We had a brief heavy rain this afternoon a couple of hours before sunset, and so with the clearing air I thought to make a visit to check out the views from the Shogunzuka Overlook, which I haven't been to in a while. (However, the “nearby photos” link under any photo brings you to the bazillion photos I've posted from up here over the years.)

今日の集中豪雨の後、将軍塚からの景色を見に行きました。

It reminded me of one of the first times I posted photos from up here seven years ago, also after a storm. Photos from that day also appeared on last year's “Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka Over The Years”.

Most of the clouds were gone a few minutes later, leaving nothing for the setting sun to light up, so that was that.

将軍家から撮った景色色々は以下のリンクで見えます。
Some of my favorite views from this area are seen in “Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka Over The Years”, and in:

• A Typhoon Makes for a Good Sunset (But It’s Me That Makes It Great 🙂)
• Unusually Dynamic Views of Kyoto from Shogunzuka
• More Dynamic Views of Kyoto From Shogunzuka
• The Hope Imbued in a Dull Sunset

This is sort of a continuation of the previous post, “My Mt. Hiei Climb Challenge 2014, Part 2”, that covered my 3rd annual hike up Kyoto's Mt. Hiei.

次の比叡山の年次山登りは５１週間早くしました。今回はカメラを持って行かなかった（アイホン以外）のでこの記事の写真はまずい。御免。

Previous attempts:

• The first year's hike wrecked me so much that it shocked me into getting in shape.

• The 2nd year (last year's) was better but still quite a challenge.

• This year's hike, two weeks ago, was much better almost to the point of “easy”, but giving the hike back down a try for the first time ended up killed my knees and ankles, leaving me in pain for a few days and sort of took the luster off what would have otherwise been a feeling of accomplishment.

So, I decided to do my fourth-annual hike 51 weeks early.

My goal was the self-satisfaction of doing the hike up quickly without feeling like I killed myself. I packed lightly: in particular, no camera except for the iPhone. It was overcast and the rain we'd had for a few days was threatening to return, but this meant that it was pleasantly cool when I departed home at 8:15am last Friday.

The walk to the trailhead normally takes 45 minutes, but I decided to jog it this time and so it took only about 24 minutes. Unfortunately, it seems that jogging has the same painful effect on my knees that downhill hiking does, so my knees were in pain before I even started the hike proper.

The design looks quite old, but the sign itself, according to the date written on the post, is just 21 years old.

This next one looks to be quite a bit older, especially based on the font used for the writing on the post (which, unfortunately, lacks a date).

It's the same design as the sign seen engulfed by a tree in “The Mountain Claims a Sign, But Doesn’t Claim Me” from a couple of weeks ago.

As I wrote in an earlier installment, it usually takes about 48 minutes to get here from the trailhead. This time it took almost 50 minutes, even though I felt I was faster. I'd paused a few times to text with friends about the hike, so maybe that took a few minutes.

Anyway, it's from here that the hiking becomes notably strenuous, with very steep ups and sometimes temporary steep downs. To the top this time took only 45 minutes, as opposed to 48 minutes the previous week and 70 minutes the previous year.

Unfortunately, it turns out that I really wish I had a real camera because the low overcast that I eventually climbed up into made for some really peaceful forest scenes. I tried to do a best I could with the iPhone, but the results are horrible.

It was nice. I had pretty much the entire mountain to myself. I met only two other folks on the way up.

There was absolutely no view this time, but the “nearby photos” link under the picture above brings you to photos I took on other more photogenic trips up here.

All told, from the trailhead to here — all pauses included — took 1h 37m. From the house it took a total of 2h 9m, beating the previous best set the week before by 23 minutes, and beating the previous year by almost an hour and a half.

In part 1 talking about last week's hike I noted that jeans aren't the best for hiking because they get hot and sticky, they're heavy, etc. So between last week's hike and this one, I bought a pair of Under Armor “Heat Gear” compression leggings, the leg version of the workout shirt I posed about in April.

They were fantastic. I threw a pair of old basketball shorts over them to preserve modesty, but they kept me cool and bug-free the whole climb.

I didn't linger long... I felt great and there wasn't anything to see, so I made the 12-minute hike farther up to a bus stop (yes, at the top of the mountain).

Some high-school kids got off a shuttle bus from a nearby temple, and I imposed on one to snap a photo of me.

My clothes are certainly not the height of style, but they were great for hiking.

