Early May. At the bottom of Kenashi Mountain—and most of the way up—the leaves are out and parading about, twirling their way round and round and into the light.

From Shizuoka City, drive to Fujinomiya, then head for the hills for forty minutes or so, and you’ll come to the Kenashi trailhead, at around 800 meters.

In May, on a clear day, you’ll feel a lot sugar being manufactured in the canopy above. Something from the manufacturing process seems to spill over into the hiker, as  can be seen in the picture above. What’s actually at work physiologically, well, feel free to consult your own scientific authority.

The top of the mountain is 1964 meters. There’s a bit of flat walking at the bottom of the trail and at the top (once you hit the ridge), but more or less, you climb 1000 meters while walking 2000 meters—which means . . .

. . . you’re going up at a 45 degree angle for the vast majority of the climb. Eat your Wheaties before you leave home. It took us a little under three hours to reach the top.

Along the way, with the leaves not yet fully out, you can sneak views of Fuji here and there, but . . .

. . . you don’t get a clear view until you’re almost at the ridge, at the “Tenbodai,” the first “official” Fuji-viewing point. It’s nice. There are no other mountains between the Kenashi range and Mt. Fuji, so the view includes all the green fields at the foot of Fuji.

Hit the ridge and turn right and you’ll soon see a tall rock, from which, if you scamper up it, you get a nice view of the Northern Alps. The view is much better than the picture. With your eyes, you can see way up into the Humboldt-blue sky.

A few minutes later, you’ll come to the top of the mountain, and to another clear view of Fuji.

You can go back the way you came, or you can walk farther back along the ridge, past where you came up, and descend via the Jizo Pass.

It’s a slightly longer route, but the last hour or so will be along the Kanayama River with all its waterfalls and green pools. Recommended.

You might discover the iwakagami “rock mirror” flowers along your way.

You can imagine what the ants make of them. You can even experience some dangerous and agonizing rock-climbing (note expression on Hearty Hiker’s face).

But mainly just enjoy the springy spring.