Okutama Chain Gang

A development company in China demolished large sections of the Great Wall along with three ancient villages that were under government protection in order to build a highway. It sounds shocking at first, but when I think about it I wonder if I am any different. Next weekend I will be volunteering to help demolish some forest in the Okutama area, working on trails for Tokyo water workers.

Okutama is the main source of water for most of Tokyo, and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Water Works has a volunteer program to take care of the forest. While it sounds like fun just to put on a pair of workman's tabi (the shoes with the big toe separate from the rest) and shimmy up the tree to cut some limbs, or spend a day building a trail, they are also supposed to have some "learning sessions", so maybe I will learn a thing or two about the forest as well.

Of course the next day will just be a "for fun" hike.
And of course, this post was just an excuse to get some of my Okutama hiking photos out of the queue.

The photos above are just random shots of Okutama forests. The photo below is a shot of what the Japanese Deer do to the trees. There were many signs warning us to make a lot of noise and wear bright colors so that we wont get shot by the hunters employed to get rid of those tree chewing deer. The photo on the very bottom is me contemplating my own decision to partake in destruction of the trees for the sake of Tokyo's water and my own fun. (Of course, it's not like they are red-woods or anything even remotely close to the "natural" state, so I don't really feel bad.)