Mt. Futago, Kanagawa

Sayonara
Taking advantage of the beautiful clear day, Tod & I hiked up to the top of Mt. Futago to scatter some of his Uncle Bernie’s ashes. We visited it once before* about five and a half years ago to scatter his Aunt Sally. I feel good knowing that now they are together enjoying the view of Yokohama and Tokyo.
Mother Nature has been at work since our last visit, making it difficult to follow the course outlined in Gary D’A . Walters’ Day Walks Near Tokyo. A typhoon blew through last year, downing massive trees all along the trail. We navigated over and under them to make our way through but some side trails seem to have vanished and signage is missing. The remaining signs have been helpfully annotated in marker by other hikers, though, so it’s not as bad as it might have been.
At the advice of a local man we met near the trailhead, we did not take the route from the top of the mountain to Taura, as the book suggests, because the man said it was badly degraded from the storm. We walked through to Higashi-Zushi instead, which turned out to be shorter and easier than I remember the other way being. At least this time, we didn’t get lost.
*I made a video that day–May 4, 2000–including the part where we got lost. You can view it here: 31 (98 MB Quicktime) duration 6’03”