Susan Spann's Blog, page 13

CHAPTER 16: Daisen’s Giant Chipmunk

Mt. Daisen: July 1, 2018 This photo supplement tracks the events in CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features” that didn’t make it into the book. At the time of its completion in 2011, the Tokyo Skytree was the largest tower, and the second-largest man-made structure in the world. As of 2020, it remains in the top five, and is easily visible from many of Tokyo’s 23 wards, as well as the neighboring mountains. At night, and on holidays, the tower lights up in a variety of colors. I loved being able to

CHAPTER 15: Magic in the Mundane

As the end of June, and my first apartment move in Japan, approached, I made a two-day trip to Nagano Prefecture to climb Kirigamine (aka Kurumayama). The trip did not go as planned, in many ways--and yet this ended up among the most memorable climbs of my mountain year.

Hiking The Lake Trail (Tokyo)

Last weekend, I hiked the first leg of a multi-year, segmented hike of the Kantō Fureai no Michi (sometimes translated "Kantō Friendship Trail"). The trail is 1,799km (1,118 miles) long, and passes through seven prefectures (Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Chiba, and Kanagawa) as it circumnavigates the Kantō (Japan's largest flatland plain).

The Healing Power of Travel

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to talk with Pauline Frommer of Frommer's Travel about the nature of travel, its power to heal, and how a special itinerary from Hokkaido Nature Tours helped me through one of the most challenging periods of my life.

CHAPTER 14: Too Many Bees

Odaigahara lies in southern Nara Prefecture--several hours south of Nara City (itself, an hour south of Kyoto)--in a mountainous region formerly known as Yamato. After two days of rain, I was glad to see the sun as the bus set out for the trailhead.

CHAPTER 13: Walking on the Road

The day after my ill-fated climb of Mt. Ibuki, I headed to southern Nara Prefecture--more than an hour south of the famous deer in Nara City. Most American travelers never get this far south in Nara, which is a pity, because some of the best and most beautiful parts of the prefecture lie off the beaten tourist path. (Highly recommended for nature lovers!)

CHAPTER 12: At Least the Frog Was Happy

The rain should have told me climbing Mt. Ibuki was a bad idea. Unfortunately, my lack of mountain climbing experience (or even hiking experience) left me entirely unprepared for the events that followed.

CHAPTER 11: The Mountain Wants to Be Climbed

Mt. Bandai: June 15, 2018 The images in this photo supplement follow the events in Chapter 11 of CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features”: information that didn’t make it into the book. This decorative horse, in the lobby of my hotel near Mt. Bandai, is made in the style of traditional wooden horse carvings that originated in the Tōhōku region. The motif carried through the entire property; the onsen (volcanic hot spring bath) even had small cypress horses floating in it. My first glimpse of Mt. Bandai, out the window of

CHAPTER 10: Cuckoos and Chains

The Nasu volcanic complex began erupting over 600,000 years ago; today, Mt. Chausu is the only major active peak in the Nasu range. The last major eruption occurred in 1963, and the peak remains on the Japanese government's "watch list" for active volcanoes.

Chapter 9: No Raisins on the Summit

All shinkansen (bullet trains) are not created equal. Some stop more often than others do, and some travel at (slightly) faster speeds. The fastest, known as the hayabusa (peregrine falcon) travels at up to 300kph (200 mph) runs mostly in the Tōhōku region, north of Tokyo.