I was back home by noon, and two hours later I was at the gym taking one of the toughest workout lessons they have, in a room heated to 39°C (102°F) with 80% humidity no less.

家から午前８時出発で、12時位帰りました。２時からジムで結構激しいレッスン(矢部先生のホットシェイプ)を受けました。満足の気持ちでした。

I finally had my feeling of accomplishment.

This post picks up from “My Mt. Hiei Climb Challenge 2014, Part 1”, where I'd ended with having completed the ascent in good time and good form.

It was still early (12:45ish), so I decided to check out some of the temples farther into the mountains.

Some of the paths in these mountains were laid out thousands of years ago. I'm sure these old guardrail posts aren't that old, but this next photo gives a hint to the age because the bigger post, which essentially looks brand new compared to the guardrail posts, is dated April 1936...

Dotted here and there in the mountain are temple buildings of various sizes...

This set of steps, off the main path, looked impressive...

I surmised that a big tree must have fallen across the rail. I figured that such a thing might take out some of the stone lanterns along the side, and sure enough the two closest were much newer than the others....

The new ones are dated 2006, while the one in the foreground is dated 1963.

Anyway, continuing on, we come to a more substantial building...

A map nearby indicated that it was a minor outlying building for a larger group a bit farther on, so a bit farther on I went.

Along the way I came across this little shrine in a flat area seemingly carved out of the mountain. I liked the grass, which you don't see often in this context...

After paying a $6.50 fee to get past a certain point, I came across a fairly standard gateish kind of building, but the light just seems so nice in the picture so I'll post it:

I was feeling good about the hike, but the temple building didn't seem all that interesting from a photographic point of view, so I didn't get any closer than the shot above, taken from a bench in the shade.

Just off to the left, though, was a much more interesting building, of bare wood:

It's not exactly a wheelchair-friendly place, so my first thought about the ramp in front of the doors is that it's for heavy equipment, making the building more or less a barn. But the windows on the left don't look very barnlike, so I'll have to check it out again next time I visit.

Not being all that interested in what I'd seen so far, I decided to head back home. In prior years I'd taken a train or a bus down — this mountain is convenient that way — because my knees normally have sharp pains on any kind of downhill slope. But this year my knees felt fine, so I thought I'd actually hike back down.

Not wanting to retrace my meandering path back to the scenic-view area, I looked at the trail markers for a more direct route, but the way they sent me was clearly the road less traveled...

It turns out that “civilization” was right next to the grassy shrine seen above, and that I'd been sent on a round-about path through the woods to get there. Still hoping for a shortcut that might be faster than retracing my steps, I plunged back into the woods again...

This was very different terrain than the path leading up, or at least it seemed so because the path was so insubstantial.

Eventually the path dead-ended into another path, with no sign to indicate what might be where.

I decided to try heading right, and soon came across a wall to a temple that I could mostly see over...

When I got out to the front, I realized that this was the same one I'd seen before (Enrikuji's Jodoin Temple, 延暦寺の浄土院), the one just after the fallen-tree-bent railing at the base of the super long stairway.

Sigh, I'd again been sent on a wild goose chase looking for a shortcut. Had I had any brains I would have just cut my losses and backtracked on the known path I came in on. Or heck, had I just pulled out my iPhone to check the map I would have realized that I was going in the wrong direction for any kind of shortcut. But no, instead I returned to where the path had T'd a bit earlier, and went left.

The path got very tenuous, but eventually wound its way up to a small building of some sort...

The path beyond that seemed to evaporate into nothingness...

In looking at the satellite view for this location, I see that I was about 100 yards from a huge parking lot. I had no idea. I realize now that the bus from the top stops there on the way home to Kyoto, so perhaps good info for the future.

In any case, I retraced my steps back past the T junction to the “Looks Peaceful” temple for the third time, to start retracing the whole path back.

It took about 20 minutes to get back to the “Scenic-View Picnic Area” that I use as the goal of my hike up, so I considered it the start of my hike down.

Drank the last of the 2L of drink I'd brought with me, and headed down.

Though my knees hadn't hurt all day, I've suffered the painful-knee-on-downhills problem all my adult life, so I was stressed at the thought that it might hit halfway down the mountain.

Indeed, it started to flare up almost right away, but looking at the path from a different view (from the top looking down) brought new discoveries, and I found a side-path that lead to near where the cable-car goes down, and I earned a nice view (or, at least, a view that would have been nice had the air been clear).

