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2009年03月19日
Japanese Mountains: Rock and Snow
This week turned out to be quite the week for me as far as mountain climbing goes. On Monday I climbed the Katora Valley of Mt. Kongo. The upper part was all snow and felt and looked like the middle of the winter. However, when I returned via the Wasabi Valley, that valley had no snow at all. It felt and looked like spring had come for sure. From the Wasabi Ridge the slopes of the Katora Valley could be seen and of course they were pure white with snow. So I ended up walking in spring weather while looking at a winter landscape-very neat.
Then, on Thursday, the weather really turned warm and I decided that it was time to start rock climbing again. It was exciting to again put on my rock climbing shoes and climb the Kura Iwa Slab. The sun had warmed the rock and a nice breeze was blowing from the sea. As I neared the top, suddenly something silver colored flashed past my eyes-it was my camera that had slipped out of the case and was now banging down the slab. I imagine that the next time I come I can find what is left of it but there is no chance that it can be repaired. I had not thought about it before but dropping any kind of equipment on a rock face is fatal!
From the slab, I made my way up to the Mt. Makio wall where I planned to do some top roping. I had not used my equipment since last fall and so I was a bit worried if I could remember how to put on my harness, use the figure of eight, etc. but it all came back to me and I had a very enjoyable climbing session.
After that it was a matter of following the main ridge down to the parking lot and having a bowl of noodles at the shop there. The owner and his wife were delighted to see me again and told me how happy they were to see me back from America safe and sound.
Looking at the weather report, it looks like next week will be cold again so I suspect I will be climbing Mt. Kongo again and maybe even seeing some more snow.
投稿者 bethany : 2009年03月19日 15:44
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