Blogging up a mountain

I'm on a fifth-grade camp today and tomorrow. Today we left school before 9 in three vans. We drove for a bit over an hour to the far west of Tokyo prefecture then caught a cable car up Mt Mitake. As far as Japanese mountains go it is a midget, only about 900m, but it is steep. The cable car didn't go all the way up to the top, we walked the rest. 

Now, after lunch, we're walking around on the mountain before descending to the river. 

We're at the blue dot on the left. We live in the middle of this map (little house). 

This was the top of the cable car line and where we had lunch. The blue sky is rather rare in Tokyo, and absolutely spectacular day. Temperature is mid 20s. 

There were lots of stairs.

At one of the stops I sat next to a lady and her dog, Coco. We had a lovely chat.  She was with a group that I think were her four siblings plus two other Labradors. 

Lots of walking. The early spring green leaves on the trees were gorgeous all day long. 

Check out this amazing beetle.

It's now 5.30 and we're at our campsite for the night. My phone tells me I've walked over 9km and 54 flights of stairs! Is it any wonder that I'm feeling weary and a bit muscle-sore?

But here are more photos. 

This is the bottom of the cable car. It felt a lot steeper than it looks. 

More walking. This time along the river, which was mercifully quite flat. 

One of the dads. What do you think is happening here?

I love this river.