緑あふれる奥多摩　御岳山ハイク

日々学問や研究に忙しい研修員に、東京でも少し足を延ばすとこんなに豊かな自然を楽しめることを知ってもらいたくて奥多摩の御岳山ハイキングを実施しました。

梅雨のど真ん中、晴れる確率はかなり低いのですが、その分豊富な雨で苔が生き生きときれいな筈。
前日もスコールのような雨に降られましたが、当日は奇跡のような澄み切った青空。
まずはケーブルカーを降りて山頂の武蔵御嶽神社へ。

眼力が鋭すぎる守り神の「お犬様」にご挨拶し、皆の安全と幸せを願って、ここからがハイキングの出発です。
長尾平の木陰のベンチで昼食。自作のお弁当などをつまみながら、日本に来てから20キロも痩せたよ！と驚きの写真を見せてくれる方も。興味深いパートナーシップについての議論も飛び交っていましたが、適当なところで荷物をまとめて七代の滝へ。今日は見どころがたくさんあるので忙しい。

割と急な傾斜の下りを「まさかここ、帰り登らないよね!?」などと言いながら皆必死に降りていくと、水音が大きくなってきて、七代の滝に到着。
小さな滝ですが、皆歓声を上げてあちこちの岩に移ったり登ったりしながら、大撮影大会。

ここから本日の主菜、ロックガーデンへ。
沢を右に左に渡る飛び石を渡りながら、苔に覆われた森と清流を楽しむ。苔は思った通り青々と鮮やかでした。あまりにきれいで、「自分が現実の世界にいるのかわからなくなってしまった」と後から言っていた方も。
途中で清流の水を汲んで沸かし、コーヒーを淹れてひと息。苔の石に腰掛けて話している様子が何とも言えず良い雰囲気で、中々出発の声をかけられなかったほど。こういう空気感は山が与えてくれるギフトですね。

そこからしばらく歩くと最後の名所、綾広の滝に到着。神事も行われるピースフルな滝を楽しんで、帰路につきました。
途中で皆の希望で宿坊でもある茅葺の美しい茶屋に寄り、青梅ジュースや地元「澤乃井」の酒粕ミルクなどをいただきました。自然の力で心身を整える「調師」の女将の一品で皆の疲れが吹き飛びました！

山道に慣れていない方には少しチャレンジだったようですが、皆励ましあって本当に楽しんでくれて、素晴らしい自然に癒されたようです。
参加してくれた研修員の皆さま、ありがとうございました！　　

We organized a hike up Mt. Mitake in Okutama to show the participants who are busy with their studies and research every day that they can enjoy such rich nature even in Tokyo if they go just a little further.
The hike was held in the middle of the rainy season and the chance of clear skies was quite low, but the abundant rainfall make the mosses look vibrant and beautiful.
The day before it rained like a squall, but on the day of the hike we are blessed with clear blue sky.
First, we got off the cable car and went to Musashi Mitake Shrine at the top of the mountain.
We greeted the "Oinusama"―The guardian wolves of Shrine―and wished for everyone's safety and happiness, and here we started our hike.
We had lunch on a bench in the shade of a tree at Nagaodaira. While eating our homemade lunch boxes, one of them shows us an amazing photo of himself saying, "I have lost 20 kilograms since I came to Japan!”. Interesting partnership discussions were also flying around but we packed our bags and headed for Nanayo Falls. We were busy day with many sights to see.
They were struggling down the steep descent saying "We're not going to climb back up here, are we?” As we went down, we could hear the sound of the water and arrived at the Nanayo Falls.
Although it’s a small waterfall, everyone cheered and had a big photo shoot, moving to and from rocks here and there.
From here, we headed to a main sight of the day, the Rock Garden.
We enjoyed the moss-covered forest and clear stream as we crossed the stepping stones that crossed the stream to the right and left. The moss was as lush and vivid as we had expected. It was so beautiful that later one of them said "I felt whether I was in the real world or not”.
On the way, we got some water from the stream, boiled it and made coffee to take a break. The atmosphere was so nice that it was hard to call out to depart. The mountain always gives us this kind of atmosphere.
After walking for a while from there, we arrived at the last spot, Ayahiro Falls. We enjoyed the peaceful waterfall where a Shinto ritual is held and headed to the station.
On the way we stopped at a beautiful teahouse which is also a temple lodge and had green Ume plum juice and sake lees milk from the local brewery "Sawanoi”. Those drinks from the landlady, a "Totonoshi" who uses the power of nature to balance the body and mind made us feel so refreshed.
It was a bit of a challenge for those not used to walking mountain trails, but everyone encouraged each other, really enjoyed themselves and were healed by the wonderful nature. Thank you to all the participants who joined this event!