lost or what?

Here is Takao station. It is very easy to get to and only about an hour from Ueno on the Chuo Rapid line which skips many stations. I have riddend this line many times, it gives you a great appreciation of how huge Tokyo is.

It is not yet peak color, that will come, but the trees still look amazing, like a computer game from the 1990's.

The hike up to the top cable car station of Takao is more of a road, with shops, this is by all reports the number one hiking destination in Japan due to its proximity to Tokyo, it is the easiest place to go to see Fuji.

Obviously there will be temples. My photo is poorly framed.

I was happy to have a bigger backpack for its water carrying abilities. Today I did not need it. This is the top cable car station, there are vending machines everywhere. My day had really only just begun at this point, it was a good thing I left my hotel at 6:30 in the morning.

I believe I will be hiking all the way around to those peaks. I was excited! VERY EXCITED! So excited I slipped over in a very strange spot for no good reason at all, I dont even know what I tripped on, but it made my entire right leg brown with mud.

There are many views to be had of greater Tokyo as you will see. I believe many people take the cable car up at night to look at the lights. Lazy people. Actually you could easily walk up to here at night, its more of a road than a path to this point.

Extremely bright sun today. Challenging photo conditions. Still I didnt use any gradient filters to process these shots to make the sky blue. Highlight recovery is great in full frame whatever nonsense camera.

From the cable car to this temple / shrine complex is still very busy, full of brave people walking the few hundred metres in their hiking gear.

Each of these signs represents a person who committed sepukku because he didnt get enough instagram likes.

Now we will have a few temple photos, prepare yourself for ancient traditions.

This double headed golden dragon is blessing everyones bear scaring bells. You pay a few hundred yen to leave your bell here for a few minutes before you head off over the mountains. It is very dangerous to hike without an unblessed bear bell.

Every temple needs a shopping mall.

I dont think I was supposed to be in this area, but I found a cave you cant stand up in with various candles and stuff at the end.

By now I realised if I wanted to make it to my furthest hiking option end point that I was spending too much time messing about in the temple theme park, so I hip and shouldered these people out of the way and got going.

Why there was no one at this shrine I do not know? It is much more colorful than the others but theres no one here.

HYPERVENTILATE! HERE SHE IS! This is where I was told the weather is painfully amazing.

Have a bit more fuji. It has more snow than I was expecting. More than last year at this time. Perhaps it will melt again, its going to be over 20 degrees all week.

There are many peaks to go over, most of them have a little cafe / eating area like this. However about half of them are run down or abandoned. After Mount Takao I went up and over a few other peaks, named Kagenobuyama, Doshoyama and finally Mount Jinba where I started my descent. It would make more sense if I named them from photos taken at that point but I cant remember which was what.

I was trying to find new ways to photograph Fuji, this one features a tree trunk.

There are other far off peaks to look at other than Fuji.

A scene of utter devastation. Japan is second only to the destruction of the Amazon in their shocking deforestation.

Actually I think all those trees on the left are plantation rather than old growth, but I am no expert.

This area was shown on a sign as plum blossom area, there have been many news reports of plum blossoms appearing now, at the wrong time of the year because of numerous typhoons keeping the weather warm. No blossoms here though.

A bit more view of Tokyo.

This wasnt even one of the main peaks I dont think? But from here you can descend to a bus stop, so it was the end point for many hikers, not me though!

The path then became the most common type in Japan, hard dirt with trunks sticking out to trip you over surrounded by cedars.

Fuji framed by trees with a huge highway in the bottom of the valley. There is a very long tunnel under where I am standing.

That is the other side of the highway, heading back to Tokyo.

THE STANCE IS BACK. It never really went away. It is definitely shorts and tshirt weather today.

I look hot and wind swept. Although it wasnt actually windy today. Apparently the weather was perfect?

More of greater Tokyo. How many damn pictures did I take? My fingers are getting tired and I need to head out for dinner.

Another of my favorite styles of hiking trail, low bamboo. I like it more when its just low bamboo on its own but any bamboo is better than no bamboo. Thats a fact. Actually I dont even think it is bamboo. I clearly just like saying bamboo.

Here is a bit of color. I expected more. I guess the typhoons might be delaying autumn. Not to worry, I am here for a few weeks.

I see these photos everywhere on the internet, so I took one myself. I used my tilty screen thing so I didnt have to tilt my neck. Convenient.

Its a dinosaur with a penis for a head! This is the top of mount Jinba, my final peak for the day. I have no idea what Cockasauras is for.

One last view shot. The path I am on just continues all the way to fuji. I was out of time today.

I knew when what time the bus departed, 25 minutes past the hour. Not that it was a big problem because they depart every hour, but I decided to run as much as I could on the way down to get the next bus, I made it! This is a fairly typical tiny mountain valley town in Japan.

And here she is, waiting for me, a bus that was at the right stop at the right time. The last stop! It took about 45 minutes for it to get back to Takao station. It filled up with school children who wisely stayed the hell away from me.