mount tsukuba

it's supposed to be rainy season right about now. on the radio late last week they were saying that 梅雨入り (the beginning of rainy season, or, literally: entering plum rain) was upon us, but they seem to have been quite mistaken.

this is what the sky looked like on friday:



the good weather held through all weekend, which meant that my friends sam and greg and i were able to hike nearby mount tsukuba (pronounciation closely resembles "scuba") on saturday. the hike up was three kilometers (1.87 miles), consisting almost entirely of craggy rocks, roots, and steps. the view at the top (not to mention the tofu ice cream) was well worth fighting through mild asthma on the climb up:



it was comforting to spend some time surrounded by trees and ferns and mud and leaves. it felt like home, except with more people. here's a shot from the 2 kilometer hike down:



when i told my co-workers today that we went hiking at mount tsukuba this weekend, they asked me whether i took the ropeway on the way up, or on the way down. apparently most people take the ropeway one way and walk the other way. here's a shot of the ropeway station from above -- i think it's a halfway point:



in this last shot, the tiny red dot on the center right edge is where we parked:



we're going to try to do another hike before summer break. depending on the outcome, we may try hiking mount fuji in august.