This tour
consists of three guests from Australia, Peter, Ian and Fay. Our guests are
fellow walkers, and despite their advanced ages, they are very hardy walkers
and have been hiking in the mountains in Australia. They have traveled
mountains in Europe and Mt Everest. This time, they chose the anytime tour and
wanted to take a long trail from Mt Kagenobu. Unfortunately, Fay was unable to
accompany us due to bad conditions, so we split into two groups (Group A and
Group B) for a less burdensome route.
Peter, Ian, veteran guide Nosan and newcomer Masa met at Takao Station at 9:00 a.m. After brief self-introductions, we were transferred by bus to Kobotoke. On the way to Kobotoke bus stop, when Nosan explained the view from the bus window, Peter became interested in “Yuzu” and searched for it on his smartphone. In the meantime, we arrived at the Kagenobu trailhead at 10:00 a.m. Departure in light rain.
It took about 40 minutes to climb steeply, taking care not to get muddy. At the junction. They still look like a piece of cake. We took out the bear bell in a hurry when we saw a sign warning of bears.
Arrived at
Mt. Kagenobu at around 11:20a.m. While enjoying the distant view through the
clearing clouds, we had lunch. Peter showed me many photos of his hikes in
Australia, and I was greatly impressed by the vivid colors of sea and
mountains, and koalas! I want to go to Australia someday.
We departed
from Mt.Kagenobu and proceeded through a series of small ups and downs. On the
way, two guests showed interest in the mushrooms growing all over the tree.
Two guests were surprised by the strong scent of Japanese pepper leaves and admired Aoki. I also caught a smiley face.
At
13:30, we arrived at Kobotoke Pass. The two guests cleared the slightly steep
stairs with ease and light steps.
At
13:30, we arrived at Mt.Kobotoke-Shiroyama and took a short break. Masa, a new
guide, was very interested in the private life of the guests, including their
family stories.
After
crossing Icchou-daira and approaching the long stairway before Momiji-dai, even
the guests looked a little tired. Now, we are almost there!
Perhaps
as a final reward for our efforts, the very beautiful Asagimadara seemed to be
cheering us on. It did not turn away even when we got very close to it for
camera work.
We will soon be meeting up with Fay and Satomi from Group B. Here is a little recap of Group B’s day as well.
[Group B]
We met at the hotel near JR Hachioji station.We took a walk from JR Takao station to Komakino garden.
Along the way to the garden, Fay enjoyed greeting dogs on the walk.At the garden, we walked around and enjoyed bonsai, pond-garden and dry-garden as well as a Japanese house.
We took a shortcut from the garden to Takaosanguchi by walking, and at Kiyotaki St., I described a statue of a giant Japanese flying squirrel.
We had lunch break at cable car Takaosan st. and took the Fuji Michi route to the top of Mt. Takao, on the way, I briefly talked about "Monkey park", "Tako Sugi(Octopus Cedar tree)”, "Origami display".
While waiting for a gap, we had a look around the visitor
center.
[Group A/B]
At
15:00, we finally met up with Fay and Satomi from Group B at the summit of
Mt.Takao. Ian and Fay are a married couple, and they will be reunited here.
Satomi was TENGU’s first guide, and she did a great job. Fay and Satomi, thank
you so much for your hard work.
From
the observatory on the way down the mountain, we made one last memory with the
beautiful sunset in the background.
After
descending the mountain, our guests treated us to dinner in honor of our
guides. The menu was pure Japanese style, including tempura, soba, tofu and
sake. It was very tasty.
We
also received cute koala clips as gifts from our guests.
It was truly a wonderful day. Thank you very much.
Written by Masa and Satomi
