The next morning was a sore one, but it was relieved with a great breakfast. A full platter of vegetables (most of which we had no idea what they were) with a side of miso soup and rice revitalized our spirits to take on a challenge that was very unexpected in this trip. From previous research, hiking Gassan and Yudonosan was implied to be a long but not to difficult hike. It started
with a bus ride from the top of Haguro to the Gassan 8th station, hachigome, where the trail head starts. The bus actually follows the old pilgrim trail, making that portion of the hike was off limits (thankfully), so hachigome was the closes we could start. Here, lots of people started the early morning journey, with many of them having there friends or families wish them luck with a “ganbatte!”. And as soon as we started on our journey, and all throughout it, fellow hikers wished us good luck as well, and more importantly, wished us a safe return, “itterasshai!”.
Unike Yoteisan, Gassan continuously provided motivation during the hike. With only shrubbery filling the land, the Knights Who Say Neep allowed us passage and we had a
constant view of the mountains and lands around us. The elevation map provided to us showed both accent and descent would be a fairly shallow climb, but afterwards we agreed someone needs to have a word with the map makers. Climbing up to Gassan was not too bad. There were lots of miniature mounds and hills along the path itself, preventing us from ever really seeing the peak along the way, some plateaus with flowers and snowy sections, and stone steps to assist with the path up the steeper parts of the trail.
We can’t say too much about the top of Gassan. Words don’t really do it justice as to how peaceful and majestic the view was, and how calming and peaceful the temple felt. Before being allowed entry to the shrine, we were purified by one of the monks. Afterward, we made our way to a restraunt that was a slight walk down the ways to rejuvenate our spirits with some special mountain curry and soba. All in all, we spent about an hour relaxing before setting out to Yudonosan. That’s when the fun really started (sarcasm intended-which interestingly enough is not really used in Japan).
The view was immediately the best we had all day. But it was a ruse played by the mountain to distract us from the challenge that was right in front of us. While the uphill battle to Gassan provided well defined steps, the down hill did not. It may have at one
wpoint, but for whatever reason, the stone steps seemed to have crumbled over the few hundred years, leaving behind a steep, pebble slope, with a very few well defined stepping points. Our hiking poles did most of the work here, and luckily it only lasted an hour or so. The trek from then on was similar to heading up to Gassan – some uphill, some downhill, more snow trekking, and nice shrubbery. It wasn’t until the last split from the main trail (there were many routes to other locations) that we again 
encountered majestic sights and precarious situations. The first of these was a metal ladder. I think most of us can says we have climbed a ladder at some point in our lives, and that there was not much to it. Now add a 30 pound backpack, hiking poles in one hand, half inch diamond rungs (pointy side up), and 5 hours of 
exhaustion. And did I say ladder? I meant ladders. Four, 20 to 30 feet long, nearly 90 degree ladders, taking a pain-staking 30 minutes to climb down. Needless to say, I think we are now ready for American Ninja Warrior.
When we finally thought all was said and done, the world said “not yet!”. Being old and on a mountain, the rest of the trail had become part of the summer streams in which the mountain water flows down. At first it was nice; crossing the ice cold stream every few hundred meters really made or feet feel great. We even dipped our head in to cool down. Soon after though, the water was constqntly under us as we fllowed the steep bouldery path down towards…somewhere. I’ll admit that when we realized where we were, we also realized we had no idea where we were. The environment surrounding us made it seem as if we had missed the a turn, our chose the wrong path. Eiter way, it didnt really matter since the only way to go was down. What’s once would have been the last 30 minutes turned into just over an hour and change.
We finally reached Yudonosan exhausted, sunburned, and late. We missed the last bus to Tsuruoka station (to catch our train to Niigats) but we’re somehow super lucky enough that the last 3 people there were getting ready to drive home. Where did they live exactly? You guessed it…Tsuruoka! When they realized we would have been
stranded in the middle of nowhere, they offered to give us a ride back to the train station. The end of the day, and one of the most memberable ones, was cruising down the left side of a highway, listening and communicating with three suprisingly young looking (they were in there 60s looking 40s), with Stevie Wonder’s Ebony and Ivory playing in the background.
