On the way to Fuji, day three.
At this point, we had cleared all the notable mountain ranges that surround the stunning volcano that is Mount Fuji. There is but a little more than a stretch of plateau seperating our morning campsite from the base of our goal. That means that today will be a special day, not because it will be so easy but because today we will witness Fuji's omnipresence for the very first time.
Or, rather, from today onward, she watches us, inescapably.
As we woke in our separate tents on the wide open green field by the cold river, I noticed that there were no clouds in the sky. Majestic patterns of stars the previous night captivated the better part of my attention, and the lengthy distance between street lights on the open field provided a perfect darkness for the skyward view as Go and I "kompi-ed" (cheered) our two frosty beers together and sipped the moral boosting brew.
Feeling fresh from the sento yesterday, my legs were awake and ready to work. A very quick breakfast of coffee and popcorn gave us the quick start we needed to make our way along route 416. A mere 60km to a final campsight, then to summit the volcano tomorrow.
Our campsight. It's a tricky position you have to leave yourself in; you want to be close but never too close to the restrooms.
As an added bonus to the day, this bridge came across our perpendicular path by accident. Well, we couldn't ignore it because of the parking lot and the people arounding the wooden bridge suggested something important. So we took a quick look.
Imagine our luck. What a great way to start the day; to cycle across a Guiness Book World Record bridge. It is the largest wooden pedestrian bridge in the World (897 meters) and very impressive. So what if the mere kilometer wasn't in our direction? Have to strike opportunities as they come.
Here I am about to fall as I try and take a photo of me, my bike, and the bridge.
Posing for a picture is a much better idea. And although the river was a bit shallow this time of year, the bridge is still a wonder of carpentry achievement.
Shadows in the morning.
Of course, it always helps if someone takes the photo for you. One of the few pics Go and I had the opportunity to together. We continued on after the appeal of the bridge had done with us. Moving, moving, moving.
A popular traveling road for cyclists and motorbikes, the 416 continues along the side of the southern coast underneath Fuji and Fujinomiya.
As we rode on, that rare instance of having other touring cyclists cross our path came along. They were two japanese, coming speedily down the hill we were climbing.
Stopping heavy enough to leave tire streaks, they turned their heads and communicated to Go that the road is blocked off, nothing nothing to see there. Really? Disappointing! This meant no coastal view (some if the best) toward Fuji.
Here, Go checks the map after we continued on uphill to verify what the two cyclists had said. They were right. Indeed, we would have to turn around. However, they were also wrong. There was in fact, something to see.
Route 416 snakes around the edges of seaward mountains and cliffs. Think PCH. Similarly, hotels plant themselves atop these hills to take advantage of the views. There, just a little further up than the road block telling us to turn around, is such a hotel. And such a view.
There, off into the cloudy distance, rests Mount Fuji.
"Only in magazines have I seen the beauty of Mount Fuji." This was Go's first moments with the great volcano as well. And even though I felt a wave of emotion come over me to see this massive, unavoidable presence starring me down, I am sure it was nothing in comparison to the feeling he was having to see such a major national symbol for the first time. "The magazines cannot capture this feeling."
Today's lesson comes via some status update I read on my friend Max's Skype profile over a year ago. The difference between try and triumph is just a little "umph." In other words, often you need to just work a bit more, just a small amount of extra "umph" to turn a loss into a win, a failure into success, or a disappointing turn-around down a hill into a life long meaningful memory.
Fuji is collosal. So it's easy to overlook the smaller beauty sometimes laying at your feet.
Sometimes this smaller beauty is in the form of a push snack pastry. Doreamon (a cat robot sent from the future to help it's creator's grandfather as a boy, instilling morals and lessons and what not) is not a popular show in the US, I assume because the children's cartoons often shapes it's lessons around the formulaic assistance offered by Doreamon and his array of gadgets he keeps in his infinite pouch. My very untested hypothesis is that the very American characteristics of independence and self reliance as virtues supreme conflict with the cartoon's portrails of absolute assistance and stupendous support as the main means of conflict resolution.
Anyways, he's delicious!
Even though road 416 is shut down for repairs, we still cycled on and could see Mount Fuji everywhere we went.
We even cycled to a far off beach that was almost incorporated along with Fuji as a world Herritage sight because of the miraculous view to see there. We wouldn't know, the day proved to bring many clouds and fog by the water.
No since Sister was here have I had kaiten sushi - yum! Although, we broke a cardinal rule: you probably shouldn't go when you're so hungry. Go and I both racked up a pretty nice bill...
Finally, we made it to Fujinomiya. You can see the populated town that surrounds the great volcano.
We stopped here, in a small tea plantation to talk and enjoy the spontaneous view more than rest. Go tells me that many people die in the thick forests at the beginning of the mountain climb. Yes, people get lost and die. It's also, I am told, a culturally spiritual place to commit suicide. I understood but I didn't understand. "Why?" I asked. "Everyone has their reason." I left it at that.
We spent a good hour here. Watching, absorbing.
The sun finally began to set and we had to get going. We cruised down to a mall to find some dinner first, and am so glad we did....
...because before we ate, we spat a few bucks into the machine here to try our swing at some indoor batting cages!
That's about 80mph for my friends back home. They weren't Randy "The Unit" Johnson's speed - but they were FAST!
Go starting down the mechanical pitcher.
We bet that night, who could the most hits. Turned out to be a draw - two solid hits each. Well, I'll just have to buy my own dinner.
When we left the mall, we located a park ontop of a steep hill. Not really what I wanted, but this was the only park around. We unpacked and set up tent under an outside gazebo.
In the morning, we saw just exactly what we got ourselves into. Something deep.
Buenas noches and much love,
-A
No comments:
Post a Comment