Just when I thought my hiking was done for the season, I got an invite to hike another mountain with my friend Georgie a few days ago. This time of year, mid-Autumn, has already seen us with a light dusting of snow on the lofty mountain peaks so we decided to tackle a mountain slightly closer to the sea, Mt.Nikoro, at a breezy 829 meters. It was a short, brisk hike taking us three hours to reach the peak and back. Georgie's 50-year old Japanese friend, Kazumi-san, led our little group of multi-national ALT's directly up the mountain on the steepest path he could find, making it feel more like a military exercise than a relaxed hike through the forest.

The charm of Mt.Nikoro wasn't the beautiful, winding path that hugged the mountain or the gorgeous Autumn-colored trees, but the old Japanese man named Kisaku-san who has rightfully claimed the mountain as his own. His story, as told by Kazumi-san, is that he's a 75-year old man who lives near the mountain and climbs it every single day of the year, rain or shine. He also likes to take pictures of other hikers he meets on the trail and puts them on his self-made website. Kazumi-san knew of him from previously hiking the mountain so we timed our descent to run into him as he was on his way up.

When we met him, he was overjoyed at seeing such a mixed group of people. We had an Irish, an American, a British, and a Canadian.. not quite what he was expecting, I imagine. He took our picture, jotted down our names and info, thanked us profusely and then gave us his business card, told us about his website, and continued to tell us how happy he was. We definitely made his day! Check out what he had to say about us on his website (in Japanese): http://8805.teacup.com/nikoroyama2/bbs/1619.

If you ever come to humble Mt.Nikoro near Kitami in Eastern Hokkaido, look for Kisaku-san - the Old Man of Nikoroyama.