Mt. Ibuki

I can't believe we did this hike. Most people climb Mt. Ibuki in summer when the snow has gone and the flowers come out. We thought we'd give it a go in winter as it has been unseasonably mild this year. 12 of us from the hiking club started climbing in the sunshine - we could see a little snow on top. As we climbed higher however, the weather turned. We climbed in increasing snow blizzards. I'm not sure how I actually made it to the top - I couldn't really see where I was going. An indoor shrine located at the top gave us some shelter for a while. Inside we met some experienced Japanese climbers who gave us food (biscuits that people save for emergencies) and then lead us to the summit. Here are June's photos. I think we'll save this mountain until summer in future!