Studies of Plants and Wildlife: July 2009

July 21, 2009

Mt. Kitadake, Yamanashi (July 19th)

The summit of Mt. Kitadake.
The wind was really strong.

Today's course:
Kata-no-koya Hut (6:10) - Mt. Kitadake (7:15) - Kata-no-koya Hut (8:10) - Junction of the trails on the Kotarou ridge and to the Migimata course (8:35) -The Migimata course - Futamata Toilet (10:30) - Hirogawara (12:35) - bus (13:30) - JR Koufu Sta. (15:30).

Here are the pictures taken on the last day of our Kitadake trip.

At the summit of Kitadake.

On the steep cliff I found Saxifraga bronchialis subsp. funstonii var. rebunshirensis (Shikotan-sou) growing!
But I couldn't go any closer!!

Phyllodoce nipponica (Tsuga Zakura).

Barbarea orthoceras (Yama-garashi).

Rhodiola rosea (Iwa Benkei).

Artemisia glomerata (Hahako Yomogi).

Anemone narcissiflora (Hakusan Ichige).

Rhododendron aureum (Kibana Shakunage).

Trollius riederianus var. japonicus (Shinano Kinbai).

Hedysarum vicioides subsp. japonicum var. japonicum (Iwa Ougi)?

Anemone stolonifera (Sanrin-sou).

We were getting close to the Futamata area.

Heloniopsis orientalis (Shoujou Bakama).
They were still blooming near the snow.

Ligularia dentata (Maruba-dake-buki).

Diphylleia grayi (Sankayou).

Polemonium caeruleum ssp. yezoense var. nipponicum (Miyama-hana-shinobu).

Snowy area by the Ookanbazawa creek.

The trail be the creek.

The Ookanbazawa creek.
Lots of water.

Tricyrtis latifolia (Tamagawa Hototogisu) by the Ookanbazawa creek.

The sky from the apartment in Mitaka after we came back home.

Mt. Kitadake, Yamanashi (July 18th)

Here are some pictures taken at the Kata-no-koya Hut.

Around 10:30.
Not many quests yet.

There was a line of people waiting to check in.

We couldn't see much.

Lots of tents too.

It was a tiny bit clearing up far away for a few minutes.

Around 15:30.

Around 21:00.

Mt. Kitadake, Yamanashi (July 18th)

It was raining again...
At the starting point to Kusasuberi course up to the ridge.

Today's course:
Shirane-oike-goya Hut (5:45) - Kusasuberi course - The junction with Kotarou ridge (8:45) - Kata-no-koya Hut (9:45).

It was still rainy on the second day. On the Kusasuberi trail from the hut we found lots of flowers. On the ridge the wind was really strong, so we just checked in the hut and gave up wandering around the summit of Mt. Kitadake.
On that day there were so many guests that quite a few of them couldn't even get the place to sleep. We were packed like the sardines in the can...I think there were 300 or 400 people staying at the hut on that night. We were really exhausted...