Today's Notables

Last year, I wrote about my first mountain climbing experience and again, this year I endured another punishing awakening as I participated in the customary mountain trek of the Japan Food Machinery Manufacturer's Association's Youth Group. It was the first time this year and my lack of taking good enough care of my health caught up with me all in one hellish day as I felt the effects. The location of the trek had been selected a year ahead of time and I knew I couldn't get out of it. I had a year to prepare myself. However, I am a stick-at-nothing and therefore, didn't get and stay in shape to meet the challenge. As I wrote before, a relative who also happens to be an endocrinologist warned me that I was in danger of getting diabetes. Since then, I've been careful of my diet, went to a fasting spa, did my first mountain trek last year and eventually managed to lose more than 10kg. This time, 2 months prior to the climb, I started using the stairs more often at my condominium for exercise. Initially, I only climbed the stairs as far as I could and then gradually increased the number of flights a little bit per day, and by the time of the trek, my aim was to be able to climb all 22 flights up to my condo. But true to nature, it only lasted three days and 7 flights. Huffing and puffing, I got on the elevator only to be met with some inquisitive stares of a man riding in the elevator. After thinking about it, I suppose it was rather strange for someone well out of breath late at night to get on the elevator so I quit before I could be questioned by the building guard. The end result was, of course, not much change in strength or endurance, despite the loss of weight, as the day of reckoning approached.

This year's hike was up Senjogatake, also known as the Queen of the Southern Japanese Alps. The peak is 3,033m?definitely something for the beginning hiker. However, FOOMA chairman who is also an experienced alpinist does not think a mountain is a mountain if it is not at least 3,000m so this would be a walk in the park as far as he was concerned. I looked it up on the Internet and found out that it was called the "Queen of the Southern Japanese Alps" because of the easy hiking trails and soft "curls," and beautiful high altitude flora. It is supposed to be a mountain that even those with no interest in hiking could enjoy for the beauty of the mountain, which gave me some feeling of reprieve.

The hiking plan was to stay overnight in a small lodge near the peak. The morning of the hike, we met at the rest area at the start of the trail. From Tokyo, I took the Chuo freeway, got off the Suwa interchange and followed the signs. I began heading south on route 152 and after about 30 minutes, I arrived at the meeting place, Hase, where there was a village bus depot. It is called Todaiguchi and a facility for hikers called Senryusou. A free parking area is also been made available for trekkers. Passenger cars cannot park from Todaiguchi and hikers must take a 50 minute bus ride to the final destination at Kitazawa Mountain Pass. While we were on the bus, the driver explained about mountain foliage and before you knew it, the 50 minutes had passed. After getting off the bus, we did some warming up and a professional alpinist advised us of some important points. A real alpinist, who challenged the Rorze last year was going to be our guide with one woman for OG Mountain Group who would provide support. This time the guide set a pace according to how the group was walking, and since I had lost weight, I did not get out of breath and fall behind like last time. Then the leader of the Youth Group told me it was easier if I walked behind a pro so I moved up to the front. Watching the pro, I noticed that he was walking much differently than I had thought. His steps were smaller and he seemed to always look for the most even footing. I made the mistake of thinking that a mountain climber would take big steps to higher elevations to move faster. I decided to copy the pro, walking in the same places, and soon found that I could walk much more effortlessly and smoothly.

It was neither too sunny or too cloudy?the best weather for hiking. Stopping every hour of hiking for a break, we finally reached Umanosehutte from Yabusawa, arriving at our destination three and a half hours to the Senjo lodge. The initial plan for the following morning was to go to the summit about 30 minutes up, however, since the weather was so nice, we ended up there earlier than planned. We left our packs at the lodge and went up to the peak. Last year, we were unable to reach the real peak and ended up turning back about 30 minutes from the top so I was very pleased to make it too the top this time. The lodge was more modern than I had anticipated and the restrooms were very clean. It was like a log house but quite new. We had curry rice and potato salad for dinner and beer, sake, whiskey and snacks that the guides carried. As I thought, the guides carried extra food and other things so their backpacks were at least 30kg which they seemed to carry with tremendous ease.

It felt quite cold at about 10 degrees Celsius but because the weather was so nice, you could see the view all the way down the mountain. I thought this must be the "thrill of the climb" for a mountain climber but I couldn't help thinking about the trek back down. I kept remembering the feeling of my knees and the effort it takes to go down. I didn't have the leeway to enjoy the satisfaction of "mastering the mountain" or the scenery. Again this year, I didn't understand the psyche of a mountain climber; however, the descent was much easier than it was last year and I was not left with the feeling that my body might fall apart at anytime. We returned from Shibusawatouge trail to the village bus to go to Todaiguchi and stayed at the village lodge long enough to soak in a nice, big bath and eat at the cafeteria before taking our leave.

Well, it looks like I will be hiking again next year too. I figure one of these days, I will come to understand the attraction of mountain climbing, but in the meantime, I was speeding to the masseuse near my condominium.