On the Dragon’s Back, Hong Kong island

Hong Kong is the best major city in the world for hiking. Here are my 3 trip reports.

Japan did not go well for me, hiking wise. But here’s my definitive recommendation for anyone going there for a hiking holiday who wants to do it right – best hikes Japan.

And here are my hiking posts / trip reports tagged Japan.

If you have any questions or suggestions, leave a comment.

According to Lonely Planet Best in Travel Readers’ Choice Awards.

… ‘Incredibly friendly, amazingly beautiful and one hell of a good time. Bars followed by geothermal hot springs.’

‘Iceland is the place to be in 2012 to see incredible displays of nature! The country of Iceland is currently experiencing two “maximum cycles”: One to do with increased volcano activity and another to do with the increased aurora activity for 2012.’ …

… ‘The wonders and creativity of nature at its best – untouched by humans…to this point. Geothermally heated pools to refresh the soul, literally seeing the rift valley between the American and European geological plates, visiting glaciers, seeing a real volcano, walking on terrain that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world…AND who wouldn’t want to see a puffin!!’ …

details on Lonely Planet

(via Best Hike)

Philippines is on the list, too.

Already booked to hike with a local day #1.

And my first trip to Manilla has been confirmed. I’ll be volunteer teaching a gymnastics clinic Nov. 30 – Dec 5th for the IOC. … And staying on a couple of weeks on my own.

It’s Christmas on the left coast for the first time. My parents are hosting in Parksville.

These folks live closer to Siberia than Tokyo, I reckon.

With miscalculated bravado, I’d traveled to remote Wakkanai to hike Rishiri-Zan volcano, a short ferry trip off the northern tip. … That didn’t happen. … I arrived a month too late.

Instead, with nothing else on my itinerary, I hiked the town of Wakkanai itself discovering, unexpectedly, all sorts of attractions.

The Autumn colours were evocative.

I was quite taken with the “tourist attractions” around the Wakkanai Kōen (稚内公園) park and the Motoe Hiraku tower.

In the Spring there are 4,000 wild cherry trees here to picnic under, a passionate Japanese pass time.

You might mis-assume I traveled to the far north to “collect” some geographical bragging point — but the furthest north is Cape Sōya, 30km away. (I was too cheap to pay for the bus ride there.)

Perhaps you’ve heard of Cape Sōya in connection with the 1983 incident where the Soviets shot down Korean Airlines flight 007.

A passenger flight just like this one. It might be 007 en route to Seoul.

After seeing all the “tourist” attractions, I went walkabout on animal trails over the peninsula to walk back along the shoreline.

So … happily and unexpectedly I had a wondrous day, all the more memorable for the challenges.

See more photos from my day hike of Wakkanai.

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The guidebooks are right.

Trains run all over the island, but actually connecting from one to the next on the local lines is tricky.

It IS easy, however, to get to the northern tip of the country, Wakkanai (稚内市).

You CAN see Russia from here, Sarah. (The island of Sakhalin.) But not when it’s grey and miserable. And it’s always grey and miserable in Wakkanai from what I’ve seen. And windy. And cold.

The further you get from Tokyo, the less English. Not even train stations have much English. But this town is bilingual — Japanese and Russian. There is a ferry from here to the mainland.

Without help I wandered the town at night in the drizzle unable to find any of the 3 hostels — all had closed for the winter, as it turned out.

I ended up in less cheap business accommodation, Petit Hotel Joy Wakkanai. Hot shower, fast internet and traditional Japanese breakfast.

… just about to go check the feasibility of a day trip to some nearby islands, for hiking.

That will be a disaster — if I go — guaranteed.

This volcano is LIVE.

From there the top of the volcano was shrouded. Myself and Kim from Belgium were the only hikers bold (stupid) enough to climb higher.

We might have made it to 1900m before being driven off the mountain by wind and freezing, horizontal rain. The summit is about 2200m.

Happily, there was a hot springs and gourmet dinner awaiting me below in Japan’s best and most expensive alpine hostel.

This ain’t the usual hostel grub.

more photos … or read my hiking trip report

If it’s raining in the morning, I’ll hop back on the train until I find better weather.

I am overnighting in an internet cafe. Private cubicle with free drinks included for about $16 for 6hrs. Quite comfortable.

Tomorrow I will try for Daisetsuzan National Park, the largest in the country. More bears than people.

Unfortunately it is too late in the season to get much hiking done. But I’ll give it a go.

Might be offline for a couple of days.

I’m staying on in Tokyo, hanging out with Marceline Goldstein from Montreal. I’ll be assisting her with a Cirque du Soleil audition. And then a second audition in Osaka.

From there … I have a 21-day all-you-can travel rail pass. It will be like the old Eurorail travels of my distant past. I’ll be hiking everywhere the train will take me, happy to be part of the revitalization of the Japanese tourist industry.

Following that, I’m fairly decided to go over to Hong Kong for a week or so. Hiking — and taking in a big domestic Chinese gymnastics competition. Coach Jun Chen has invited me.

And back to chilly North America Nov. 22nd.

It was the best of times …

… The “spear” of Mt Yari compels. But it’s not nearly as close as it appears.

… The highlight of the day, however, was the shocking location of the campground.

Check the sunset view from my tent.

Exhausted, I couldn’t be happier with the adventure so far.

read more – climbing Mt Yari, Japan

It was the worst of times …

Next day:

Can you believe this stunning view from Yari-dake-sanso at sunset?

Here’s my last photo of the day — my tent.

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In fact, that was my last photo of the trip.

Going to sleep at 8:30pm, I was awoken at 10:30pm. The storm had arrived.

Wind and driving rain all night kept me up. I listened to an audio book until first light.

It was all I could do to stuff my wet gear and flee back the way I came, the easy way down.

read more – fleeing Mt Yari, Japan

People go to walk high ridges and scramble Mount Yari (槍ヶ岳 Yari-ga-take), … one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. … 3,180 m (10,433 ft).

For two days we had perfect weather. (Trip report and photos coming soon.) I put up my tent on a ridge a couple of hundred metres beneath the “spear” (槍 yari).

The first night was fantastic, one of the best spots I’ve ever camped. Both sunset and sunrise.

… but the second night a storm blew in at 10pm. I listened to an audio book all night, frantic to pack up my soaked belongings at first light. I descended directly to the Tokyo bus.

As a result I missed the infamous “Daikiretto” (die-key-ret-toe – all I see is ‘DIE’).

It will be too late in the season for me this Autumn, but one day I’d love to do the 65km Tate-Yama to Kamikochi traverse of the “Northern Alps”.