Mt Hiwada

Today was all familiar faces and beautiful, blue skies, totally perfect for a day out hiking up the rocky slopes of Mount Hiwadayama. This particular mountain poses quite the challenge for anyone climbing it, as the terrain can get quite steep and rocky at times, with slippery dust and loose rocks strewn about. Due to this, we take extra safety precautions everytime we have an event here.

As we arrived, the scouts got their helmets on, and some of the smaller scouts transferred their heavier items to our backpacks. Before we began the hike in full, we walked up to the starting point, where Mark explained the concept of macro pattern photography (for the scouts to practice throughout the day) and the rules regarding safety when hiking up this mountain. Once we were all ready, the hike began! The trail was quite linear and steep, making for a tiring and rather boring start. Some of the scouts needed a bit of extra motivation to power through, but eventually everyone had made it past this initial struggle, and soon we reached the first checkpoint. We all bowed as we walked through the torii, drinking up and resting for a second at some benches.

Back on the trail, it was smooth sailing for a while, before we reached the rough stretch up to the lunch spot. We crossed a stream, crawled through tree roots, and climbed up jagged rocks. Haruto was able to show his friends how to make it up the harder sections, as he had done the hike with us multiple times before. Soon the trees stretched away from the path, and another torii was in sight.

It was time for lunch. We admired the view, enjoying our lunches and resting well. As the scouts finished their lunches, they took out their notebooks and drew. Once everyone was done, we started up the final stretch to the peak. The trail was much easier than before, and we reached the top in no time. The view was awesomely massive, spanning almost all of Tokyo. The scouts placed rocks on a small cairn to mark the achievement, and took turns looking through Mark’s binoculars at the far away skyline.

We made our way back swiftly, carefully stepping down some sections while running across others. We reached one torii, and then the next, before finally sitting down to rest at the bottom. To end the day, it felt right to stop at a convenience store for a well deserved treat! Once that was well enjoyed, we got back into the car for the drive home. Today was a blast, proving both challenging and fulfilling for all of us. We look forward to seeing you all soon for our next event!