Climb every mountain, ford every stream....

I had a day off on Monday-- I believe it was health and sports day, but there have been a lot of public holidays lately, so I'm starting to lose track.

I took advantage of the day to do something I've been meaning to do since I got here: hike Mt. Mukabaki.

When I ask for hiking suggestions within Nobeoka, Mukabaki always comes up. And while I've gone hiking in the mountains before, I can't think of time I've ever climbed a mountain start to finish before. As I didn't know if it was safe to go alone, I gathered some fellow ALTs who had also been wanting to make the climb, and off we went!

It was harder than I expected, since I'm used to hiking flatter trails-- there were a couple moments that felt like I was climbing more than walking. Those were my favorite parts: plotting out a safe path is, to me, much more interesting than just walking. However, the hike was positively gorgeous, and there wasn't a single moment when I felt bored.

 As we walked, the types of trees kept changing. I'm not sure what these are, though their height reminded me a bit of redwoods.

My lovely hiking companions!

One of the fun parts!

I was starting to feel very tired at this point.

I never thought I'd find myself taking pictures of worms, but this one was a beautiful color in the sunlight. 

The sign marking the peak!! I'm even more exhausted in this picture.

I could see pretty much all of my lovely oceanside town from up there.

Do you see the lizard?

A sign explaining the name of the mountain. I think it has something to do with the way the mountain, with its two different peaks, looks like a machine that was used to make some kind of clothing. (My more literate friend, who helped me understand the kanji, explained it much better!)

A shrine a little more than halfway to the top.

Thanks for reading!