Ever seen a bush warbler 鶯　うぐいす？This was my first sighting, it took 20 minutes to stalk it.

Completely missed dandelion season
so I got over a kilo of white clover

ginger, raisins, lemon, sugar, water, yeast
see you in December

freshly picked green tea

roasted

                                             

Don't leave home without it!

low rider
7 down 5 to go

dash for the cache

The tree hugger in its element

going up the round I found this large strange mass

at first I thought it was roadkill

the larger female underneath

masses of eggs on a male with the female barely visible

for scale

still some snow lingering

here and there

high , dry, and undisturbed
I removed the most expensive items

and left behind the shelter, a cooking pot,  some fuel and candles
for next time

Little Mountaineers

cache and camp

A beautiful day around Christmas provided an
opportunity to do as I did last year, plant the
winter gear cache

About 10 kg. of warmth and supplies

with the Inland Sea shining in the distance

A few days later and the weather has turned

With a leisurely late start I arrived at the summit around 2:30.
Plenty of fresh snow and things were looking good for tomorrow.

the rain tarp from a small dome tent gotten
cheap makes a good floor-less shelter
for winter camping

I hadn't tested it in the snow yet and setting it up was
trickier than imagined.  So it wound up with a smaller than
anticipated interior  because snow had to be piled
around the oustide edge to keep it taut.

This is the first time I've ever shoveled snow into
my tent to make a level sleeping platform.

a little after  dark the snow turned to rain
my gamble that the summit would get
walloped with snow went bust

condensation poured down the inside surface
of the tent and it was impossible not to touch it
and with the constant flapping from the wind
drops sprayed everywhere
it was impossible to even read a book.

luckily I was saved by my small radio and an
awesome military surplus gore-tex bivy cover
can't say enough good things about the bivy!

about 1AM I awoke a little cold to put on
a fleece jacket.  The rain had stopped and it was
bright enough to see outside unaided.

By morning though the good snow was shot
and all the effort spent carrying up my
skis was for nothing but exercise.
One of these years I'll get a sunny, powder
filled morning.  Missed it by 1 degree or so.

ハクビシン？Civet

イタチ？Weasel　or  テン Marten ?

still scractching my head about this one,
looks like a good sized dog, but...
the rain last night wiped out all the old
tracks on the trail.  So either there are some
loose hunting dogs all the way
up here or this is something else.
Could be a fox, a big one.

This is as close as I've gotten to capturing a shooting star.
The Geminid showers were great this year.  I tested my winter
camping gear and stopped counting at about 100.
There were fireballs with tails.
 Flashes of light without a
streamer, like a star going pop.
 And even some double shooting stars, two at once
in the same direction, different directions and different parts of the sky.

Life has gotten a little easier for me and a lot more fun for my
son who can now split kindling for the stove, he loves it. So do I!

Came home to find this large buck napping just in front
of our house on the side of the road.  I think he's been hanging
around our area for the last few years.

A good early winter snow and the chard is nestled
nicely under their cloches.

A pair of scissors and a bowl is all you need.
I use it mostly in miso soup instead of spinach
and also treat it just like broccoli rabe.