Camping at Towada

We went on our first car-camping trip last weekend with our next door neighbors, the Herrons. We chose a spot up on Lake Towada which just happened to have a fireworks show scheduled for the night. The firworks were quite nice over the lake and lasted for about 45 minutes.

One thing I couldn't figure out was that the maps all had "no swimming" posted at all the waterfronts. I asked a man at the information center where we could swim and he said that there was no safe place to swim on Lake Towada. In limited English, he explained to me that the water was cold, deep, and the cause of many, many deaths. I thought about his warning....and swam anyway. The water temperature was perfect, although it got deep quicker than any waterbody I've ever swam in. Throughout the 2 days, I noticed that myself and a small handful of other young american men were the only ones getting in the water. I'm still trying to figure out if the lake is really dangerous, or if there's a peculiar difference between the Japanese culture and ours. Since I've been here, I've yet to see a Japanese person bathing in a natural water body. They also seem to dress warmer than us for the climate...i.e. wearing sweaters on the beach in the summertime (and of course, not swimming).

There were hundreds of these paddleboats on the lake. I'm not sure what the Japanese's fascination with swans is, but their likeness is used everywhere.

This "lesbian" statue, as called by all of the Americans around here, is the trademark landmark of Lake Towada. After seeing it in person, next to the gorgeous lake and the many shrines, I fail to see the significance.

A beautiful rock with some sort of shrines built atop.

One of the many Shinto shrines of Japan.

Shimokita Peninsula

Today, we took a road trip around Shimokita Peninsula. It is a bit of land that shoots out between the Pacific Ocean and Mutsu Bay. Beautiful and sparsely populated, its definitely a place I'll visit again.

Aomori prefecture is known for the high quality horses they bred during the Samurai days. Our first stop was Cape Shiriya where you can still spot the "wild" horses of Japan.

This little fella walked right over to us and clearly made Helen's day.

Another new and interesting treat...apple ice cream! I love Japanese apples, and this frozen treat wasn't too bad either.

One of the many sights on Shimokita is Hotokegaura. This is a coastal area with lots of tall rock formations.

"Hotoke" apparently means Buddha and the Japanese apparently think these rock formations remind them of praying Buddhas.

Can you see the Buddha resemblance?

An interesting thing about the sight, along with several buddhist alters, were these man-made mounds scattered around the beach. I'm not sure about the meaning behind them, but I couldn't help to remember finding these same phenomenons in my back yard in Italy. Of course, this was usually after a night of drinking and impressing my friends by showing them how my obese Labrador would actually eat rocks. Come to think of it, Lily kind of looked like a big Buddha...hmmm

One of the really nice things about Japan is that, despite thousands of years of humans living here, they have managed do a pretty good job of preserving the environment to include both grizzly bears and the black spectacled bear (not too shabby when you consider we almost killed off every one of our black bears in a couple of hundred years). While most tourists try to steer clear of the bears, many of them do take a trip up to Shimokita to see the snow monkeys. This is supposed to be the northern-most spot to see them. But, they often prove to be pretty elusive, so many tourists settle for a glimpse at some roadside monkey zoos. We had about given up on finding wild monkeys and I was having a hard time finding the roadside zoo when...

we happed upon this fella. He didn't run off and allowed us to take several pics. But, he refused to eat any of the bananas Rose threw at him. I still can't believe a monkey would refuse a banana, but it was still a neat experience. I've seen many animals in the wild during my lifetime, but wild monkeys are just so much more exotic.

About 5 minutes down the road, we saw about 15 of them to include some mothers carrying their babies hanging from their midsections. I wasn't quick enough on the camera to catch them all, but I did get to capture a shot of this little fella...

Tanesashi Coast

We recently found a nice coastal area close to base. The Tanesashi Coast is a beautiful mix of rocks, grass, and sand. I think we'll be spending alot of time there.

One of Tanesashi's highlights is Shiroiwo or "White Rock".

Further research revealed that this wonder of nature is actually just a rock covered with bird poop.

I did a bit of scrambling over the coastal rocks with an old friend from Italy. While this pic makes it look a bit more treacherous than it really was, the rock was very sharp and a slip would have definitely resulted in injury.

Backpacking w/ Angelica and Lola Virgie

After several weekends of backpacking partners backing out on me, I decided to take Angelica and my mother-in-law (Virgie) backpacking off the Oirase Gorge trail overnight. Virgie was actually very excited about going and did better than Angelica on the hike. We expected to see some waterfalls and hopefully some wildlife....but alas...we saw none. The trail was badly overgrown and much of the ground was soggy. I was lucky enough to see a fox on a trail run I took in the evening. But, overall, it was a fun chance to get outdoors...finally!

