RIGHT IN MY BACKYARD

So there’s me driving all over the place to climb mountains not even realizing there was one in my own backyard. Now don’t get me wrong, I knew it was there, I’m not that daft…….(pause for thought/self-questioning). It’s just that I thought it was inaccessible because it appeared to be in the middle of a bunch of mountains. But as it turns out there is a road. Bumpy as hell, it’s the kind of ‘road’ you’d only drive in a Land Cruiser or an eleven year old Daihatsu hatchback. Being the owner of the latter I gladly put my exhaust and madness to the test again. This mountain is called Oodogemoriyama, or something like that, and is actually in my town. At a mere 580 metres, it’s not exactly Everest. But infamous for it’s super steepness (if that’s a word), and high population of bears, none of my local friends have climbed it. I climbed it alone on Monday. It was a beautiful afternoon with crisp autumn weather and perfect for some thinking time. Unfortunately, during my two hour hike, the only meaningful thoughts I had were ‘god, it’s steep’, and, ‘I hope a bear doesn’t eat me’. The steepness I could handle. With ropes tied to trees for most of the steep sections I could pull myself up without worrying too much about slipping on the bed of fallen leaves under my feet. But the bears, well, the bears really bugged me. I don’t mean they were calling me names or throwing paper airplanes at me like the kids in school. I mean I couldn’t get them out of my head and focus on useful thoughts like curing world hunger or what to cook for dinner (curing my hunger). Seriously, it almost became stressful at one point. Most of my hikes to date have been with other people, and usually in more open mountains. This was in the middle of the forest and the (far too) cheap bear-bell that I’d bought was bearly audible even to me.
But, alas, as this blog-post proves, I did not get eaten, or even nibbled on by a bear. However, I am buying a proper (i.e. costs more than 50p) bear-bell before climbing on my own again.

With maps like this I'll never get lost.