{"id":2126,"date":"2015-07-29T23:42:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T14:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2015-07-30T11:15:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:15:00","slug":"these-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/29\/these-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"These bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"150725_fuji_from_below_yanbushi_600\"<\/a>\u00a0These bones iz mighty tard. Some days I have an urge to say that.<\/p>\n

We were on the Oyarei Landslide Slope just five days ago (a national holiday), but bigger mountains and longer hikes are looming on the horizon (Nagano, August), so we thought it was good to try to get in a bit of a long hike now, so we came again,\u00a0but taking\u00a0a longer route, starting on the\u00a0far side of Yanbushi, and coming down on the Oyarei side.<\/p>\n

Somehow, the kinks in the joints and muscles got worked out. After\u00a0twenty inutes or so,\u00a0we hit a rhythm and all was well.<\/p>\n

Actually we made pretty good time.<\/p>\n

So for those wondering how long it might take you, here’s what it took us: the parking lot {7:52}, Nishi Hikage Zawa <\/em>(West Shady Creek) trailhead\u00a0\u00a0{7:56}, Ooiwa<\/em> (The Big Rock) {8:27}, Yomogi Pass {9:06 ~ 9:10}, Yanbushi Summit (a cup of tea) {10:26 ~ 10:40} , Shinkubo (two-thirds of the way to the Oyarei Peak, with a small (intentional)\u00a0detour on the way, and at Shinkubo itself, 17 minutes worth of swatting {12:17 ~ 12:47}, the Oyarei Kuzure<\/em> Parking lot (via the kuzure–<\/em>the landslide slope) {13:55}. Back along the road to the West Shady Creek trailhead parking lot\u00a0( a bit of dallying in a cool creek for good measure)\u00a0{15:20}.<\/p>\n

Here we are\u00a0crossing the river\u00a0near Ooiwa<\/em>,\u00a0the big rock.\u00a0\"150725_tamami_creek_crossing_450\"<\/a>That’s not the<\/em> big rock in the picture. That’s the little “big rock.” The big “big rock” is another thirty seconds along the trail. It’s hard to get all of the the big “big rock”\u00a0\u00a0in one aesthetically-pleasing picture.<\/p>\n

Here’s the view from the Yomogi Pass.<\/p>\n

\"150725_yomogi_pass_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I think that\u00a0just before we got there we were talking about “when ‘a life’ starts.” We concluded (I think) “that it doesn’t.”<\/p>\n

It’s nice when you’re walking along with someone with the same intui-logi\u00a0reading as you. You can both say whatever you want “logically”—a little of this, a little of that—then kind of fall into an “intuitive” silent agreement—and those silences become some of the most wonderful moments\u00a0of your life.<\/p>\n

And when you’re walking with someone with the exact same<\/em> intui-logic reading as you,\u00a0\u00a0you can talk about anything <\/em>and\u00a0everything<\/em>–and I do mean anything <\/em>and\u00a0everything–<\/em>without ever having to worry about coming\u00a0up on\u00a0a thorny issue. You may come to a thorny plant or two (a thistle bristle might sneak up on your shin, for example, \u00a0or a thorny leaf may thrust itself up, upon a strong green stem, from a dead tree stump, right in the middle of the trail, daring you, it seems, not<\/em> to go around) . . .<\/p>\n

\"150725_thorny_leaf_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

. . . but a thorny issue you and your intui–logic-balanced hearty hiking comrade will never <\/em>encounter.<\/p>\n

A scientific note:\u00a0If the grade of the mountain and the mutual pace of two hearty hikers allows\u00a0each of their\u00a0heart rates to increase to\u00a0its OLPFHH (Optimal Level for Pleasant Feeling during a Hearty Hike), then they can overcome significant (but not too wide, mind you) gaps in their intui-logic readings.<\/p>\n

A further scientific note (proved conclusively on this<\/em> hike): If two hearty hikers both settle perfectly into their OLPFHH and have intui-logic readings that match exactly, their souls will dance together\u00a0and music will be heard.<\/p>\n

Here’s what we saw about halfway between Yomogi Pass and the top of Yambushi.<\/p>\n

\"150725_fuji_first_view_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Fuji.<\/p>\n

I think we were talking about the etymology of philanderer<\/em> and philanthropy<\/em> just then. Biophilia<\/em>, too, for what it’s worth.<\/p>\n

Of course, we came upon several sitting trees during the course of the hike. We always do.<\/p>\n

\"150725_sitting_tree_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You may have had enough of the scientific talk already, so I’ll leave discussion of the evolution of sitting trees for another time. Maybe I’ll deal with it when I explain\u00a0my often-felt and \u00a0easy-to-explain-with-hard-science\u00a0urge to climb trees and beckon\u00a0for the rest of the\u00a0hearty hikers\u00a0to join me—an urge that comes to me despite being of an age at which my “bones”\u00a0can get “mighty tard.”<\/p>\n

