Mt. Takao

The top of Mt. Takao at 2000 ft.  This is the only mountain in the Tokyo urban area and a very popular hiking spot.  It was a beautiful day.  There are many trails to the top.  We took trail 6 up which was about 3 miles.  It was another two miles coming down on the main trail.

Trail sign showing the way to the mountain top and the train station.

Standing on the top of Mt. Takao--Chandlers, Westerbys, and Eliasons--I gave our photographer a pass-a-long card about the church

Lots of forest along the trails--even many redwood trees

There were lots of ferns but not fiddle head ferns like we ate in Takeetna, Alaska

Small cave-like shrine

Beautiful painted carvings on temple near the top of Mt. Takao

S

Devil or angel?

We didn't see him hitting anyone but people were careful not to get too close just in case

Small shrine among the many shrines and temples on Mt. Takao

Stone statues around the shrines

Entrance to the temple

Lion guardian--looks a bit stoned to me

A Japanese Pinocchio with a red face

Somebody's very large Halloween mask?

I think he's kept behind the wire to protect the visitors

More peaceful statue in gold leaf

Elder Chandler in front of some kind of marker

Somebody said this was the first CT scannner but I'm not sure

Cemetery

Sister Westerby and Sister Chandler posing with the angels

Graveyard on the mountainside

Nice for a picture but I can't say what it is

Still at the top of Mt. Takao--a long fence of wooden names or prayers of wishes

Roasted mochi--with a little sauce it wasn't too bad. Mochi is smashed cooked rice made into little balls.

Elder Westerby eating some mochi supplied by Elder Chandler--could be mistaken for a dead rat on a skewer.

These are not missionaries--there is monkey playground near the top of the mountain

Little shop of THINGS

View of Tokyo urban area but the center of Tokyo is many miles in the distance.  This area is still part of the Tokyo urban area but is about 1 1/2 hours from central Tokyo by train.

A different view of Tokyo urban area.

This could be the obelisk from 2001: A Space Odyssey with Japanese writing on it or it could say "Eat at McDonalds"--we'll never know

This is either a replica of Elder Chandler reading scriptures or a short monk.

Chef making very thin Japanese noodles at a restaurant on Mt. Takao.  The might be fake noodles but I guess they would then be called impastas.

I thought we were in Japan but this looks like a giant pharaoh behind a waterfall in Egypt.  Or maybe it's just someone taking a rest at the bottom of Mt. Takao after a long hike.