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!
