Mt. Yotei Hike

Summer is the month for camping or other outdoor activities in Hokkaido. 

As usual, we rented a car for a camping trip. But for this time, the main goal is hiking! 

The targeted mountain is not some ordinary mountain, but the so-called Mount Fuji of Hokkaido - because this Mt. Yotei resembles the famous Mount Fuji. 

I initially planned to rent a van for seven of us, but due to Obon holiday season in Japan, most cars were already reserved by others. The only car left was quite a luxurious one - an eight-seater Nisan. It's very pricey! Cost us 32,130yen for 48 hours. 

 

 

We began at the base of Kyogoku Route. (There are four different routes to follow for Mt. Yotei hike, but we opted for this one because there are hot spring facility, a convenient store, and a campsite for us to stay overnight near the base)
We talked, we made jokes... This was how we hiked the mountain! ... at least while at the beginning... 

This was the second milestone (as according to the signboard). There are nine in total before you reach the top.
Notice that everyone were still with a smiling face at this point :)

The third milestone.

Here, we started to see clouds in the surrounding just like the morning mist.  

The forth milestone, no one smile anymore... Even if someone does, it didn't seems natural...

The hiking keeps on... which milestone was this? Why someone was blocking the signboard? Okay, who care, lets take a snap and keep going... "pai rew rew"

This particular stone seems so much like the one you will see in a Chinese ink painting.

Again, which milestone was this? or probably we just decided to take a rest somewhere in between. And I don't care anymore that guy in a black shirt wasn't even ready for the picture. Lets snap a pic and more on!
The decision of not bringing my 6kg DSLR gears prove to be a very wise decision! A smartphone with a good camera is all a poor hiker needs!  

From the eighth or ninth milestone onward, the ground becomes very stony. 

Hiking on the stony ground isn't easy, because the stones can easily sliding against each other and causing you to slip. So there is a rope for you to hold while passing through this area.  

After the stony route, you will reach a plateau and see this signboard. Turning left is going towards the top of this bloody hell Mt. Yotei :)

Almost there, but this is a good spot to take photo too. So why not... 

 

 

 
Finally, the top of Mt. Yotei!

 

Actually, Mt. Yotei is an active volcano just like its big brother Mt. Fuji. You can see its crater in the next two photos. 

There are some short plants at the plateau of Mt. Yotei. 

 

I have totally no idea what this is... someone's grave?

I took a nap at the plateau (probably 40-60min) before we went down.
The way down... after some rest and a meal for lunch, the smiling face reappeared!

Some wildflower species at Mt. Yotei.

A view of Kyogaku town.

Pink mushroom. Looks very delicious.

From about the half mountain down, I started to walk with a cane. My thighs and the right knee hurts a lot probably because of me jumping too much (from branch to branch like a chimp) at the beginning of the way down. 

Right out of the forest is this resting place with the magnificent scene.
Here Matteo kindly offered a piece of apple to us which, as far as I can remember, it was so refreshing and tasty that it made me forgotten about the pain at my knee and thighs, momentary.

After the hike, we went to the nearby campsite and set up the tent.

Beside the tent is this crystal clear stream...  

The next morning, I brought a chair there to enjoy my breakfast. Superb!!!

Winter 2012 - Photography Trip

This winter has been very fruitful for my photography. After so many years staying here, I finally rented a car in winter and driven around on icy roads, with occasional snowstorm and white-out (with Ankit, an Indian friend who is on his way picking up photography, and Hannes, a German friend who called for the trip). 

Visibility in snowstorm  

Almost white-out

Entering tunnel

Exiting tunnel

In windy condition, if the road is level with an open field,
there will be continues sheets of snow hurtling across the road

At night, when snowing, driving with high light is impossible.
I put on the high light for few sec just for the sake of photography.
As I am driving, so Ankit took the shot. 

For the trip, the final destination is Sounkyo, a small town  at the middle-north of Hokkaido with average temperature 5C colder than Sapporo. 
The first stop was at a hot-spring resorts area (Shirogane town) for taking pictures of this waterfall. The waterfall remained unfrozen because it's a hot spring waterfall. 

You can see the steam rising from the water

Next, we went to a natural hot spring at middle of a mountain. It's really in the wilderness! The surrounding temperature was -5C while the water was 46C... a very extreme hot-spring experience.   

When we left the hot spring, it's already dark. From Shirogane to Sounkyo took us about three hours on icy road. 
Sounkyo is located in mountainous area with many elevated cliffs. When in autumn, the cliffs turn colorful and this is why Sounkyo is listed as one of the popular red-leaves viewing spot of Hokkaido. 

The white-vertical area at the left is frozen waterfall

Taken from Mt. Kurodake. When doing time lapse, the battery  of my timer control  went dead  because of the cold temperature - first time experiencing this.

I have also visited a ski resort for the very first time not doing any snowboarding, but just photography. 

The panorama photo was taken from Mt. East of Rusutsu ski resort. I chosen this resort because of the Mt. Yotei view.

My Canon 16-35 mm lens safe my day.
Without the 16 mm wide angle,
I will not achieve a shot with this perspective
 which gives emphasis on the snow accumulated on the trunk,
and it will make a less impact then.  

The following shots seem like the desert, but with snow instead of sand?
Maybe I have not travel to other places and therefore I have yet find other places with this kind of scenery except on top of the ski mountain.