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"Breaking all the rules with Mr. Bear"
If you’ve ever read about what to do when camping in bear country, you’d know there are a few rules one should try to follow. Hanging your food out of reach of Mr. Bear and avoiding cooking or keeping food in your tent are two such rules. Here in Hokkaido we have brown bears and, out east, Shiretoko National Park has one of the largest per capita populations of brown bears in the world.
My first time in Daisetsuzan National Park, in central Hokkaido, I found not all people know about—or follow—these rules...
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"You never know who you are going to meet and
where you are going to meet them."
This month I thought I would tell you a story of an unusual run-in I had up here on the big island of Hokkaido. It’s about a good friend of mine and how we first met. I was camping on the shore of Lake Shikotsu which sits at the foot of Tarumae-zan (1,041 m) and Fuppushi-dake (1,102.2 m), on the southeast coast of Hokkaido.
I had a great day, hiking up to the peak and around the volcanic crater of Tarumae-zan and then over to the peak of Fuppushi-dake. The mountains, seated next to each other, are connected by a trail. (You can hike these mountains separately or together.)
The evening was starting to set in, the skies were clear and, best of all, there was a full moon poking out its head and taking a look around.
After having a feed, I was thinking what I should do, and—bang!...
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A spooky feeling
Do you believe in ghosts or spirits in the woods? Maybe this story will change your mind…or maybe not. A couple of summers ago, I was doing a long day-hike up to Yubari-dake, a two-to-three-hour drive out of Sapporo. It was a beautiful, but hot and muggy, summer weekday, and I had the trail to myself (or so I thought).
Yubari-dake is an interesting mountain. Way back when, even before the war, Yubari-dake was mined for coal and, as the story goes, there were a lot of deaths in the criss-crossing underground tunnels. A number of locals would have you believe some of these poor souls are still there...
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Doing it solo
December is upon us, so the snow up here in Hokkaido will be here to stay for a while. After a busy summer and fall of taking people from all over the globe into mountains, the Pig’s ready for some R&R. This means doing something I’m real passionate about – a solo trip into the Hokkaido backcountry...
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The Pig and Mr. Takemoto
When I first moved to Sapporo, I started hiking in the hills around the city. During one such hike, I passed a large hut that looked unoccupied.
A few years later in winter, I noticed smoke coming out of the chimney for the first time and went over to check it out. I tried the door; it was unlocked so I stepped into a cold...
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The Pig Goes Mobile
One advantage of writing for a good magazine is that sometimes you get invited to try some fun things. I recently got such an invitation for myself and my family from the guys at Sapporo Snowmobile Land. I’m always looking for new activities for my two boys, Rimu, 8, and Toa, 4, to try, so I rounded up my family and off we went...
The last few years I’ve noticed more people using walking poles (“stocks” in Japanese). If you are thinking about buying a pair, you might consider walking poles are not an instant fit; it takes time to get used to them...