mt. tsukuba
here i am at the top of one of the peaks of mt. tsukuba, perched atop some rocks that had me feeling a bit dizzy.
i hadn’t slept at all the night before and i met my small band of merry hikers at 5:50. the drive to mt. tsukuba’s starting point took about an hour and a half and we immediately started our ascent.
surprisingly, i was full of energy but definitely out of shape. the path was challenging due to the amount of rocks to be cautious about and i didn’t have the correct footwear for this climb. on the way up, there was a fresh water spring where everyone was drinking from. it was very refreshing and cool, especially since i didn’t prepare my own water supply.
after a couple hours or so of climbing, we finally reached the summit. there wasn’t much to see: a handful of shops/restaurants, a restaurant that rotated and you could hang out at the top to get a nice view, and lots of dragonflies flying around.
after a short break. we hiked up one of the peaks, called nantaisan (男体山) and came back down to the summit to grab lunch. after lunch, we hiked up nyotaisan (女体山), the other peak, where we saw an incredible view of the surroundings (see picture above) – that is, if you climbed up on a bunch of unsafe-looking rocks. much to my dismay, i dislike heights, i climbed up to catch the view and take some pictures and video clips.
after that, we made our way down mt. tsukuba. i went faster than the group, taking pictures of clusters of rocks along the way. these rocks have some meanings to them, for example: a woman’s stomach (signifying pregnancy?), a gate, buddha, a frog, two ships (arriving/leaving port), and so on. the hike back down wasn’t too bad, but my feet were starting to ache and i started to feel less cautious and started to slip around on the rocks. i didn’t injure myself but it took extra effort to be mindful of where i was stepping, and i was still running off steam at this point. i tried to spend time reflecting on the things happening in my life, but the slippery rocks put me back at attention.
finally, we reached the bottom, took a few minutes to rest and wait for the others, and made our way back. i was in and out of sleep on the drive back home, but what felt like 30 minutes was already an hour and a half and we were back to our area.
so the hike was about 5km, and i realized how out of shape i was. panting, wheezing, doubling over to catch my breath. i’m a little bit more leery about hiking mt. fuji this weekend since i’ll be hiking about twice as much as tsukuba, the crazy altitude, i’m an inexperienced hiker, and for some reason, death is in the back of my mind. i’m sure i’ll be fine, i’ve prepared the things i need for this weekend…although, not sure if my body, or rather my heart, is feeling up to the task. maybe i should go to the doctor.