I tested out my minimalist setup and it worked out pretty well. The great thing about this setup is not the actual campsite comfort, but the comfort on your back on the way up. There are some condensation issues I need to work out with the Bivy, but I slept well and didn't wake to a bear licking my face (my worst fear)...so I'm generally happy with it. The interesting thing is that I carried all of this stuff AND the 2-man tent for Angelica and Virgie and it was the most comfortable backpacking load I've ever endured. It really is worth it to get lighweight, quality gear.

A Good Weekend

On Saturday morning, Angelica and I left the house early to try snowboarding for the first time. It was a blast! I can't believe I never tried this before. I wish I would have gotten some pics of myself snowboarding, but frankly, I was too fast for the camera.

You know you're getting old when you try to take pics of yourself having a good time and you look like this.

Saturday afternoon, I finally took a shot at the rockclimbing wall on base. I made it up the easy pitch twice before my hands and forearms started burning so bad I couln't make it again.

On Sunday, we took another trip up to Lake Towada. You really have to check this place out during each different season to appreciate all the scenery. This is Helen standing with her class's stuffed animal, Greta. Each weekend, a different kid takes it home and writes in a journal about where they took Greta.

When will backpacking season ever get here?

Sitting around waiting for spring so I can hit the trail and sleep under the stars, I decided to see if I've accomplished my winter task of building a lightweight backpacking list.

I made a spreadsheet using advertised weights of all my gear and made my goal to have a pack weighing under 13 pounds before adding food, water, and fuel. Here's my list...


Gear
Clothes
Extra Socks (3.77 oz)
Thermal Top (4.83 oz)
Thermal Bottom (5.11 oz)
R1 Bottoms (8 oz)
Gloves (2 oz)
Cap (3 oz)
Patagonia R2 (14.8 oz)
Poncho/Tarp (10 oz)
Subtotal for Clothes (51.51 oz)

Sleeping
Stakes (10 oz)
Guylines (2 oz)
REI Bivy (17.6 oz)
Sleeping Bag 32deg (34 oz)
Sleeping Pad (7 oz)
Subtotal for Sleeping (10.6 oz)

Packing
Backpack (32 oz)
Stuff Sacks (4 oz)
Subtotal for Packing (36 oz)

Cooking & Water
PocketRocket Stove + 1 can fuel (3.2 oz)
Coffee Cup (2 oz)
1-liter Platypus Bottle x 2 (2 oz)
Pan (4 oz)
Water Filter (11 oz)
Subtotal for Cooking/Water (22.2 oz)

Other essentials
First Aid Kit, etc (6 oz)
Headlamp, compass, etc (10 oz)
MaxiDeet (2.4 oz)

Total -- 12.27 lbs

All my gear (except food, water, and my sleeping pad).
This is my food preparation gear. A titanium pot, a titanium mug, a water filter, an MSR Pocket Rocket stove, and a can of fuel. I've read tons of arguments on the best lightweight silverware whether it be titanium or lexar. I think they're all wrong and the the asians got it right...chopsticks!

This is my sleeping set up minus my sleeping pad. Basically, a 32-degree bag, a GoLite Tarp/Poncho, an REI Minimalist Bivy, some rope, and some stakes.

This is the REI Minimalist Bivy. Basically, its a waterproof bag that wraps around your sleeping bag.

This is what the GoLite Poncho/Tarp is supposed to look like set up. I'm waiting for the snow to melt so I can practice setting it up.

I packed it all in and put it on the scale at work.

And, voila! Under 13 pounds before food and water!

Tokyo

I made my first trip to Tokyo over the weekend to pick up Rose's mom. I rode the bullet train which was fairly exciting. While it didn't feel very fast from the inside, we went about 450 miles in 3 hours. Once exiting the train at the Tokyo station, you enter what feels like a small underground city full of restaraurants and shops. It took me 30 minutes to find an exit to the ground level.

Once on ground level, I was reminded that I really don't like big cities. Its kind of claustrophobic. I didn't dress warm as well, so I was kind of miserable walking around.

A short walk from the train station is the Imperial Palace. Its a huge complex surrounded by moats.

A house located inside the Imperial Palace garden.

The city is apparently "smork" free as there were signs like this everywhere to include carved into the sidewalks.

Japan is well known for the many electrical gadgets and fine automobiles it exports, but it is often overlooked on its advances in the field of high-tech toilets. The highlight of my trip was being able to take this little beauty for a test drive. The first feature I noticed was a perfectly heated seat...definitely a "warm" welcome in from the cold.

The control panel was conveniently located on the right side as I am right-handed, but I wondered if a left-handed user may have some trouble. Perhaps a swiveling control panel could be designed to accomodate other users. I particularly liked the adjustable water pressure. I toyed around with it for awhile and it was functional at all pressure levels, but I found that I fancied medium the best. Another thing I would change is perhaps an adjustable deodorizer. With this particular seat, you only had the choice of "Powerful Deoderizer On" or "Powerful Deoderizer Off". Some days require more deoderizer than others. Lastly, it had the energy saver function. What else would you expect from the country who brought you the Kyoto Protocol?