Hiking Club goes to Mt. Kinka

I received an invitation from the Hiking Club for another level 1 hike (easy), and I decided to give it a try. This time we were heading to the neighboring area of Gifu, which took about an hour to get there via train & bus. There were 7 people this time, and one repeat girl from my first hike 2 weeks ago.

Here's a stained glass window in the Gifu train station. In addition to their several mountains and famous castle, Gifu is also known for their cormorant fishing. A cormorant is a bird which has a rope tied to it, and they send them out in the river while keeping the other end of the rope in the boat. After a period of time when the cormorants have caught enough fish, they pull the birds back in the boat and remove the fish (often up to 6) which are caught in their throat. Very popular, especially for tourists, and they have many festivals in the spring to celebrate the beginning of the season. Although I'm not really a fan of birds, it sounds kind of like torture for the cormorants.

See that teeny, tiny castle on top of that giant mountain? Yeah, that's where we are going: Mt. Kinka (or Kinka-zan in Japanese). At this point, I was totally freaking out. Maybe I should have researched this "level 1" hike business a little better. What the heck was I thinking??

Waterfall on the way to our trail plus a ceramic turtle and frog! I suppose this should have been nice and serene, but I was not calm at this point.

The leader said we were going on the shortest trail, but he failed to mention that it was also the steepest!! (And hardly a trail at all in my opinion!!)

Here I am halfway up the mountain and near the throes of death. They were hiking incredibly fast, and my lungs and heart were ready to burst. I am not built for uphill climbing. I kept thinking I may die before I get to the top of the mountain.

Here's a view of the castle at the halfway point. If I had been with friends, this would have been my quitting point. I considered it, but I had no way to meet back up with them because we were planning to take a different trail down to the bottom, and I didn't trust myself to make it back to Nagoya via bus and train by myself. So the death march continued...

At one point, another woman asked me if I brought my inhaler and what type of asthma I had!! I told her I didn't have asthma; I was just out of shape and not used to climbing straight up mountains. She then said that I probably had "seasonal asthma". Well if "lazy girl climbing a mountain" is a season, then sure let's say I have seasonal asthma!

It's a miracle!! We finally made it to the top. Here's a pretty view through the trees.

Unobstructed view from the top.

Gifu Castle at the top. Originally built in the 1200's, but eventually deteriorated due to the WWII bombings in surrounding areas. It was rebuilt in the 1950's by volunteers who carried all the materials and supplies to the top!! Insane?! Who would volunteer for that gig?

Also at the top is a restaurant and Squirrel Village. At first I thought... seriously, who is hard-up enough for a job to climb this darn mountain to go to work as a waitress every day?! But then I found out about the "Rope way". It's a giant lift (similar to those for skiing) that takes you to the top in less than 5 minutes. Why the heck did we just climb for 75 minutes through pain and torture?!

And Squirrel Village?! Seriously... I will watch them from the dining room window in Michigan, but please don't stick me in a giant cage full of squirrels to pet. No thanks!

I also saw this nice "trail" of stairs at the top and it even had a railing tall enough for me to reach without stooping over, but we didn't end up going down this way. Instead we took another rustic trail, and literally ran down the mountain in about 30 minutes.

Although it was pure torture for me, I'm glad I went on this hike today because I realized that Mt. Fuji is WAY out of my league!!

Mt. Kinka is 329 meters (1,079 ft) tall.

To put that in perspective, the Eiffel Tower is 324 m tall, but that includes the mast. The observation deck is only 275 m to the top.

The Empire State Bldg is 381 m with the spire, and the observation deck is 369 m.

Mt. Fuji is 3,776 meters tall. Even if I started at the 5th station, which is the highest point for buses to run, it is still another 1,471 meters to climb!! I don't think I could survive!

Finally back at the bottom of the hill, we went to an insect museum. Yes, you read that right. Japan has a museum for everything, including creepy crawlies!! I liked the butterflies the best.

Here's a nice example so you can see how big some of these bugs were. This one is about 130 millimeters, which means just over 5 inches. Ewww... I would run the other way if I found that in my house!! I don't even know if stomping on it would kill it!

Here's some pretty colored bugs but still disgusting.

Can you find the praying mantis?

I'm finally at the bottom of the mountain and done with the insect museum. It's been a crazy day for this girl. Hopefully I will sleep well from all of the exercise & fresh air and not have nightmares about enormous insects coming to get me!

