—Ñ“¹(rindou)=a path through the forest (preferably an off road path)
There are not too many rindous in Japan. The few that we do have are usually
closed or under construction.
For this trip (our first well organized trip) we planned to search for rindous in the area of Izu and Hakkone.
First stop, the local 7-11. We set out in just two trucks.
Thats my Escudo on the left and my friend Sone's Mitsubishi Jeep on the right.
Just a view of the mountains to come.
oops...we should have turned left..our first u-turn near some train station in Hakkone.
Finally the one of first signs were headed in the right direction. I can't read many Japanese
characters, but I recognized one of the red characters on the sign. It was the
character for stop.
Just a stone on the way up the mountian. It says "God of the Mountain".
NO!!! Not a good sign. The first rindou we passed and its gate is closed.
Yes! One that is open, but its only about 1.3km.
Thats me in the lead.
A gap in the woods.
Looking back.
Getting dark from all the cover of the trees.
At end there was just closed gate which lead to a main street, so all we did was turn
around and head for the next rindou.
Next up..
This one was a little harder, but still no need for 4x4.
Tire tracks getting just a little deeper.
Again, at the end another closed gate which lead to a main road, so we made a u-turn
and headed back down.
Just playing around..
he.he..
This is the sign for the third rindou. By looking at the map
this is the one that should have lead us down to the ocean.
Nice to see the sun.
Can you see the ocean?
The rindou ended leading us through some small town.
Since the rindou ended near one of our friend's mountain hut, we decided to head up to
it to have lunch.
This area is known for thier Japanese mandarian oranges. They were selling for a
100yen(not even a dollar)! I bought two bags they
were really sweet.Yummy..
Our friend's hut..actually up a little slope to the left of his abandoned SJ10. We kind
of just borrowed his place for about an hour since he is not currently in
the country.
Theres his little hut.
A closer look at the old SJ10.
Wow..Look at the view from his hut. Thats my wife Yoko and I Somer.
Sone
After our late lunch we headed for the last rindou. After this it got too dark to take
any pictures. Too bad though, it was by far the best one of the day. Traveling a rindou at
night is not a good idea. I'm glad everything was ok and we got out with out having to use
4 wheel drive. But, traveling at night did provide some breathtaking sights of the ocean and
city light below.
Special thanks to my sister and her husband for sending this for christmas. These came
in very handy and worked great.
Sorry not many pictures, but there were not too many exciting spots. We didn't have to
use four wheel drive at all. We are still searching for someting a little more challenging..
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