Mt Tsukuba (筑波山)

Written By Don Kalubowila

I reached the trailhead late in the evening – it was dark and cold. Without lights, I was so disoriented and ended up driving few circles around the parking lot, to locate the trailhead. But no luck - I’ve parked far end of the parking lot. It took me sometime to set up the sleeping platform (did I mention it was cold? I was hungry but was not going to put my mini table outside and (did I mention it was cold)? I ended up having some snacks and went to sleep around mid-night.

I was supposed to join group of hikers, and we started the hike around 4:30. Only after, I entered the trail, I realized that I’ve forgotten my head lamp – well, comedy of errors continues from last night. By following others, I was able to navigate the trail, without braking ankle and reached the peak in time.

Needless to say, the view was amazing – not only view of sun rising behind the magnificent Mt Fuji but panoramic view of mountains, cities, villages and rice fields. One of the attractions along the trail is over a dozen of unusually formed rocks and supposedly every rock has a story (too many and too long to mention in here). Mount Tsukuba Shrine is another highlight and supposedly many people visit the shrine to worship.

Don Kalubowila
“The life would have been easier had I not learned to challenge my own fears, had I not considered other possibilities, had I believed everything I was told (including things that was coming from my own brain). But easy has never been the point., if I didn’t take that first step out of my comfort zone, I couldn’t have traveled in 38 countries, I couldn’t have sailed across Atlantic, I couldn’t have cycled across US, Mexico &Japan, I couldn’t have worked in half a dozen of countries, and I couldn’t have done so many things I’ve done. If I had believed what I was told and let my own fears dictate my life, what boring life it would have been”
www.donkalubowila.com
Previous

Mt. Tōno-dake (搭 ノ 岳)
Next

Mount Tanigawa (谷川岳)