Thursday, November 5, 2020

Hike to Ippomatsu Park and the Bird Temple

 My friends invited me to join them on a hike to Ippomatsu Park and I was happy to accept.  We started our hike up at this cemetery.




Leading up to the temple, there were some interesting decorations.




I'm not sure what this is about, but I think if you stand on this stone, your legs will get more energy. In case you can't tell from the pictures, it was a steep walk.





This view was nice, but it gets better higher up.



This is the entry gate to the temple. I don't know the name of this temple, but I'm calling it the bird temple bacause of the cute little birds there.





The big bell.



More steps up to the main building.




The taller man started talking to me in English.  His English was excellent.  He told me he started learning English at age 60, and he was happy to talk with me.  I was the third American he talked with this year.



The little birds here were so cute and would fly up and get sunflower seeds from your hand.








After the temple, the trail became very steep and I didn't take any more pictures until we got to the park at the top.




We had a picnic lunch with this view.



The park is quite nice and worth the steep hike to get to.




The trees won't change color for a while here, but this one ginkgo tree was yellow.







The walk down wasn't as difficult.  What a good day!





8 comments:

kiwikid said...

My goodness that was a lot of up but a beautiful view at the top. Those little birds are pretty.

Vireya said...

That looks like a beautiful outing. What a great view from the top! Those little birds are really sweet.

Queeniepatch said...

After having been cooped up for such a long time it must have been lovely to go for a long hike with friends. What a practical stone! Did it work?
I hope you will have many more outings soon.

Jeanie said...

What a view! I wonder how many miles that was. It looks like a glorious day (and a strenuous hike!). But the payoff was very much worth it. Oh, birds from the hand. I love that!

Janie said...

I'm so happy for you! What a great hike!
Thanks for sharing.

SUWA said...

What a happiness hike! Probably the temple′s name is ”Ouchi kannon“.
Famous temple in Shimizu.

jacaranda said...

Fabulous outing with beautiful scenery. Each time I have visited Japan, it amazes me how fit the people are, walking up and down hills and lots of stairs.

Leonore Winterer said...

I hate walking on slopes, so I would really have suffered on this hike! But what a view, and what cute birdies.