Afghanistan Bound

Well, my trip to Kandahar was interesting.
They put us up in these sweet accomodations during our short layover at Manas, Air Base, Kyrgystan.

My last beer of the year (and for the next 6 months) was a Baltika #9. At Manas, you're only allowed two beers per 20 hour period. I asked the bartender what the best local beer was. He recommended the Batika #5. I tried it and it wasn't a bad beer. But, for my second, I decided on the Baltika #9. The "#" of the Baltika beer tells you the strength of the beer with the #9 having the highest alcohol content, and stoutness. Having tried a couple, I definitely recommend the #9. When you can only have two, its definitely the best beer.

For our trip from Manas to Kandahar, we had two C-130 legs...First Class, of course. The flight, while not the most comfortable, was quite incredible. We flew right over the Hindu Kush mountains. I took a little bit of video footage out the window, but wasn't able to upload to the blog because of my crappy internet connection over here. There's really no way to describe the size and vastness of a Himalayan mountain range. It was simply awesome. Sweet digs.

Hanging Out in Norfolk

Well, over the holidays, I got held up at Norfolk, Virginia. Luckily, I had good friends in the area. It was nice seeing old friends and finally meeting Ethan and Erik. Thanks to Buz, Bob, and Kristine for putting up with me during the holidays!

Amihari Onsen, Winter Mountaineering, and Hiking Kilts

Ryan and I decided to do a "guy's weekend" before my deployment. We planned on one day of travel, camping out, and visiting onsens followed by a one-day winter summit of Mount Iwate.
We actually visited two onsens, but one was simply much nicer than the other. Amihari Onsen has hot, slightly sulfuric water piped straight down from an active steam vent on the back side of Mount Iwate. I enjoyed a hot bath outside in the winter air with snow-covered mountains in the background. The water had a tinge of sulfur odor and my skin could feel the difference between the volcanic water and a regular bath.

This is the second time I've visited a Japanese Onsen. If you've never heard of them, I highly advise looking it up online and visiting one if you get a chance. The first time is a little awkward. You basically walk into a room full of naked Japanese men washing themselves next to these little sinks. After you wash up, you walk outside, naked, and slip into the bath. Once you get over your modesty, its a quite enjoyable experience.

While hiking through Daisetsuzan National Park last summer, I remarked to Ryan that the only thing that could be cooler than making the hike was making the hike in a kilt! Well, I recently found out that Mountain Hardwear made a "mountain kilt." While it doesn't bear much resemblance to an authentic Scottish kilt, I'm a new fan. This thing is quite simply the most comfortable garment I've ever worn. I'll leave it at that:)

We grilled out at the trailhead. Rather than pitching a tent, we decided we'd throw our sleeping bags out right under the BBQ awning. I'm not sure I'd try that in the U.S., but we felt safe sleeping out in the open in Japan.

A big meal to get ready for the next day's hike...

During our bivy, the wind really picked up and it started to snow. I woke up to find the top of my bag coated with ice. I was concerned that my new down bag would get wet and let me get cold. But, our shelter and equipment allowed us to have a comfortable night despite the inclimate weather.

The next day we awoke to a thin covering of snow. We suited up and headed up Mount Iwate.

At just over 2000 meters, Mount Iwate is the tallest mountain in the Tohoku. During the summer time, its just a strenuous day hike. During the wintertime, you need snowshoes and crampons.

Nothing keeps your body warm and energy stores full like a block of cheddar cheese.

Pulling up into the Iwatesan "ampitheater."

View from the ampitheater.

Mount Iwate looks like a nearly perfect cone when viewed from the east. At about 1800 meters, there is a large flat area which extends off the southside of the mountain. In this "ampitheater", you find two of the three cabins on Mount Iwate. The one in this picture is locked up in the winter. During the summertime, a lucky hiker may find Japanese hikers being generous with their delicious food and sake.

Once you pull up onto the crater, its just a short walk to the summit. But, being the highest point around, you get hammered by 50-70 MPH winds blowing in from Siberia. This is the most dangerous point of the climb as any bare skin can become quickly frozen and unprotected eyes can become snow blind.

Last winter, due to weather, I failed to summit Mount Iwate. I instead spent a night inside a rescue cabin about 300 meters below the summit. I was happy to come back this year and make the winter summit.

There's nothing like a hot bowl of spicy ramen after a cold day on the mountain.

Asamushi Aquarium

Rose wanted to take the kids to the Asamushi Aquarium in Aomori City.
I was pretty happy with it. Admission cost 3000 yen (~$30) for 3 adults and 2 children.

The dolphin show, as always, was alot of fun.

We finally got a glimpse of the elusive giant salamander.

The highlight of the tour was the dolphin feeding. We were able to stand around a very small pool and watch the dolphins get fed. It made for a very intimate experience with the dolphins.

The dolphins also did a few trips. Its one thing watching a dolphin show from the stands, but there's nothing quite like seeing them do flips right in front of you.

100 Yen Sushi

I haven't blogged in awhile, but I've collected a couple stories, so here goes with the first. One of our favorite restaurants is a 100 yen sushi restaurant. Here in Japan, 100 yen is roughly equivalent to $1 U.S. So, instead of having a "dollar store", we have a 100 yen store, and so on.


At the 100 yen sushi store, you sit in a booth next to a carousel where plates of sushi pass you by. When you see something you like, you just grab it.
Helen and Angelica both like the shrimp tempura. "Tempura" is basically anything deep-fat fried. With sushi, the big piece of fried shrimp is laid on top of a block of rice with some mayonnaise between.
One of my favorites is this concoction. Its raw salmon laid on top of a block of rice with wasabi sauce in between. Sliced onion and some sort of salad dressing is put on top.

Another type of shrimp tempura sushi. Here, the fried shrimp is rolled up in rice and a seaweed wrapoper.

This is minced seafood (shrimp and squid) with a mayonnaise-based dressing on top of rice and wrapped with a seaweed wrapper.

You can also get a bowl of miso soup at the sushi restaurant. Helen always likes to eat the shellfish miso.

After you're done eating, the waiter counts up you plates and charges you 100 yen per plate! The miso soup cost 157 yen.

Nuidoishi Yama Take 2

Awhile back, Ryan and I took a shot at Nuidoishi Yama. Its a 100-meter multi-pitch climb up in Shimokita. The pitches are tough (5.10a-5.11b) and they become overgrown with moss and lichen. We accepted failure at the top of the first pitch.
So, we naturally decided we could make it if we came back with more gear. I even brought along a bit of aid gear.

We made it up about two more meters with the extra gear, but we kept getting stuck at a nasty 5.11 overhang. The climb wasn't impossible, but a missed move would have caused Ryan to pendulum into a sharp granite ridge. So we once again accepted defeat and headed back to the car.

On the way back, we were surprised by a very friendly Akita who followed us down the trail.

As if our day couldn't get any worse, he continuously tried to violate us, and every other hiker who came down the trail that morning.

Race the Base Half Marathon

Well, we had our 2nd ever Race the Base half-marathon on Sunday. They had a 5K, a 10K, a half-marathon, and a kid's 3K. Angelica and Helen ran the 3K and I ran the half-marathon.
Angelica ran well and finished strong...

Helen lost interest about half-way through the race and I had to go back and help her finish. Once we got her going again, she finished strong as well....

I ran a 1:45:02. I felt pretty good about the time considering I haven't really trained much since the Tokyo marathon in March. I figured I could live with getting beat by Buz, but it was a kick in the shin seeing the photo finish of myself getting beat by this guy...

I hope I can run like that when I'm 80. I've decided to hit the running hard again with plans to run the Hokkaido marathon next August.