崇山森林公園(前編) Mt. Arata Forest Park (Part 1)
The other day I came here to Mt. Arata Forest Park, but I was too tired to explore the area properly. That story is here. This time I will explore the place properly. I'd love to find a good MTB trail. Once again, the weather is awesome. So, I wonder what I'll come across today.
Oh! I can hear a woodpecker pecking. That's rare. I've only ever heard one 2 other times. Once at Beppu, Kyushu and once at Kami-Seya's beech forest. I found the video below on YouTube. I'm not sure if it's the same kind of woodpecker that I heard, but the pecking sound is the same.
At Obon, 15 years ago, on my way home I saw a big 'daimonji' (a big Chinese character in the shape of 大 glowing at night). I was surprised at that time and wondered how they had got up into the mountains to do it. It was definitely here. You can see the poles on the slope for it and also the road you can see below is exactly where I was. I don't know if they still set it up, but it looks like a hard job. You'd fall down to the bottom without a rope.
Exploring is lot's of fun, isn't it. It's my 'happy time'. I returned from Azalea Valley to the lookout area and my MTB, and then headed for the ridge. So, what kind of trail did I find? What kind of amazing place did I discover? See my next blog entry to find out.