Ogura shrine and mountain

Japanese lesson today, Yamada Sensei, and he keeps the lesson going at all times with plenty of repetition. This is both good and bad, as its somewhat easy to miss things, and reading hand-written hiragana is a challenge. He's always there with a challenge and the lessons continue. I think he was impressed when I said I've seen Paris and amused when I said it was beautiful but also that it smelled somewhat.

I went home and changed, put on my boots, and grabbed my camel-back. I checked the weather, knew it would be a nice night, and went walking towards the mountains outside my window. First though I stopped at a little takoyaki place about a block away. I waited while he cooked them fresh for me, you basically pour batter into the round indents of the takoyaki grill, spread on some ingredients, drop in a piece of octopus so it sinks, then let it cook. As it cooks, he used a little skewer to push any overflow batter onto each ball, then after awhile he used the skewer to grab an edge of the ball and flip it over in the hole to cook the other side. Not sure what the toppings are, and I said no to mayonnaise, but they were good and tasty.

Passed a bunny statue on the way. Kept going, passed a school and a group of children, went under a torii and up a path to a shrine. It was only from the map that I knew the name. As I walked up the path, a group of maybe 7 middle-school girls ran up the path behind me, I'm sure they were just curious what the gaijin was doing walking up the path into the mountains, and they did exchange a bunch of hellos as they were going back down the path behind me.

I walked off along the trail, saw some signs, and it was a great climb up the trail. Steep in parts, but everything was well maintained and obviously often used. It was dusk and I walked in the fading light, through bamboo forest and broad-leaf trees as I went higher. Maybe 60 minutes in, I came to the peak of this path and a map of the area. It was getting dark, I had my flashlight and was in no hurry, but stopped and surveyed my way down and out.

Varied trials in the dark. I passed a shrine under repair, large areas being cleared of underbrush, many steps and muddy trail. I did not see any wildlife, though I heard birds and wind and made sure I wasn't going to step or fall on anything in the trail. I came to much wider trails, almost roads, as I went past the shrine, and murals on signs.

Just past another torii on the downhill path, I saw a platform to my left and going up the stairs met an older japanese gentleman with a camera and looking out over the city. He told me he was waiting for the blue moon tonight. After awhile, I took my leave and finished my way off the mountain, then back home. There were other trails I saw in that area, and more to be found. Those are for another day (or night), but it made me happy to find good trails so close. Now, if I can just find a proper sized bike, so I can skip the roads and take it directly to trailhead, I'll be all set!