September 5, 2019 Mt. Hakusan

Hello, it's Jonathan the camera man. On September 1, we held our Mt. Hakusan climbing excursion. Originally, we planned to go in early July. However, each attempt was canceled due to bad weather. September 1 was our last chance this year, and the weather turned out perfect!

We all gathered in front of Hakusanroku campus at 5 am. Student participants were first-year students Ritsuki Tanaka, Yoshiki Hatanaka, Sora Hayashi, and second-year students Shunsuke Katsumata, Kokoro Aoki, Yuya Kida. Facilitating teachers were Taisei Ise,  Shuntaro Yamazaki, and Philip Cadzow, 10 members total including myself. Also, Yutaka Katabe sensei joined and accompanied us for our descent.

For ICT, we drove to Betto-deai, which is one of the starting points to climb Mt. Hakusan from the Ishikawa prefecture side. Mt. Hakusan is 2702 meters high and accounted as one of Japan's three most famous mountains. We began our climb at 6:10. The path from Betto-deai is primarily an assent of stone steps. The air was cool and pleasant but I could soon see sweat glistening on the necks of the students as we walked in a straight line through the forest. After several hours of climbing, the trees grew shorter and gave way to shrubs as we reached Kuroboko-Iwa. (black protruding rocks) From here, were could see the peak across a wide terrain with a wooden walkway.

We arrived at Murodou, the final stop before the climb to Gozen-ga-mine at 9:30. The mountain peak was in sight but many were tired and we still had the final slope to conqueror. Philip sensei was an exception and had enough strength to even carry Shunsuke and both their backpacks a part of the way. Students huffed and puffed as we climbed the final path. At 10:15, we had reached Gozen-ga-mine, the highest peak of Mt. Hakusan!

 

There are seven ponds along the top of Mt. Hakusan and walking along the path by them is an old tradition. We decided to follow this costume and began our pilgrimage. The terrain was unlike anything on ground level and there was a strange mystical feeling around. Since we were not climbing anymore and had fulfilled our goal, students had much more strength to appreciate the beautiful scenery and mountain flowers. We returned to Murodou by 12:25, ate lunch, and descended the mountain by 3 pm. Students and teachers spoke with each other on the way down. Many were tired and aching but also satisfied. My limbs still hurt from the aftermath but I am already eager to climb that mountain again. It was an experience I look forward to revisiting.

Here are some random clips I had the energy to take out my camera and tape.

こんにちは！ジョナサンです。9月1日に国際高専の白山登山を行いました。計画では7月に行われるはずでしたが、悪天候によって度重なる延期を受け、この日が最後のチャンスとなりました。願いが天に通じたのか、理想的な天候のもと実施することが叶いました！

集合は白山麓キャンパスに朝5時、参加者は田中立輝（1年）畠中義基（1年）林青空（1年）勝又舜介（2年）青木心路（2年）喜田湧也（2年）の6名、教職員は伊勢大成、山﨑俊太郎、フィリップ・ケザウ、私の合計10名のチームとなりました。下山前には潟辺豊先生も合流しました。

白山は高さ2702mで日本三大名山にも数えられています。白山麓キャンパスから石川県側の登山口のひとつ、別当出合まで車で移動しました。登山を開始したのは6:10。登山道は石で造った階段が多く、序盤は森林の中を進んでいきました。早朝の空気は冷たく気持ち良かったですが、すぐに学生の首に汗がにじむのが見えました。休憩を挟みつつ数時間経った頃、木々は低い茂みに変わり、黒ボコ岩と呼ばれる場所にたどり着きました。ここからは弥陀ヶ原と呼ばれる広い平原の向こうに山頂を目にすることができます。しかし、丘をひとつ越える必要があり、まだ道のりが残っています。

最後の休憩場所、室堂へ到着したのは9:30でした。多くの者が疲労していましたが、最後の力を振り絞って御前峰までのラストスパートを開始しました。体育のフィリップ先生は例外で、おねだりした学生と2人分のリュックを背負って階段を上余裕を見せつけました。息を切らして山頂に到着した時刻は10:15で、全員が無事登頂に成功しました！

白山山頂部には7つの池があり、昔からこれらを巡る風習があります。山頂部の地形は別世界のようで、神秘的な雰囲気でした。山頂へ到着した安心感とこれまでと違う平坦な道に学生たちも周りの風景を楽しんだり、高山植物の写真を撮ったりする余裕が生まれました。池めぐりを終えて室堂に戻ったのは12:25で、下山前に昼食をとりました。下山中は学生と先生が話し合う姿が見られ、和やかな雰囲気のまま15:00に無事下山することができました。疲れや身体の痛みなどがありましたが、学生や先生の表情は明るく満足げでした。私もいまだに脚が痛いですが、早くも次に登れる機会を楽しみにしています。大変楽しい経験でした。