Yet another early morning! The trip to Tsuruoka started by leaving Aomori at 5:45am so we can arrive at 11:06am. The trains took us past a wide valley surrounded by mountains then at Akita, we turned to be parallel along the western coast that gave us views of the Sea of Japan until arriving to our destination.
Tsuruoka is a small city next but our main goal was to hike Dewa Sanzan 出羽三山, a trio mountains that were part of an ancient pilgrimage route 1,400 years ago. The three mountains, Mt. Haguro 羽黒山, Mt. Gassan 月山, and Mt. Yudono 湯殿山, in that order represent the past, present, and future. Although, I’ve also read they also represent birth, death, and rebirth. Regardless, more information can be found here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Dewa_Sanzan
Today, we trek 1.7 km to the top Mt. Haguro. This involves ascending 2,446 stone steps and passing a 400 year-old manmade waterfall. There is also a small clearing along the way that contains a wooden five-story pagoda built from 931 to 937 as well as a 1,000 year-old Japanese cedar called Jijisugi, or Grandpa Tree. Halfway up the steps, the was a cute café that offered a certificate for climbing the steps and sold delicious homemade mochi.
Right before the top, we dropped by our place for the night, Saikan, a former Buddhist temple. We’ll have a traditional Buddhist dinner and breakfast featuring vegetables grown on the mountain.
