Do you remember when I climbed Mt. Takao in December? On that trip I met a hiking club and they asked me to join them for their next climb. After much debate, I decided to go and was very happy I did. It was a great experience with a group of new people. The group climbs a mountain every month, and this month was Mt. Jinba (陣馬山).

I got up early at 6am to catch the train to Takao station by 8am. From there I met up with the hiking club. These were people I only talked to for 3 minutes when I met them, so I was unsure what they would be like. Yet, I was surprised to find that they were all very friendly, talkative, and in general just nice people.

The weather was nice and warm as we started our climb.

Soon there was snow, and we had to be careful as we walked.

Here is the top of the first mountain that is before Jinba. I can’t remember how to read the kanji though. From here there was an amazing view of Tokyo and everything surrounding it. We were even lucky enough to be able to see the island which name I forgot. As we looked in the other direction, we saw Mt. Fuji in all its snow covered glory.

The path to Mt Jinba.

The way to the top of Mt. Jinba was covered in snow. I didn’t even have my hiking boots, as I left them in the US thinking I would never need them. Luckily, one of the members lent me these really cool shoe spikes.

We took another break, before making the final accent, to look at Mt. Fuji once again.

It was strange to find a man carrying around his small dog while climbing.

The last stairs before the top.

The top of Mt. Jinba! After many hours of climbing we finally made it. I was the first one to the top simply because of my competitive nature. As you can see, the top is at 857 meters. The view from the top was simply amazing. It was far better than that of Mt. Takao. Honestly, pictures would not do it justice so I did not really even bother.

Then once everyone had reached the top the one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen happened. We got some picnic tables for lunch and everyone sat down. Then food starting appearing out of people bags, and I mean lots of food. A whole Chinese cabbage, lots of mushrooms, onions, and other Japanese vegetables. Along with huge packages of meat, and Udon. Then about 4 portable stoves and pots appeared and the group started making Kimchi Chige. When the first pot was finished cooking everyone ate some, and then went on to the next pot, and continued in a circle until we got back to the first pot again, which had been refilled. We continued around in this manner until all the food was gone. Everyone ate a lot, and to their credit, it was amazingly delicious! After everyone was satisfied, we packed everything up and took the group picture.

Next month is Mt. Oyama (大山) and oden!