Yakushima

My hiking adventure to Yakushima was super sweet. I got back late on Sunday night and felt very accomplished and proud of myself for keeping up with the Nishi HS climbing club. I wanted to post pictures right away, but my camera was acting up. Finally, I think the kinks have been worked out, but I'm afraid that the photos aren't that great. But, isn't that always the case? Photos of beautiful places never quite live up to the place itself.

This is a "Yakusugi" tree. (A Yakushima Japanese Ceder) These enormous and extremely old ceders are the biggest tourist attraction on the island. Yakushima is mainly a destination for those who thrive in the outdoors. People go there to camp and hike and take in the amazing nature. It also happens to be the home of the tallest mountain in Kyushu. Mt. Miyanoura.

Here's some of the crew at the top. 1,935 meters high! (It doesn't seem as impressive when you consider that the top of Mt. Fuji is about 1,300 meters higher!) Three girls, five boys, two teachers and a camera man made up the crew. Yes. We had a camera man. The trek was filmed for a series on "amazing kids" for a local TV station. As much as I tried to keep my sweaty, beet-red and exhausted face behind the camera, I was asked for a comment here and there. Thinking of it makes me cringe.

The hike was a challenge and we spread it out over two days. We camped as well and the kids did a good job of keep everyone happy and fed at the end of the day. Here are some of the shots from along the way.

Here, Kotaro is standing inside a tree.

Sunrise on day two.

Here we are actually standing in the hollowed out stump of an old Japanese ceder tree!


Mr. Uratani suffered over the weekend. He's a smoker and had a horrible cold. I couldn't believe that he didn't back out of the trip. But, here he is, creeping down a rock with the help of a rope, wearing shorts! It was pretty cold at this point.

This is the bridge leading to the campsite where we stayed on our last night.
The kids made dinner every night. We had things like curry and rice, soup, fish and onions and noodles. I was impressed by the culinary prowess. That, or the grub just tasted extra good after having a slice of bread with jam for lunch every day.We were stuck with a little extra time waiting for the bus to take us back to the ferry port, so Mr. Kubara decided we needed a coffee break. Here he and Kotaro pour milk into already simmering coffee.