I did take the opportunity to buy another liter of sports drink at the cable-car station. I didn't think I'd really need it, but turned out to appreciate it over the next hour and fifteen minutes of knee-shredding ankle-twisting pain it took me to go down.

The knee pain didn't surprise me, but the number of times I twisted my ankle did. I had at least half a dozen big scares, including twice when I went crashing to the ground. What was up with me.... had I suddenly forgotten how to walk?

The path is anything but smooth, but on the way up the angle of the mountain puts the path right in front of your face, so my gaze is naturally just a yard or two in front of my feet, and it's easy to avoid the rocks and roots and random bumps that lie in wait for your ankle. In fact, one uses the bumps and such as footholds to get a better grip. On the way up. On the way down, though, your gaze is way off in the distance at the pretty vista always unfolding before you.

Combine all that with the fact that my knee pain was worse the slower I went, so as odd as it sounds, it hurt less if I ran down the mountain. But running down the mountain doesn't bode well if you're trying not to twist your ankle.

Each time I twisted my ankle I half expected to see a bone sticking out, and oft imagined the drama that would ensue, but it seems that I dodged a bullet each time as I appeared unscathed. Each time I would berate myself for a basic inability to walk and vowed to pay more attention as I continued, only to inexplicably repeat the process all too soon.

It became sort of a race, to see which would cripple me first: twisting an ankle, or the knee pain that was now almost unbearable.

But in the end I made it down to the little temple that marks the start of the mountain hike. Another 43 minutes of city walking and I was home.

As I neared home, I snapped this picture:

The people visible near the top of the building in the center are in the same spot where I took the “Heian Shrine Gate From a New Perspective” shots the other day, just outside of the room featured in “The Lazy Photographer: Exposing for Single-Shot HDR”.

In the shot above, it's a photographer, likely taking new shots for their web page. How can I tell from here? I'd seen them when I'd left six hours earlier, taking photos of the building from across the street. You can see them in the first shot of part 1.

I bet their day was more fun than mine, but I bet I have a better feeling of accomplishment (though I shouldn't judge until I see their shots 😉).

Afterward

Everything above my knees felt great, but my knees and everything below felt absolutely horrible.

When getting ready for a well-needed shower, I was surprised to notice a lot of blood on one lower leg, coming from a spot just at the top of the sock line. I didn't know what it was from, but two ideas immediately sprang to mind. One is that I'd smashed it during one of my ankle-twisting falls, and the other is that I'd been bitten by a tick or the like. Ewwwww.

I didn't think it was a tick because I'd positively soaked my shoes, socks, and pants (inside and out) with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact.

Or at least it should. The little-used trails I was on gave ample opportunities for a tick to hitch a ride, and if the permethrin wasn't working, the first skin it'd find when crawling up my leg is right were I found the blood streaming out. So this is the stuff of bad dreams, but a week later I'm leaning toward the “banged my shin” side of things.

Anyway, the day after the hike I was in mostly good shape, except my ankles felt like they were essentially fused together, and I could hobble more than I could walk. Nevertheless, I went to the gym and did a hard session, and only later did it dawn on me that I wasn't just feeling normal soreness, but that I'd really beaten them up on the way down, especially with all the twisting.

It took several days, but I finally shook it off, and so ends my story.

Mostly.

Continued here...

Having just posted about a tiny baby hike to the top of an anthill in Kyoto that I feel good about having been able to do, I'm put to shame by my next-older brother Mike, who moments ago finished the Comrades Ultra-Marathon in South Africa. A normal Marathon is 26.22 miles, but this one is 55.5 miles (89.28 km). He finished in 9h 37m 26s, the 3,198th finisher out of 18,000 runners.

That leaves a pace of 10m 24s per mile.... every mile... more than 55 times in a row. On a good day I might be able to do one mile (2%).

Congrats Mike. What an accomplishment!

Update: Mike's written up an interesting report on the exeprience on his blog.

As I mentioned the other day, I recently did my third-annual Mt. Hiei (比叡山) hike, the first two years ago having been what prompted me to get in shape. Comparing this hike to previous ones is a yardstick to measure how well I'm getting in shape.

I've documented the route well enough in previous years (two years ago  ·  last year) so I didn't intend to do it again this year. I did bring along a smaller camera (a Nikon D700) and the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens that I bought accidentally to document my progress via timestamps on the photos, and for the azaleas at the top.

