Hakkoda Winter Summit

It can be tough to find new friends who take being outside as seriously as I do. But, I was lucky enough to find another climbing enthusiast who let me tag along on a winter summit of Mount Odake. Some will recall that I was up here last summer with Angelica. Of course, its a different beast in the wintertime.
Our target...the summit of Mount Odake.

The day was great right from the start. Northern Japan is not known for clear views and bright, sunny weather. As luck would have it, we were blessed with both throughout the day. I had never seen Mount Iwake before, but today I was allowed a distant glimpse of the beautiful volcano. Mount Iwake is famous for having an appearance similar to Mount Fuji, although Mount Iwake is much, much smaller than Mount Fuji.

Making progress up the mountain.

Gorgeous view of the river valley.

Group photo in the saddle before the final summit push....me, Sean, Justin, and Kap.

And now the hard part. With the trail being buried in snow, the only way we knew up to the summit was straight up the side of the cone. This would be quite a task in the summertime, let alone with a thick coat of snow covering the mountain.

Pushing up the cone to the summit...steep, slow, and grueling.

Still pushing...but with a brilliant view of Kodake Mountain in the background.

And the guys finally reached the crater ridge meaning an easy stroll to the summit.

Iwate-san

Darren and I made an overnight trip to Mount Iwate, or Iwate-san. At 2038 meters, Iwate-san is the highest mountain in the Tohoku region of Japan.
The geology and vegetation on Mount Iwate is quite different than the other mountains I've visited in Northern Japan. Although a volcano like the rest of them, it was more rugged and had less low-level vegetation than the Hakkoda mountains. The "alpine" feel was very refreshing when compared to the "bush-whacking" necessary to navigate the Hakkoda mountains. On the other hand, like the typical Japanese volcano, the elevation climb was almost constant and the Japanese only know how to build trails one way...straight to the top.

The Japanese weather doesn't often permit good views from high altitudes. But, during a brief moment, the clouds cleared allowing a breath-taking view from near the summit. The pic just doesn't do it justice. That little lake sits at about 5000 feet and I'm hoping to spend some more time there next summer. I'm hoping its a good summer swimming hole.

Me and Darren made the summit and, as usual for Japan, the summit was in the clouds.

While looking for a place to camp, we happed upon a cabin abnormally large for a Japanese mountain emergency cabin. There were plenty of people hustling around, so we asked if this was the type of cabin where one may buy a beer. They said that we could not buy a beer. They went on to explain that they were the Iwate Prefecture Hiking Club and that they were celebrating the last hike of the season. They insisted that we stay and celebrate with them.

The food was delicious. We ate a vegetable and pork soup along with kimchi, sashimi, bbq chicken chunks, and, of course, plenty of Asahi, Sake, and Soju....

Kampai!

Angelica Rock Climbing

Well, my extra helmet and kid's harness finally came in so I promised Angelica I would take her climbing. The hardest thing to teach her was to trust the belay set-up to catch her if she fell and to let go of the rocks so I could ease her down. After the first go, she took to it like a rock star! She got comfortable with going up about 30 feet...better than me the first time!

I never get tired of this spot. We tried for a shot further back, but the waves started crashing in and got a bit scary.

Rose's mom loves hiking and being outdoors. I guessed it skipped the next generation?

While Japan has some beautiful country, we don't see alot of wildlife. You know its out there as there are tons of predatory birds flying above, but you never see any rodents. Along the hiking trails, you'll see various scat, but almost never any animals. Last week, Mike and I saw a serow scurry up a rock across the ravine we were standing on. A serow is an animal kind of in between an antelope and a mountain goat. Today, we were lucky enough to see three of them running around together. I was quite surprised how close they let us get.

Rock Climbing (cont)

One of the most frustrating things about Northern Japan is that it can be extremely hard finding things such as the rock climbing spot I've begun frequenting. On our last trip, a Japanese couple showed up with a rock climbing guide highlighting our spot complete with pics, driving directions, and route drawings. Unfortunately, the book is written in Kanji. This is nearly always the case when trying to plan an outdoor adventure in Northern Japan. There are plenty of books, topographic maps, etc, but its all written in Kanji! Some may think this is not the end of the world since a topo map is a topo map, Kanji or English. But, try finding the topo map you need in a book store containing thousands of books with Kanji covers and where the employees don't speak English. Most give up pretty quickly. However, thanks to the wonderful web, more and more travelers are posting very helpful information on subjects such as this. In fact, if it weren't for folks blogging about their travels in Northern Japan, I would have rarely left the house thus far. Anyway, in an effort to give back to those who have helped me, I will try to post more indepth information about the spots I come across.
Most folks who go rock climbing around Misawa talk about climbing near Kuji. Darren, who showed me this spot, said that he thinks they refer to another spot. But, this spot matches the descriptions I've read and is just north of Kuji. Above is a map showing where to park. You just take 45 south of Hachinohe and take a left onto 279. The second left on this map actually takes you all the way down to the coast. Just park on the side of the road at the above coordinates. Take the trail south of the road to a lookout platform. The climbing spot is directly below the platform.

Its hard to get a really good shot showing the entire rock face...

The real prize is the scene looking out. Days like this don't come often in Northern Japan. I'm glad we got to enjoy it.

Angelica's Running

Angelica joined a jogging club at her school. I didn't get to see her first day, but both her and Rose were pretty excited afterwards. Angelica tied for the longest run at 2.5 miles. The other boy, who is a year older, won the speed contest.

I hope she'll keep it up. I'll start taking her to the track accross the street. I've started a runnersworld.com account for her and started feeding her stats to the right column.

Rock Climbing

I finally had the opportunity to get onto a real rock face. I don't know why rock climbing fascinates me so much. Being tall, clumsy, and not too fond of heights, the last place I feel natural is rock climbing. But, there is a certain rush that comes from facing your fears head-on. On top of that, what other sport has you hanging on for your life by your fingertips and depending on somebody else to catch you if you fall? Plus, isn't it just natural to want to reach the tops of things? Rock climbing is a rush on so many levels.
Darren, the experienced one of the bunch, showing us the ropes.

Mike was VERY hesitant at first, but seemed like a natural once on the wall. Much quicker starting out than me and much more confident in his lunges upward.

Its not as fun if you don't spill a little blood along the way. The rock was pretty sharp and my knees, as always, were always getting in the way.

This is as far as I got up...I wore out quick and couldn't stop my legs from shaking:) But, I'll definitely be back to try again soon.

6th Annual Wild Weasel Triathlon

I ran my first triathlon today. I'm no expert on triathlons, but the distances were:
• 400m Swim • 13k Bike • 5k Run
I finished at 1:08. I really enjoyed it and I think this is something I could get into on a more frequent basis. But, I learned some lessons...
400 meters is a lot further than it looks when you're swimming.
You simply can't be competitive on a mountain bike.
I was able to catch alot of folks during the final run, but I'm thinking seriously about investing in a good road bike and some more time at the pool.
Me and the Lt.

We're off!

Running for my bike.

The transition area is another place where you really need to have a gameplan to save time. Off on my mountain bike!

And the finish line! I think my run split was pretty strong @ under 21 minutes.