It has been quite a big week! we have been in Asakidake and Sapporo and I write this as we fly from Sappror to Tokyo. There is so much that we have done and I would like to write in detail about it but I an feeling wuite tired so we will see how far I get.
I would like to start by telling you about the hike we did to the top of Asahhidake. On monday David and I packed our bags, strapped on our hiking boots and hiked to the top of Asahikidake - the tallest mountain in Hokkaido. It took us three hours to hike up and an hour and a half to two hours to hike down, and we spend half an hour at the top.
We started the day by taking the ropeway up to a higher point from whick we could stat the walk. At this rope way station there was a seanic walk that could be done that passed some of the small lakes or ponds and had lovely views of windflowers. We could also see the fumaroles and the discolouration of the snow from the sulphur. After ringing the bell for good luck it was time to climb the mountain. It was fairly steep climb which was made more difficult by me have hiking boots that I had not worn for a while which gave me some grief and getting a saw leg about half way up through the climb which meant that I couldn't raise my leg very high making climbing difficult and slightly painful. There is a chance that we should have turned around but I really wanted to get to the top and while I am not overly fit I am very determined. So with rest breaks and gritted teeth I made it up the mountain. The view all the way up and from the top were just amazing. We cold look up the path and see other hikers, sometimes a clouds would obscure the hikers and the top of the mountain. Wile we were high up for the first three quarters of the hike it was still very warm and sunny. Unfortunately for me I missed a spot when applying sunscreen and burnt my right shoulder in the most magnificent way.
Making it to the top was such a great feeling and I am so glad that we didn't turn around. We had a big lunch of miso (with that fresh tofu that we got in Asahikawa), snow peas and avocado and crackers. I got ot do a sketch of the view and just look out the view.
The way down we quite tricky as the rocks on the trail would slip from beneath you and as we were walking on a ridge there were big drops on either side of us. Oh I forgot to mention that on the way up we sore people almost jogging down the mountain! It look very scary. We also sore lots of people with hiking polls which would have been extremely useful on the way down. I only managed to fall over twice on the way down which I thought for me was quite impressive.
It was strange on the way down because you would look in front to you and be amazed at how far we had walked and you would look up to the peaks and be surprised that we had really climbed that was an hour or two ago. Back on the platue we had to walk through snow and a small stream to get to the cable car, and back to the hostel. By the time we had walked to the hostel My leg was so saw and stiff that I couldn't climb up hostel entrance stairs and had to walk up the ramp instead! But we got to the pouch and purchased beer from the vending machine and just stat there from an hour before dinner drinking and resting. After dinner it was time for a long hot soak in the Onsen and an early night.
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