On Father's Day, I took the girls up to the mountains for a day of hiking and beautiful views. I didn't even realized it was Father's Day until much later on. Though we had gone hiking before, this was the first trip up Kamuriki, a peak that can be seen from just about anywhere in town.



Tomomi stayed home with Noah, and I took the girls in the car up the mountain to a small parking area on the side of the winding mountain road. From there, it was only about 30 minutes to the top with the first half walking on a gravel service road. The second half was a well-maintained trail. Steeper, but Anri ould handle it just fine. Sara rode in the pack on my back.

On the way up, Anri was a bit scared of bears, even though there weren't any, but I told her that if she sang somgs or talked while walking, the bears would not come near us. So she sang "do re mi" all the way to the top. At points along the way, we were rewarded with beautiful views of almost the entire range of the North Alps. At the top, we could see all of Chikuma, the town we live in, as well as the valley leading south to the city of Ueda. While at the top, we had some snacks and juice by the little Shinto shrine standing there.

We'll be going again, next time with Tomomi and Noah. The hike is easy and it would make a good spot for a family picnic. For photos, click here. This is our June 2008 photo album and photos from this day are toward the end.