18 January 2005
Yufu Dake in the snow
On the 18th of January I felt like a bit of a challenge. I'd heard about winter mountain climbing in Japan from some of the students and I could see some amazing snow capped peaks from just outside my apartment. Unfortunately though none of my friends were stupid enough to accompany me. I decided that my safest bet would be Yufu Dake which I'd already climbed, and to save a bit of money - and add to the challenge - I decided to cycle to Beppu where I would catch the bus up to the mountain.
The journey their all went according to plan and the bus dropped me off at a very chilly trail head. The hike up the mountain went very smoothly. I was incredibly lucky with the weather, the day was overcast, but the cloud base was well above the mountain tops and sunbeams were shining down into the valley below.
The going got a bit more tough towards the top of the mountain. The rubber souls of my Australian summer hiking boots weren't really made for walking on steep ice-encrusted slopes and I had to kick steps into whatever snow there was.
The sight at the top was well worth the climb. The crater was filled with hundreds of bushes completely covered in hoar frost.
After a brief stop at the top I made my way down the mountain pretty quickly sliding down the steeper bits. I arrived back at the bottom just in time for sunset and saw a few deer, before settling down for a dark, chilly wait for the bus
Once I got on the bus however, I realised that my wallet was missing. This contained my bank card, gaijin card, all of my money and the keys for my apartment and my bike lock. This meant that I had to try to make it all the way back to Oita without any money!
The first hurdle was getting off the bus in Beppu without paying the 600 yen fare. (on Oita busses you pay for bus journeys when you get off). I decided to pretend to be even more ignorant of japanese than I was, and just said in English 'sorry no money' and bowed lots. Eventually the bus driver realised there wasn't much he could do.
Hurdle number 2: get onto a train to Oita without any money. I achieved this by explaining in japanglish to the ticket inspector that I'd lost my wallet and a friend was meeting me at the other end who would pay my fare. I figured I could actually arrange this if necessary.
Hurdle number 3: get off the train and out of the station: I thought this would be the stumbling block as Japanese train stations tend to be pretty overstaffed. Luckily though one ticket inspector turned to flirt with another and I was able to slip through without breaking my step.
All in all quite a successful day. I climbed Yufu Dake yet again with Jasmine a few months later. In spite of the spring weather though, a little of the ice still clung to the trees. There was a continuous tinkling sound as it fell off. ¶ 1:51:00 pm
On the 18th of January I felt like a bit of a challenge. I'd heard about winter mountain climbing in Japan from some of the students and I could see some amazing snow capped peaks from just outside my apartment. Unfortunately though none of my friends were stupid enough to accompany me. I decided that my safest bet would be Yufu Dake which I'd already climbed, and to save a bit of money - and add to the challenge - I decided to cycle to Beppu where I would catch the bus up to the mountain.The journey their all went according to plan and the bus dropped me off at a very chilly trail head. The hike up the mountain went very smoothly. I was incredibly lucky with the weather, the day was overcast, but the cloud base was well above the mountain tops and sunbeams were shining down into the valley below.
The going got a bit more tough towards the top of the mountain. The rubber souls of my Australian summer hiking boots weren't really made for walking on steep ice-encrusted slopes and I had to kick steps into whatever snow there was.The sight at the top was well worth the climb. The crater was filled with hundreds of bushes completely covered in hoar frost.
After a brief stop at the top I made my way down the mountain pretty quickly sliding down the steeper bits. I arrived back at the bottom just in time for sunset and saw a few deer, before settling down for a dark, chilly wait for the bus
Once I got on the bus however, I realised that my wallet was missing. This contained my bank card, gaijin card, all of my money and the keys for my apartment and my bike lock. This meant that I had to try to make it all the way back to Oita without any money!
The first hurdle was getting off the bus in Beppu without paying the 600 yen fare. (on Oita busses you pay for bus journeys when you get off). I decided to pretend to be even more ignorant of japanese than I was, and just said in English 'sorry no money' and bowed lots. Eventually the bus driver realised there wasn't much he could do.
Hurdle number 2: get onto a train to Oita without any money. I achieved this by explaining in japanglish to the ticket inspector that I'd lost my wallet and a friend was meeting me at the other end who would pay my fare. I figured I could actually arrange this if necessary.
Hurdle number 3: get off the train and out of the station: I thought this would be the stumbling block as Japanese train stations tend to be pretty overstaffed. Luckily though one ticket inspector turned to flirt with another and I was able to slip through without breaking my step.
All in all quite a successful day. I climbed Yufu Dake yet again with Jasmine a few months later. In spite of the spring weather though, a little of the ice still clung to the trees. There was a continuous tinkling sound as it fell off. ¶ 1:51:00 pm
