Falling Leaves............

Wow!! Isn't this beautiful weather just the best??? Last year I remember it got cold during October and I was wrapped in scarves, several layers and whoever I could find to huddle up too!!
This year is just one glorious warm day after another!! Being a tropical type of gal I have to say this is a much more pleasurable experience for me! Dont get me wrong I LUUUUUUUUURVE the snow ,but it has its time and place!
This sunday we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and head out west to Okutama! I dont like getting up too early on my day off but Jonathan hauled me out of bed or should I say lured me out of bed and got us on the road at a very un-sunday like time of 8am.........all good things sometimes come with an investment or some kind of sacrifice and this was definately one of them! We arrived in Okutama (the end of the Ome line ,take the chuo to Tachikawa and change)around 10.15am and were met with smiling faces and enthusiasm galore! By this time I had managed to wake up sufficiently but it took 3 coffees and several cigs to get me there! I know !I know! I am a lush! I need stimulants man!
Anyways we started our hike in Okutama and made our way through the sunshine! Destination Okutama itself! Yes a huge damned lake,with no end in site.
As I said by the time we started walking I was feeling a little more lively and ready for anything! Our first stop was a shrine that was not visible unless one walked up ,i would say at least a hundred steps.Brad our beloved friend and tour guide assured me that if I ran up these steps (chotto steep) that I would have good luck for a year! A sucker for this kind of thing I dashed up there on the heels of 2 other fellas and made it to the top barely alive!( Bless my calves)
It was well worth it as now I feel I am blessed with luck in abundance and am sure I worked off a few pounds in the process! It got me my first whiff of damp mossy autumn though! Yum!
After this rather rude start to the day we continued on along what is called Mukashi Kaido.It used to be the main road through the area which I think now is Ome Kaido.Through lush beautiful reds ,yellows , burnt siennas,waterfalls gushing merrily , leaves dancing down upon us,the sound of laughter as 7 adults make like kids ,the abundance of Konichiwa's as we pass the several hundred seniour citizens out for a jaunt (not too many young folk out here! I guess the shopping and the lie in is all that sunday affords the tokyoites these days!),the deep lined faces of farmers selling fresh wasabe and vegetables on the side of the road who are ready to give you a full historial run down for just a smile,the hush of shrines and the on looking weathered trees...........Its all a mosaic of a perfest scene on a perfect day!
I wondered to myself why more of us dont get out there more often?? It was so good to get back to nature and watch the changing of the season and honour it.I felt like I had a 3 day holiday break all packed into one and man did we sleep well that night! What more could you want???
Ill let the pics tell more of the story! Enjo! Thanks all to those who made it a great day!