I'd intended to leave at 9am, but it was already past that when I woke up 🙂, so with my brain still half asleep I set out at 10am, snapping a photo to mark the time...

The walk through the city to the trailhead is about 3.5km (2.2mi), which I use as an opportunity to explore a bit, since I normally don't walk in that part of the city. For example, 10 minutes in I came across a very narrow lane that I decided to take simply because I could...

I eventually came upon a shrine that I go by often without apparently paying it much notice, so this time I decided to pop in for a few minutes...

It has a hotel right next to it, and lots of utility wires and such out front, but a nice view can be had with judicious composition...

It looks like a nice spot for a picnic, but I had other plans, so after spending four minutes I continued on toward the trailhead.

At the start of the trail is a little stream just perfect for toddlers to play in, and a preschool class was making a visit. I couldn't help but stop for a bit to watch the kids exude cuteness...

I soon arrived at a shrine that marks the start of the real hike for me, and I paused for a few minutes to stretch. It took 45 minutes to get here. Last year it took 72.

After a 10-minute pause, I started the hike proper.

I noticed that the signs on the trail markers were new, with more English:

(Compare to this sign from last year.)

They still don't have distances on them, which is unfortunate.

I also noticed a bunch of other signs that I guess other groups put up. The big one in the shot below is really difficult for me to understand, perhaps because of the font or because they have such little detail, and perhaps because they're not affixed permanently and so maybe get twisted so you can't tell the orientation. I found them to be quite distracting. )-:

A clearing where a fire road ends at a stone shrine gate is a notable waypoint for me... it's where I took my first long rest in prior years (two years ago, and last year), and marks where the trail starts to get serious.

The first year I did this it took 48 minutes of agony to get here, and I rested 20 minutes just to summon the courage to continue. This year took the same 48 minutes to arrive, but I felt great. Not even winded. I stopped long enough to snap the photo and have a quick drink, then plunged into the start of the challenging part of the hike.

Immediately after the stone-shrine-gate clearing is a set of very steep downs and ups and downs and ups described here. The “downs” are what scare me the most because of knee pain I've had all my adult life. The first year I did this I had to climb down the trail backwards to avoid the pain. Last year I wore knee braces and had better luck.

This year I was going to find out just how much better I've gotten, so I didn't wear the braces. I was extremely happy to find that I had no pain at all, and fairly flew down the mountain with enough energy to run back up the other side of each ravine.

After about four such down-and-cross-a-stream-and-go-back-up sets, I came across the second important waystation for me, a small stone monument that I described the first year as a rough halfway point.

The first year it took me 18 minutes to make the ups and downs to here from the stone shrine gate. Last year it took 16 minutes. This year just 8.

Previously I'd stopped here for some food and some rest, but I didn't need either this time, so I snapped a quick picture to mark my progress, and continued on my way. From here it's unrelenting up up up up, equivalent to about a 110-story flight of rocky rough sandy steps.

Toward the end of the hike I came across a group of 20 or so folks heading up at a slower pace...

As in previous years, the scenic-view picnic area near the top was my destination, and I made it in fine time, if not in fine style. From the stone shrine gate clearing to here took just 48 minutes; last year took 62 minutes, and the year before 70.

Overall, from leaving the house to here — all stops included — took 2h 31m. (Last year, where I stopped for photography and rests, it took 3h 41m.)

Last year I'd taken 4.5L of drink with me, and needed all of it. This year I brought only 2L, and had plenty to spare. I did take drinks more often than I felt I needed because they say that when exercising you've waited too long if you wait until you're thirsty. Still, when I did force myself to take a drink, I was surprised at how much I suddenly wanted. In the end, I probably drank 1.5L on the way up.

I wore the exercise shirt that I wrote about two months ago, and it was fantastic. It kept me cool and comfortable. It's not very stylish as you can see above, which is why I wore a bigger T-shirt over it during the city part of the hike.

I also wore a knit hat designed for the heat. It, too, isn't stylish, but it was so nice to not have sweat dripping in my eyes. It made a big difference.

I wore some Brooks walking shoes that I'd bought last year and they too were great... no blisters.

Wearing normal jeans was not a good idea... they get sweaty and heavy. I'll need to come up with something better for next year. (Update: this)

It turns out that the azaleas that I'd hoped to photograph were all brown... I was a week too late. I guess they were early this year.

I didn't feel the need to rest, so I quickly took off to check out some famous temples a few km farther on that I'd heard about.

Continued here...