I managed to rearranged my two classes I have on Wednesdays and take the day off to hang out with Mama and Lars. I debated a lot on where to take them, but decided on Mt. Myogi since it was nearby, and I had never been to the shrine. Luckily, although the day was cloudy and wet, it hadn’t started raining yet. We set off pretty late at 10 am. It’s impossible to get Lars up early, that sleepyhead. I parked the car by the shrine, at the visitor stop and we walked over to it. I didn’t realize the whole shrine is placed on a steep hill! So many stairs! The shrine was stunning. Huge cedar trees, filled with a rainy mist. Every corner had cool parts tucked away. We spent over an hour exploring the grounds, before returning to the car. I picked up some hiking maps at the visitor center and we drove over to the art gallery and lookout park to have lunch.

We were invited in by some staff to check out the art gallery inside the building so we postponed lunch. All the art was of Mt. Myogi. Some really stunning paintings. It was definitely interesting to see, especially the little kids’ art on the third floor. We had lunch after on a bench by the empty dirt fields where cosmos grew in the fall. Afterward, I moved the car to the closest parking lot to the trailhead we wanted to take. A brief bit along the road, and we were off climbing a steep paved path that met up with the top of Mt. Myogi shrine. We split off into the woods. The trail gradually ascended with quite a few stairs. Everything was damp and green.

We climbed out to one outlook area, passed a waterfall, saw a forest crab, and a snake! Along the way, Lars shrieked several times when something got stuck to his leg. He said it was an inchworm, but later I noticed some stuck on my shoes and leggings. My legs were covered completely. They were little forest leeches with quite a bit of sucking power! They liked to hide inside your shoes too. Luckily I only got about three on me. They move really quickly! We turned around at the second outlook point. There was a chain to get to the top, but it was way slippery and not well attached. We just ended up rock climbing the small distance. The view was really pretty! I climbed over to a small outcropping. It was tricky to get there as there was really nowhere to place your feet. Lars even made it up there although he is afraid of heights. Getting back down was harder for him and required some butt sliding. He had worn the wrong shoes too.

The way back went much more quickly and we managed to complete about 4 km in almost 3 hours. We made it back in time to be able to go to the onsen. Mama managed to feel comfortable enough to try it out, and Lars was actually excited at this point. The soak was great. We left shortly after 5 pm and headed off to get dinner at the same sushi place I took Lars earlier. It was really empty this time, being a weekday, and we had to order everything verbally. Mama and I shared an expensive eel plate that got flambeed with a torch! It was delish.