Boulders and Water

I've found my favorite place in Kure. When I first got here, I heard about some place called Nikko Gorge but never felt any sort of inkling to go. But since Hessen's bf, James, has been here, he's been exploring all of the hidden treasures this hole has to offer, and he happened upon Nikko. So last weekend, he suggested a hike out to the gorge. Last Sunday, after a delightful breakfast of tofu donuts and instant coffee, a group of us headed out for a hike.


Despite the chilly air, the weather was perfect- sunny with a sprinkling of clouds, and not too much wind. We ended up spending about 3 or 4 hours wandering the trails through bamboo groves, past shrines, over bridges and into unknown crevices. The boulders, as you can only sort of see in the picture above, were amazing. Huge and crushing, worn smooth by water that must have risen and fallen a million times before we saw them. There were small pools of blue-green water for a summer dip, little plateaus for picnics, and so much green! I'm always really happy to find places like Nikko, because they're so obviously filled with God. Does that make sense? When I was climbing, every time my knees wiggled from exhaustion or fear of heights, I felt Him. Like the air I was breathing there was different somehow... cleansed or live-giving or something.

Anyway, a few of us went back on Friday night for a hike to enjoy the full moon. It was a little scary, I'm not gonna lie. There were moments when I couldn't see much of the ground in front of me, only the bottomless drop punctuated by bamboo directly to my right. But the moon was so bright! And sometimes I like it when my heart races. So it was fun. Below: a cute one of Julie and me.

This weekend is skiing in Tottori! I'm completely stoked. I'm sure there will be plenty of good photo ops of me on my bum. Stay tuned.