Kamaike Pond

On October 14, 2012 after viewing mountains Norio-san began driving up narrow mountain roads with many blind curves, switchbacks and steep drop offs on the way to a place he played with other boys when he was young. The boys would dare each other and continue circling the pond even after dark. That is probably how Norio discovered the moss that glows in the dark.
Our little Toyota Vitz made it safely to the parking lot. The driveway to the parking lot was so narrow that attendants at each end radioed each other to ensure traffic at any point in time was only one way. Another attendant pointed out a parking spot and we were all set. In the past Norio-san said this pond was visited only by locals, but now he pointed out license plates from a variety of prefectures. And of course being Sunday (motorcycling day in Japan) I made the acquaintance of a middle aged couple riding a couple of Harley Davidson's. All that was required is my open mouthed envious stare. She noticed and said "Konnichi wa". It turns out they had been to Canada and did speak some English. She wished us a good rest of our visit to Japan.
As we ambled around the pond gorgeous vistas kept popping up between the trees ever changing as we progressed. The photographers reminded me of ones we have seen 2-3 times attempting to capture the elusive kingfisher.
Families came to enjoy the scenery and we enjoyed watching an ojiichan (grandpa) playing on the shore of the pond with his grandson.
After the walk Norio-san and Kuniko-san prepared the picnic lunch they had brought and completed this with hot and tasty "miso kinoko shiru" soup from the restaurant on the grounds. Then Norio-san pulled out his compact camp stove and heated up some water to make each of us a fresh cup of coffee.

Click on Kamaike Pond to see photographs on Picasa.