golden week

Last week was Golden Week, a Japanese holiday which has relatively little meaning, except for the whole nation getting 3 days off of work or school and traveling! I went on my spring debut hike with my outdoor club to a nearby mountain called Oshamambe-dake. It was such beautiful weather from the peak we could see both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.
We started hiking Wednesday afternoon and we reached our little cabin a few hours later. We played in the snow for a while, then ate a wonderful dinner or pork-kimchee, nabe soup and rice. Our wake up call was at 4:30am the next morning! WHY do we have to get up so early? We eat a nice huge breakfast of Japanese noodles and start the hike at about 7am.
When hiking, everyone wears a matching pants and windbreaker outfit. I think if we all got caught in a blizzard and died, this guy, Tommy, would be the first one to be found.
Yeah, the summit!
Me and Yasuda at one of the random stops along the way home. This was only one weird rest stop. Among the others were a sausage factory, a tofu tasting heaven, a potato farm, spring water geyser...etc. I am going to miss these kind of road trips!