Road Trip out West . Day 2

Kurobe Dam and Mt. Tateyama

We woke up early this morning and had pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  The great thing about camping on this side of Japan in the summer is the pleasant weather.  There was no humidity and the air smelt a bit fresher.  It also wasn't freezing when we woke up which was nice.  I do love camping but I also love to be able to have a nice bathroom to use when I am camping.  Lucky for us there was a great bathroom set up just up the road from our campsite.  The bathhouse included separate toilet areas and shower areas.  There was also two sets of small washer/dryer units if one wanted to do laundry.  And since it is Japan there were vending machines.  I took advantage of the shower this morning while the kids played around for a bit before we all piled in the car and headed north towards Mt. Tateyama. 

Once we reached Ogizawa Station we bought our tickets for the long trek up to Morodo which was at the base of Mt. Tateyama.  First, we rode the trolley bus through the mountain to get to Kurobe Dam.  Once there we got out and walked down to view the damn and then across the dam to the other side.  Abby was having a bit of a breakdown so we tried doing 1,2,3 swing with her.  Mike took it to the next level and said 1,2,3, Dam It since we were on top of the dam.  She loved it and so did everyone else.  We told the kids they could say "dam it" all the way across the dam.  It was quite humurous. 

Once on the other side of the dam we walked inside the entrance to the next mountain so we could get on the trolley which took us to the top of the next mountain.  From there we got on the cable car that took us between the two adjoining mountains.  We all loved the cable car because we could see the beautiful scenery.  The other modes of transportation were all under ground so there wasn't much to see.  Once we made it to Mt. Tateyama we took one more trolley bus to get to the other side of the mountain where the majority of the climbing trails were located.  We weren't quite sure what the weather was going to be like as some of the stations were a bit overcast.  To our surprise it was sunny with big white puffy clouds and lots of blue sky.  This area reminded us of Mt. Rainier.  It was so beautiful with wildflowers everywhere, climbing trails galore and snow covered areas of the mountain.  We took the trail less traveled as we didn't want to be in a sea of Japanese hikers.  It was the perfect trail for us.  All would have been perfect but Abby decided to throw a fit because she didn't want to walk.  We tried distracting her with songs and other things but eventually Mike just picked her up and carried her.  It was down right hilarous as he just flung her over his back like a sack of potatoes.  Andrew, Peter, and Emma, on the other hand, were speedy hikers and we actually had to tell them to slow down and wait for us.  We found a couple of different snowy banks to the side of the trail and took some time to play in the snow.  We hiked up as far as the trail would take us without going too steep up the mountain, ate a snack, and then turned around to head back to Murodo Station.  Everyone was all smiles today even though it was quite a trek to get to the base of the mountain to hike.  It was all worth it, though, just to be in familiar surroundings again.  We just love hiking in the mountains.   

Road Trip out West . Day 1

Nezamenotoko Gorge and Matsumoto

Today we headed out on our annual road trip out to the western part of Japan.  This year we decided to explore the gorges and the northern Japan Alps.  On our way to Matsumoto to camp we stopped at Nezamenotoko gorge.  The weather was about to turn stormy when we got there so we hurried down to the gorge to take pictures and enjoy the beauty.  I foolishly hiked down to the lowest point with my keens on slick rock, holding my tripod and my camera bag.  When I got down there I had maybe a minute before it started coming down.  Luckily I had my umbrella but I had wished I was more prepared for wet weather photography.  Oh well.  Andrew came down and helped me back up.  We did enjoy the views even though we were only there for a short time.

On our way to Matsumoto we stopped at one of the little post towns to take a look around.  We couldn't resist the zip line along the way and the shot of Emma' crack. The little town of Naraijuku was so cool.  It was authentic with cute little shops all along the road.  Every shop had a decorated tree outside which made us think it must have been in preparation for an upcoming holiday.  A cute old man stopped us and had our kids write their names on a piece of paper to hang on his tree.  The older kids wrote their names in both English and Japanese.  The man was super impressed that they could write their names in Japanese.  The little town was not that long and when we got to the end we just turned around and walked back to the start.  The boys loved looking at all the chopsticks and everyone loved washing their hands and drinking the water from the water shrines.  The little water shrine, meant to purify you before entering the town, was a temptation for my kids to play in the water.  Luckily they weren't too disrespectful.  Still, it was REALLY humid so even the slightest water was a pleasant treat. 

After finally getting to Matsumoto and to the campground we set up the tents.  The boys set up their own tent and the girls happily helped Mike set up our new tent.  We said goodbye to our other 8 man tent and said hello to our brand new 4 person tent.  The girls were a little sad that they didn't have their own tent to sleep in but were reassured that when they got to be a little older that we would get them their own girl tent.  The campsite was just right with a gorgeous view of Matsumoto city through the trees. This was a much better spot than our spot last year in the grassy meadow. The only thing we miss here is having a firepit to build a fire and roast marshmallows. We don't know why they don't do that here but we made do with our little stove and we happily roasted marshmallows over that instead.