Mt. Mitake

So for the weekend we headed up to a nearby mountain. Mt. Mitake, we heard it was neat and easy to get to and all the good things. We were not to be disappointed. IT was gorgeous and so so so so refreshing to be in nature again. I couldn't believe how soothing it was to hear peace and quiet. So I will do my best to give you a tour. :)

So after a scenic 30 minute drive we found the road pulled into the first parking lot we could find (feeling a little overwhelmed not knowing how to get to the actual "mountain") paid 900 yen (around nine dollars) to park and preceded to hike up the steep hill. At the top we see the cable car ride to take you the rest of the way up. TADA (along with parking right next to it for the same 900 yen, "oh well" I think "I'm feeling good today")

So here is the cable car. It was fun to ride it up and after seeing how steep of an incline it was I was grateful we could ride the cable car (for another 560 yen per adult of course)
up up we went

Till we reached the top (we thought) and it was beautiful.

The view was amazing. When you reach this section, its a little open area with little places to grab a bite to eat and buy lots of little tourist trinkets. Sit down, eat and so on. It is also where all the trails to hike on start off. So after looking at the view for a while we picked a trail and headed off.

The trail was wonderful and peaceful and full of fun things to see, frogs, really big spiders, beautiful flowers, birds singing, squirrels chattering. We never did see one of the flying squirrels which is supposed to be the God of the shrine up there. Niyah was very disappointed in the lack of monkeys and flying squirrels.

We found a good place to sit and have a bite to eat and just sit and soak in the silence. I realized just how noisy it is to live in busy Japan and how much I have missed the quiet, it was wonderful. We heard distant music and followed the it till we found a little shrine. It was fun to see this little religious shrine with traditional Japanese music softly coming out into this beautiful forest. I understood why the Japanese thought this was a sacred mountain.

As we continued along the trails getting slightly disoriented on the way we eventually found ourselves back at the beginning of the trails head. After careful study of the Japanese map we realized that the big main shrine was back where we came from and that the little village that had made us think we had taken a wrong turn was the correct way. So back around we went through the village.

Up to that point the hiking has been nice, slightly steep in some points but not bad. In the village the roads took a sharp turn it seemed strait up. Jeb says minimum 45 degree angle.... if that helps. So we wandered thought this village up and up twisting turning, hoping we had taken all the right turns. Lets just say a little less then an hour later we see the shrine at the top of a hill in the distance. We go through a bit more wooded area, and turn up again to another little village with places to eat and trinkets to buy. I am thinking it would be so peaceful to live here. The view is amazing. Its so quiet. Just sell a few things to the tourists and life in the top of the mountain sounds nice. So the last steep I mean steep hill and we reach the bottom of the shrine (we think) to see a large flight of stairs.

If you are wondering how the girls and the pregnant girl where doing climbing a mountain this whole time. I would say surprisingly well! On about the second steep upturn the girls starting saying things like, my legs are burning, what are we looking for???, isn't that a shrine???, why do we need the shrine????........ you can imagine. In their minds especially Harleys you could tell she was seriously doubting her parents reassurance that it was a neat opportunity to see this shrine and not many people get to do this so we are very lucky. Niyah asked more then once, "Mom so when are we going to start the fun adventure you said we would have?" HAHAHA we are on the fun adventure I would say. She just didn't believe me.

UP THE STAIRS and we were a little disappointed. It was neat. The view was to die for. Just not the big shrine we expected. Then we noticed some more stairs and everyone heading up those. AHHA so this was just the gate, entry way to the shrine. No wonder. SO up the stairs we go, and then some more, and then some more. A good reference if you are from Price is the Helper Junior High stairs, repeated up different slopes three or four times. With little shrines along the way and all sorts of neat things to see. We went around yet another turn with more stairs appearing and Niyah says "I HATE STAIRS". But really we were having a great time.

Then the real shrine. WOW it was neat. It was just neat to be at one of the oldest shrines. Around 2000 years people have been going there. There were so many different buildings I wish I understood the religious beliefs better so I knew what they were for. But it was so worthwhile to see everything. The wood carvings, the stone work, everything.

So here are some pictures of the area around the shrine. I wish I could give you more information of what they different buildings and such were but I can not. So just enjoy as we did.

This picture is a little blurry. But I wanted to share it because this is when it started to rain as we were looking around. Raining really hard. This man there invited us inside of one their temples I believe. He preceded to tell all sorts of stories in Japanese that we of course couldn't understand. (I am studying the language but am far from understanding) A nice lady next to us spoke in English though and told us he was describing the dance they would be performing for the God of the shrine the next night. And also telling stories of his childhood. He was a lonely man enjoying people to talk to.


When the rain stopped for a short interval we headed out. Enjoyed the breathtaking scenery a little longer and then headed back down. The views heading out were wonderful with the fog from the rain. Just amazing. It was even more peaceful on the way down since everyone else was off the trail because of the rain. It was a wonderful experience and was well worth the efforts to get to it. We would love to go back again.