Okutama Hike

The last two times I said "last time time this season", but we're baking up a batch of home-made granola again, so I won't say it this time. Friday we will head out to Okutama for a three day / two night hike. The distances are a bit ambitious so that we can stay in unmanned huts at night. It may cause a fight with Tomoe, but the way I figure it, we can fight about not having enough time to take a three hour book-reading-under-a-tree break, or we can fight about how she is freezing cold at night. I would rather it be the former. (Of course, we also have an alternative route that will have us ending near Chichibu instead - a little less convenient, but it would mean a shorter second day).

Okutama is quite close to us here in Tokyo, and very inexpensive to get to - which also means it is usually quite crowded. We are hoping that the weather forecast for this weekend (cloudy and rainy), and the in-between-seasons timing (no fall colors, but no beautiful snow) will mean room at the huts. Although not why we chose it, this hike will cover another one of Japan's Hyakumeizan (one hundred famous mountains) - this time it is Kumotoriyama.

And just when I had almost run out of hiking and mountain photos... looks like the reader will have to endure at least one more month when I get back.

note: these photos are not from Okutama, the are from our hike in Japan's Yatsugatake a few weeks ago.