Akasakayama hike, Makino, Lake Biwako, 07.07.2007

Getting up at 05:20 on a Saturday morning is usually not what I call a relaxed weekend program, but the IOC Akasakayama hike was waiting for me, and Makino - our starting point - could only be reached by local trains. So after getting up and having a cold shower, my eyes were open wide enough to grab my things (with my tent and the bag full of equipment I did not look like going on a weekend trip I suppose) and go to the train station. Two and a half hours later I arrived at Makino where I got to know Atsuko (with hiking boots and backpack it was quite obvious that she belonged to my group of which I actually did not know anybody). The rest of the crew arrived a while later, just on time to jump on the only bus going in our direction. Getting off the bus at the local onsen we had to wait a while for a few delayed participants who finally arrived by taxi - what a decadent start into a hike.
But finally, it was time to hit the Alpine-looking landscape (for I second I expected the golf players to be cows, that would have fit perfectly into the view) and then heading upwards. The track was alternatingly a track fastened by stones or wooden beams or just a dried bed of a little stream, but the most exhausting aspect of the hike were heat and humidity. Even though it was cloudy most of the time, the sweat was running and making as feel very brave after the final ascent to the summit at exactly 823.8 m above sea level. There, we enjoyed the nice view over mainly cloudy or foggy hills feeling a bit like the hobbits looking towards Mordor, but fortunately we were equipped with loads of delicious lunch varieties that we could hardly finish.
After the mandatory photo session with the summit sign, Rie guided us over a further number of nice green hills and through a forest down back to the onsen where we started from. Just being in practice with sweating we then enjoyed an hour inside the hot water to relax our bones and minds. That was exactly what we needed after such a nice hike.

more pictures on IOC website

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