to the Summit...but i decided to set off the trial downwards and see the shrine some other day..
A lesson learnt – Solo Hiking is serious unless you are
familiar with the trials and rocks…specially in a strange country..i mean a
foreign country..
Robert Frost –The Road not
taken last stanza.
"I shall be telling this with a sigh"
"Somewhere ages and ages hence"
"Two roads diverged in a wood and I---"
"I....Took the one less traveled by"
"And that has made all the difference"
I reached the foot of
the mountain …I will visit the shrine some other day.I missed handsome Tengu….one of the intention of the Hike was
to see Angry Young Handsome Tengu …I take a bow
At the foot of the hill is Tamagawa river , its amazing .
Back home after a long hike without visiting the shrine , I was
lost in Japan for the first time ……but I love getting lost!
It was a back breaking climb infact a steep climb may be it was because i took the wrong way -I need a Good Night..Sleep…
Mount Mitake is about 1.5 hours from Shinjuku – Tokyo .
From Shinjuku -JR Chou Rapid Express will take you straight
to Ome Station in 60 minutes from there
a transfer to local train will take you to the base of the Mountain Mitake Directly.
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