{"id":1502,"date":"2010-04-25T23:44:53","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T14:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-04-25\/1502"},"modified":"2010-04-25T23:44:53","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T14:44:53","slug":"a-bit-of-drama-on-mt-daimonji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-04-25\/1502","title":{"rendered":"A Bit of Drama on Mt. Daimonji"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nComin' Right At Ya'<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I was shocked today when out of the blue Anthony said that he wanted to\nclimb Mt. Daimonji, a rather<\/span> short bump of a mountain<\/span> on the east side of\nKyoto noted for the big\n\n “\u5927”<\/span>\n\non its side, visible from most everywhere in Kyoto, and coincidentally appearing on my\nblog<\/a> just the other day (but described in more detail in my ”Daimonji's\nHidoko Fire Pits<\/a>” post from several years ago).<\/p>\n\n

Anthony had hiked this\nmountain<\/a> three years ago (where in this case “hiked” meant “was carried\nby daddy” for much of it) and had shown no interest since until this\nmorning's sudden pronouncement. The timing<\/span> was perfect for me, having\nrecently gotten a big<\/span>\nlens<\/a> that can zoom to\n1,000mm<\/a>, so I'd been thinking it might be fun to bring it up there.<\/p>\n\n

We had nothing else planned, so I brought<\/span> the Bigma (and broke out my monopod<\/a> for the first\ntime in years) and just did it.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 340 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNot Your Average Hiker<\/span>\nKyoto Prefectural Policeman on the mountain above the fire pits\n<\/div>\n\n

Despite being a Sunday with wonderful weather, the paths were not\ncrowded at all, and I got<\/span> bunches of great shots of Anthony that I'll share\nsometime later.<\/p>\n\n

As we neared the top of\nthe mountain<\/a>, I came across<\/span> a small<\/span> group of retiree hikers in animated\nconversation, and in the short time I was<\/span> in earshot as I passed<\/span> them, I learned<\/span> that a small<\/span> girl and her 65-year-old grandpa had gone missing on\nthe mountain. It's a young<\/span> mountain with very steep-walled ravines on all\nsides of the many paths, so despite being relatively small, someone could\neasily get lost and never, ever found.<\/p>\n\n

I kept my eyes out as we descended from the top toward the big\n\n “\u5927”<\/span> and its many fire pits.<\/p>\n\n

Just as we were breaking through the trees on the path from the top of\nthe mountain down to the cleared area of the pits, we were greeted by a\npolice<\/span> helicopter rising from below...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It was flying all around for no apparent purpose. One would<\/span> think it\nmight be used in looking for the missing people, but the way it flew seemed\npretty useless for that, often flying way away over the city, then back to\nus and around, then here and there, but none of it seemed useful for\nsearching. I still<\/span> don't know what they were doing.<\/p>\n\n

But it gave me something to practice with my new lens, so I availed<\/span>\nmyself of the opportunity (and if you look at the quality of these shots in\nany detail, you'll see that I badly<\/span> need the practice)...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHazy Day in Kyoto<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

(The wooded area in the shot above is the northern part of the Kyoto\nImperial Palace grounds in the background, photos of which have appeared in\nmy blog many times. It looks<\/span> densely wooded from this angle, but there's a lot<\/span> going on down there. For those<\/span> interested in exploring vicariously, you can check out\nmy interactive blog photo map centered there<\/a>,\nor see a sample<\/span> selection:\n1<\/a>,\n2<\/a>,\n3<\/a>,\n4<\/a>,\n5<\/a>,\n6<\/a>,\n7<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\n

The fire pits themselves were quite crowded, because there's a short<\/span> and\neasy path leading up from near the Ginkakuji Temple (“The Silver Pavilion”)\nthat enters the\n\n “\u5927”<\/span>\n\narea from below. It's much<\/b> more beautiful to approach from the top\nas Anthony and I did,<\/span> but that entails a real<\/span> hike with a lot<\/span> of climbing, so it's\nmuch less popular.<\/p>\n\n

Among the crowd were a fair number of policemen, most of which probably\ndidn't expect to be climbing a mountain<\/span> today...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGoin' Casual<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

As the helicopter continued its apparently pointless gyrations well away\nfrom where it might be any help, I went for<\/span> a photo<\/span> with an interesting\nbackground. Many were with the 2× teleconverter (which as I discussed<\/span> the other\nday<\/a>, lowers the photographic quality — the “IQ” —\nconsiderably), so the softness is not due completely to my lack of skill or\nthe haze...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 650 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/12, ISO 3600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTemple in the Background<\/span>\nKurodani Temple<\/a>, which is less than a kilometer<\/span> from my place, but I've yet to visit\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 1000 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOooh, a Pagoda,<\/span> Even Better!<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMy House<\/span>\nis down there among the muck\n<\/div>\n\n

(I presented a sort of pictorial, interactive view of that area on my blog a few<\/span> years ago, in\n“Kyoto's Okazaki Area, From Mt. Daimonji<\/a>”.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHelicopter at 50mm<\/span>\n(it's there, really)<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nfour seconds later,\nHelicopter at 500mm<\/span>\n( you've just got to love the convenience of a 10x<\/span> superzoom )<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 460 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLess Haze Straight Up<\/span>\nthe sky is actually blue when you're not looking through the long end of a layer<\/span> of haze\n<\/div>\n\n

After we had descended back to the edge of the city, we were getting on\nmy scooter when a police<\/span> car came to pick up some policemen who emerged\nfrom the forest soon after, and we were able to hear the good news: turns\nout that there was only one missing person — a five<\/span>-year-old girl\n— and she had been found wandering by an elderly pair of hikers, who\nbrought her down to a police<\/span> station. Woo-hoo!<\/p>\n\n

Finally, in a nod to the Freaky Wavy Lines Quiz\nAnswer<\/a> that I posted<\/span> this morning, one of the shots of Anthony today\nexhibited it, visible in the larger view you get when clicking through on\nthe thumbnail below.....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was shocked today when out of the blue Anthony said that he wanted to climb Mt. Daimonji, a rather short bump of a mountain on the east side of Kyoto noted for the big “\u5927\" on its side, visible from most everywhere in Kyoto, and coincidentally appearing on my blog just the other day (but described in more detail in my \"Daimonji's Hidoko Fire Pits\" post from several years ago).<\/p>

Anthony had hiked this mountain three years ago (where in this case \"hiked\" meant \"was carried by daddy\" for much of it) and had shown no interest since until [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}