\"150725_atop_yanbushi_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And how lucky we’ve been, twice now in July, to\u00a0meet with such\u00a0glorious skies up here on top of Yanbushi!<\/p>\n

Last week\u00a0the sky\u00a0had\u00a0been been painted by Van Gogh. This week it had been painted by somebody else.\"150725_fuji_atop_yanbushi_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Fuji again. Or Fuji-kun<\/em> as we outrageous hearty hikers sometimes call him. That guy just hangs and hangs around.<\/p>\n

The peak of Yanbushi is famous, this time of the year, for its\u00a0yanagiran <\/em>meadow. Here’s a yanagiran<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"150725_yanagiran_450\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We saw three or four plants in bloom. Last year, we got up here a couple of weeks too late for the “festival.” This year we were perhaps a week early<\/em>.\u00a0 But we were happy enough with the few blooms we did see–and there’s always next year.<\/p>\n

Between the peak of Yanbushi and Shinkubo (the point from which the descent down the Landslide Slope begins), we came to the Valley of Life and Death and Life. We didn’t know that we would. It hadn’t been described in any guidebooks or on anyone’s blog.<\/p>\n

\"150725_old_tree_new_tree2_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We took a right-turn detour into the Valley, and what do you know, there were all my “mighty tard” bones lying right there on the ground!<\/p>\n

\"150725_old_tree_new_tree_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And there was the dead hip bone of the stump-elephant tree . . . with a baby cedar growing right out of the top of it!<\/p>\n

\"150725_new_old_tree_1_450\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And low and behold, there was another tree—never mind what kind—that had died . . . then decided it didn’t want to be dead! At that moment, it had a bit of a dialogue with its roots, sussing out whether they had the strength to carry on, and when they shouted out,\u00a0Yes! we’d be <\/em>delighted to<\/em>!—the tree\u00a0decided it wasn’t dead anymore . . . and just like that, it wasn’t!<\/p>\n

You have to stop and feel amazed.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Totally unknown Shizuoka folk duo)<\/a><\/p>\n

From the edge of this Valley of Life and Death and Life, we noticed a deer trail up to the ridge (not on most folks’ beaten path. We took it. Having passed through the Valley of Life and Death and Life to get back up on the ridge, how do you think we felt when we saw Mr. Fuji\u00a0looking like this?<\/p>\n

\"150725_fuji_between_yanbushi_oyarei_1_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A little bit farther along, we spotted a cluster of yashio trees—my favorite, as you know. What an unexpected joy!<\/p>\n

\"150725_yashio_leaves_2_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I really, really love these guys.<\/p>\n

\"150725_yashio_leaves_3_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And we discovered a “redwood” tree that had gotten itself all twisted up trying to find California. But he seemed pretty happy with where he’d ended up.<\/p>\n

\"150725_red_wood2_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We stopped to eat at Shinkubo but cut the meal short. For some reason a\u00a0zip-zippity-zip black\u00a0creature (like a fly <\/em>when airborne,\u00a0 like an acrobatic leech<\/em> when on land) zeroed in on my exposed flesh, along with 332 of his buddies, but not the flesh of my fellow hearty hiker. (Later, I researched this and confirmed that a zip-zippity-zip black creature’s taste in flesh is totally unrelated to the intui-logi reading of the flesh’s possesser. )<\/p>\n

So immediate escape was deemed necessary, and into the strong sun and down the Landslide Slope we plunged.<\/p>\n

Here’s what we saw when we began the plunge.<\/p>\n

\"150725_oyarei_vista_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here’s what we saw when we looked back. (Compare to last week’s picture of the same place if you like.)<\/p>\n

\"150725_oyarei_kuzure_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here’s what we looked at to confirm the grade we were slip-slip-sliding down through the loose rock.<\/p>\n

\"150725_oyarei_kuzure_grade_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not much shade was to be had, unless you could fit under the shade of the leaf of a berry bush.<\/p>\n

\"150725_grasshopper_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And of course,\u00a0there is always <\/em>at least one flower you’ve never seen before.<\/p>\n

\"150725_kuzure_purple_flower_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And then the walk along the road, and the hour soaking the bones in the hot spring, and then the road back. The mimosas were in bloom all up and down the river.<\/p>\n

\"150725_mimosa_1_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Looked lovely from the car.<\/p>\n

\"150725_mimosa_5_600\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0These bones iz mighty tard. Some days I have an urge to say that. We were on the Oyarei Landslide Slope just five days ago (a national holiday), but bigger mountains and longer hikes are looming on the horizon (Nagano, August), so we thought it was good to try to get in a bit of … Continue reading These bones<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2126"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2163,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions\/2163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}