Hiking in the Deep Noto

Yesterday I headed up to the town north of my own to join a community group who went out for a hike up Suzu's tallest mountain. We gathered at nine in the morning and after a briefing on the day's plan, led everyone in warm-up exercises. Our first stop was to go see a hidden waterfall! We had to use a rope to go down and back up a slope since it was so steep and completely made of mud but at the bottom we found a creek from the 15 meter waterfall pouring out of the cliff! I was very impressed with our group since most of the members were housewives who are in the their sixties or older! Japanese people constantly impress me with how active they all stay through old age. 

After leaving the waterfall we began our hike up the mountain. It was good exercise and a pleasant day out in the woods. At intervals our route opened up to give us spectacular views of the countryside, sea, and even distant mountain ranges. During our hike, the ladies were constantly pointing out different plants that either give beautiful flowers or are edible. Several of the ladies even gathered some wild vegetables to prepare at home later. After finishing the hike, we went back to the retired school where we initially met to have a little barbecue lunch. We were served a great lunch of soup, yakitori, grilled rice balls, and lots of mountain vegetables that were hand picked and prepared for our lunch.