The case of the midweek adventure

So because Japan has the most national holidays in the world, I was gifted another in the middle of the week. So after praying for good weather I set out on a Wednesday to successfully hike Shosenkyo. I tried a few weeks ago but got their too late and didn’t see anything. This time it was different and while some of the momiji were past their peak the majority of the hike was simply gorgeous. The first thing on my hike was the famous rock cliff which I couldn’t have had the opportunity to photograph on a bluer day. And the maple trees all around me as a hiked along the gorge and deeper in was just breathtaking.

 

 

A few twists, beneath a natural arch, next to the green river, fish and smooth white rocks, across a bridge to look back on the cliff against the sun, under a stone ledge where people had wedged one yen coins into the cracks above my head and into the shadows was a spectacular waterfall with a rainbow! So many things exist in Japan that I had believed only existed in books!

 

 

Up the stone stairs carved into the rock and past a pleasant shrine was a rope way that took me way up to see what I could see. Unfortunately my perfect blue sky appeared to be clouding over and I did not see much of Fuji like one can on the clearest of days, but I could see all the way to Saitama which is the next prefecture over. And I was able to scale the rocks that loomed above the gorge to the cliff that I was admiring before! It was really amazing up there. There was also a little shrine and a place to eat my lunch of champions: chicken cheese bites and a chestnut white mocha. Then the clouds came in and I took myself down the mountain, past the shrine and the waterfall, under the ledge, over the bridge, through the rocks, past the cliff and momiji and back to my car.

I finished my afternoon and drove from the mountains and into Kofu just as the rain began. I treated myself to a Christmas cranberry white mocha at Starbucks and for only 300 per cent more than I would pay in Canada, I bought a box of Kraft Dinner macaroni and cheese at the little foreign import store! I happen to be one of the best KD crafters in the world!