Japanese Northern Alps

Ack ack!… I took a week off work and went off hiking back in September over my birthday. Spent my birthday in a small tent by myself, wondering if the typhoon will soon pass as little droplets of moisture builds up in my tent. Once the typhoon passed the next few days were hot and sunny. You might imagine it to to be quite wonderful, but when you’re constantly over 2300metres and above the cloud line, it’s amazing how much stronger theUV rays are. Even after slip-slop-slap‘n myself, I ended up totally burnt. Even with long sleeves on, I ended up with plenty of water blisters and now I’ve got a very distinct light & dark tan-line right across my forehead. It’s been 3 weeks, and there’s no sign of my forehead beacon letting up. The back of my hand was tingling all the time, and as the photos shows, I’m flaking as though I’m going though a process of Ecdysis. You can tell from my middle finger that underneath my ring, lies my true colour. Pasty white, or should I have said pasty yellow?

In any case, I spend 6 days hiking, a total of 7 days living out of my backpack as I had to spend an entire day from the car park (end of the trail) to the beginning of the trail. Quite a scenic trip if you’re going via the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. (a bit expensive too) If you have the time, I definitely recommend the hike from Murodo to Kamikochi. I pretty much followed the LP – Hiking in Japan Guide, which was good as a guide. Though, I get the feeling that the author didn’t camp along the way, but spent nights in the various mountain huts/lodges that scattered along the trail. A much easier way of travelling, as one no longer needs to carry a tent, sleeping bag, mattress, stove, cooking gear, food for 7-8 days etc. Heck, you could go around in a day pack if you have the money. But spending over 5000yen for just a floor to sleep on, or over 8000yen for 2 meals I was not ready for. Especially as this trek was done before payday. In comparison, 500yen a night for camping is a huge difference. Up high, conveniences cost a lot of money.