I Went to Climb a Rock

As you know, I haven't been writing very much lately. Sorry about that. Lately, I've been spending a lot of my free time planning a trip to the Southern Japanese Alps, so I haven't taken the time to write. That's a shame, since I really have a lot to say. But heck, this blogging thing takes a lot of effort. So you'll just have to put up with my not always writing as much as you or I would like.

Anyway, later today I'm flying from Kumamoto to Nagoya. Then I'll be catching a bus to Iida to meet a guy named Eric. He's another JET like me and he's also an avid hiker. He and I, along with a Japanese friend of his, will be hiking for anywhere between 4 and 6 days in the Alps, beginning this Saturday, August 2.

We'll be hiking from north to south, and our starting point will be near Kita-dake, the second-highest peak in Japan, at 3193 meters. If we end up hiking for the entire 6 days (or so), we'll have a good chance of hitting up 10 of Japan's 23 mountains that rise above 3000 meters. (Some of those peaks are a little off of the beaten path and will require a bit of a detour, but I plan on bagging them all!)

Believe it or not, this will be my first major hike since I was a kid. Back when I was about 12 or 13, when I was attending a summer camp, I went on a 7-day 49-mile hike (if my memory serves me correctly) in Yosemite, from somewhere (must have been Tuolumne Meadows) to Mt. Lyell, the highest peak in Yosemite at just under 4000 meters (3997 meters)! But since then, I believe the longest hike I've been on is just an overnighter in Switzerland about 3 years ago. Crazy, huh?

We'll be tenting it most days, because the lodges are ridiculously expensive (about $75 a night). So we'll have pretty heavy packs, considering we need to carry a lot of food, our tents, our sleeping bags, water, clothing, and other essentials.

I'm really curious how the long hike will go, since I'm basically a day-hiker. Hopefully, this hike will make me even more eager to experience more of the outdoors. I guess a lot depends on the weather, right?

If you want more details regarding the route and such, go to your nearest bookstore and look for a copy of Lonely Planet's Hiking in Japan.

We should be done hiking around August 7. After that, I'll either stay in the area and do some sightseeing (or more hiking?) or go almost immediately to Nagasaki. See, I want to be in Nagasaki on August 9, to experience the moment of silence that they hold every year to mark the anniversary of the A-Bomb. But if I'm having too much fun out east, I'll put the trip to Nagasaki on hold. So I'm really not sure when I'll be back home.

Well, I have to finish packing now, so I'll catch you later!