I dedicate this page to my courageous fellow climbers who carried much more luggage than I did. Mt. Tsubakuro, the peak of quartz

I was looking somnolently at the far-away mountains dressed like Chinese black ink paintings. The closest in dark ebony turning dusky with distance. Dreaming this metaphor for the first minutes of the day keeps me awake. We drive since yesterday night and we are approaching the roots of Mt. Tsubakuro that is our host for tonight. We follow a bus, which carry three friends from Tokyo, Jyuko, Mick and Ken. I am with two co-workers from different departments at Aisin Seiki, Chigusa and Mayumi. Everyone is well trained and equipped for trekking and this is very reassuring...

The last time that I slept at a top of a mountain in Japan, it was the sleeping volcano Myoko four years ago. I recall that after eating too many bananas and pancakes, I felt sick and the descent has been one of the dreariest experiences I ever had. For two days, I kept the bed not able to drink a single drop of water. This story, I did not tell them of course! I am too proud for that and only Chigusa who speaks English very well is probably reading it right now. Today, I may not be in the same shape but I am prepared mentally. I even could say that a chap who apprehends is worth probably two stomachs.

But those memories are surfacing only superficially now. As color seems to regain its self like old black and white pictures being repainted by hand, I am not worry just very drowsy. Many Japanese people would say that the optimum way to benefit from a short weekend is to leave the Friday night, drive (or take a moonlighter express train) all night and start climbing, skiing, etc. on Saturday morning until extenuation... I have never done this before, neither in Canada. Today, I am sure, will tell if it is a successful plot or just a maniacal idea.

The ascension

We are all joyfully eating breakfast around a cut log. Each person announces its own self-presentation with the organizer Chigusa making amusing remarks. We are about all the same age, three boys and three girls. Does it looks like a Gokon or what? Or maybe more precisely a Gohai (see the Gokon page for more details)? No, reply Chigusa quickly. It is just a coincidence and anyway, two girls have boyfriends.

Backpacks on the back! Hop! Hop! It is 6 o'clock in the morning, the beginning of a steep ascent for Mt. Tsubakuro! The clouds are already of company after the second "pause bench". Arrived at the Mt. Fuji bench, about half way to the top, we barely see the nearby mountains. This weather will keep like that for most of the weekend unfortunately. But it did not rain which would have rendered the trip displeasing. It is cool and refreshing. Long pauses at the well-distanced benches make us recover both from strain and fatigue.

Jyuko, the most experienced of us keeps the front line and announces that we reach an old cabin that will serve for the lunch. Simple spaghetti cooked in boiling water, a warm-up to tonight's dinner. Back on the trail, we reach the top at around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Needless to say that we are exhausted. Yaiaw! The weather is really cloudy. So we build the tents at 2763 meters above sea level and quickly get some sleep after a good beer...

Cinnamon Festival Four o'clock, we all wake up laboriously. Back to look at the top, which stand at 3180 meters, we can notice it through the clouds. It is unique with deformed boulders spraying out of a floor of quartz reef. I have never such a strange mountain like that. We hope that to be able to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning and we are too tired anyway so we do not climb the top today. The stormy weather forces us prepare the dinner inside the tents. Mick who has been carrying most of the food is proud to show the steak filets and several types of sauces. It is cooking time at the summit! I am charged with simply boiling rice. Easy but essential to Japanese cuisine! Red wine on top of that, we are at the peak! We finish with a dessert that will topple the main dish: sauteed apple with cinnamon in the balance of red wine, Hokkaido butter and Soya sauce. It is the best food I ate in Japan. Deliriously delicious! The stomach full, a few jokes and broken love stories later, we all are knocking down the nails so we get ready for a good night sleep.

Stormy phantoms

I stay in my warm sleeping bag for a while eating sandwiches with salami and ketchup for breakfast. Everyone actually overslept but it does not matter any more because the clouds cover everything. I wear my new raincoat bought for the occasion, and we head for the top which is not so far away, only thirty minutes by walk. The strong wind deviates from the boulders and drizzles in our faces. Yesterday's torn muscles are pulling back a little bit when we get back to the top. I have to protect my camera as best as can while I take dubious pictures for the souvenir but nothing really spine tingling! It is hard to be a good photograph in those circumstances...

Back to our tents, we pack everything for the descent. The backpacks are much less heavy but going down a mountain is always more risky for the knees. I cannot trail Chigusa who seems to be floating on air like if she pursuing the man of her life. But I feel great and my stomach is in perfect shape! At noon, everyone is back to the car tired but happy to be finished. It is time to pay back some urging needs: a good onsen bath and a double full plate of local hand-made soba (wheat noodles). Mium! Mium!

Not without promising other adventures for this winter and a couple of more gokons, the Tokyo group leaves by taxi to the closest train station. The weekend has been splendid and extremely well organized. I will remember for a long time those marvelous apples with cinnamon!