At the beginning of summer, I went to Chamonix to visit Aiguille du Midi, a mountain next to Mont Blanc and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the area: It can easily be accessed by cable car from the valley and, with the highest viewing platform located at the 3842m summit, it offers the best view on the Mont Blanc, the surrounding glaciers and the Chamonix valley.
At the end of the summer of last year, I went on a hike to Col d’Anterne and Lac de Pormenaz, in the Giffre mountains not far from the Mont Blanc. I basically followed this itinerary (in the other direction).
The Parc du Taillefer is a park in Cran-Gevrier (Annecy). Its elevated position offers a good view on Annecy and the surrounding mountains. The entrance is next to Lycée Charles Baudelaire, not far from the exit of Parcours Nature Fier et Erbe.
A couple of weeks ago, I went back to Hakone, this time for a hike to Mount Kanmurigatake, Mount Kami (神山; 1438m) and Mount Komagatake (駒ヶ岳; 1327m).
Mount Takao has many trails to and from the summit. This time, starting from the Takaosanguchi Keio station (高尾山口駅) at the foot of the mountain, I took trail #6 to get to the summit. There was still a lot of snow left. On the way down, I started on trail #3 then followed the paved road (trail #1) until Konpiradai, where I took a trail through the forest. I then walked to the Takao JR station, in town.
The Tenen Hiking Trail connects Kenchoji Temple in Kita-Kamakura with Zuisenji Temple in the east of the city, leading mostly along the ridge of the hills. I had come back to Kamakura intending to do the 3 hiking trails listed on that page but it was not great because of the melting snow that made the trail very muddy. I ended the day in Enoshima instead.
The day after the snowstorm,/ I went to the Hamarikyu Garden. The snow was already melting.
There was a snowstorm in Tokyo a few days ago. I went to the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden to see how it looks in white.
I received some time ago a complimentary copy of the Canadian Alpine Journal where I had a (very) small contribution : a photo of the Diamir face of the Nanga Parbat that I took back in 2005. It is part of an article by alpinist Louis Rousseau giving an account of the Austro-Canadian attempt at the Nanga Parbat through a new route. I haven’t found the article online but there is another version on the American Alpine Journal blog.
