Japan Alps

We spent two days in the Japanese Alps in a little mountain town called Kamikochi. It was crowded by day with daytripping hikers but once the afternoon rolled around and everyone got back on their buses home it felt like we had the whole mountain to ourselves.







The air was so clean I felt shamed for breathing Hong Kong pea soup air for the past couple years. And the water flowing in the Azusa River was absolutely transparent, you could see straight through it to the bottom at any depth. We were treated to some beautiful autumn foliage though I think we were still 2-3 weeks away from full nuclear leave changing. All in all it was a very redeeming nature experience, and of course Ingrid loved donning the Junior Ranger outfit again and rummaging through all that Mother Nature could throw at her.








I hit the trail and took a big morning hike upriver to a series of cool suspension bridges built and named after famous Japanese mountaineers of yesteryear. The hike was long and fairly flat so I was able to get by with my Nikes and a pair of shorts, but you would have thought Everest base camp was around the bend judging by the attire of my fellow hikers who were all clobbered out in top shelf North Face gear, heavy duty hiking boots and dual ski pole walking sticks. The Japanese are never afraid to sport the best equipment available for any sporting endeavor something I've noticed on the golf course as well.

The nature was unbeatable but hands down the best part of the hike was the visit I received by a curious tribe of Japanese Macaques. Their faces were even redder than mine.