Hiking Club goes to Tokoname

I joined a new group this week: CHIC. It stands for Chubu Hiking International Club. Yes, you read that correctly, and you're not in the twilight zone. The girl who hates hiking will go to great lengths to meet new friends in Japan. Today was a "Level 1" hike, meaning easy, short and great for beginners or wimps like me!! I would say it was more like a sightseeing walk than a hike, but I'm not complaining!! We had 14 people show up, which is a great turnout for a winter hike and a level 1. 5 guys, 9 girls, and people from America, Canada, Mexico, Korea, Philippines, China, and of course, Japan.

We took a train to the town of Tokoname, which is about 40 minutes away. First we went on the "Pottery Path" which is a labeled walk around town giving you a glimpse of its pottery history. Tokoname has been a pottery town for over 1,000 years. It became famous in the 12th century for its pottery, but history says it dates back to the 8th century. Tokoname is thought to be the oldest and largest pottery town in Japan because it is located on the sea and could send their products on ships frequently.

The tour starts off with a greeting from this waving cat. (above) This town is known for pottery, but I believe it also has an unnatural obsession with cats. This entire walkway has ceramic cats every 12 feet. (below) Here's my favorite ceramic cat!! More of the "Pottery Path". The edges are lined with old clay pots and even the ground is made of clay rings. Much the path was hilly because (for reasons I don't understand) kilns need to be on an incline.

Pottery wall.

Clay path.

"Dokanzaka" one of the most famous hills in Japan! It's lined with clay pottery on both sides and the bottom! We stop and warm up by this "hibachi". (In traditional Japan style, hibachi aren't grills and aren't used for cooking!) We also were served some unique tea that is a by-product of sake (liquor) production!

Awesome pottery wall! I have no idea how they got all of these cool colors!

Here is the "Climbing Kiln". It is the largest in Japan, was built in 1887, and was used up until 1973.

Inside the Climbing Kiln. Tokoname is the best preserved pottery town in Japan!

You can tell which homes used to have coal kilns from these giant chimneys! Now all kilns use gas and do not require chimneys.

After the Pottery Path, we switched to another trail that was more scenic and less touristy. For a hiking club, these people were awfully pokey walkers. We were constantly stopping to let people catch up.

Tokoname shrine

It seems strange to see a garden in February! But things were growing and many old people were tending them.

We stopped by the Tokoname Museum. Tokoname is known for making large pots, not on a wheel but by hand (featured below). The clay is usually gray and once fired it turns red. In addition, you will find very few glazed pieces of pottery in Tokoname. They like the "rough" look and feel. The pot below was used to mix jet fuel in WWII.

Another giant preserved chimney kiln.

Awesome traffic warning everywhere in the town. Don't let your kids run into the street...

Another clay brick walkway, this time with Japanese characters. Please don't ask me what it says!

Here are some artistic public bathrooms!! They are decorated with pottery and mosaics!

Getting closer... hop a few stones and you can finally pee! The pictures don't do it justice. Everything was so colorful and unique. Really fun!

Cool sculpture next to the train station.

What's a good hike without a little shopping?! Here's my purchase of Tokoname-ware. It's actually a mixture of leftover clays, which is why it's multi-colored, and then the outside is scalloped to show off the design of the clay. It's fired and unglazed in true Tokoname style.

About half way through the hike, we stopped and ate our packed lunches. Even with all of the different nationalities, I felt like a freak show again with my peanut butter sandwich. Everyone else had rice triangles wrapped in seaweed or special sushi rolls leftover from Setsubun. Sandwiches are virtually unheard of here! People were also eating carrot sticks, oranges, and most puzzling one person was gnawing on a giant sweet potato. (I didn't even know those were available in Japan!) At least no one asked me where my vegetables were...

We started talking about Mt. Fuji over lunch, and nearly everyone in the group had climbed Fuji, but no one had made it to the top!! Wow, that really freaks me out. I know some people don't make it top the top, but these people were all on different hikes and had truly terrifying stories to tell! Even during the climbing season (July & August) they said it's wicked cold, and you're gonna get wet either from rain, snow, or hail. Some people had frostbite, others had altitude sickness, but often it was dangerous weather that made they stop climbing and have to turn back around.