Summer 2021 camping trip

This time last week we'd just driven about 45km west-north-west to camp for the second time this year. And indeed the fifth time during this pandemic! I'm so thankful we've been able to continue doing this. It's such a life-giving activity for us. I read a short article recently about seven types of rest. The author listed physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual. I think camping touches most of these areas for us. And it's been especially valuable to camp with the same friends each of these five times. That's given me a social opportunity that has been significantly lacking in these last 18 months. (If you're interested in the article, it's here.)

The campground's name, Seseragi, means small stream or babbling brook. Indeed, the campsite was centred around a gorgeous stream (called Iruma River), perfect for a summer camp. The water was clear, running over a rocky bed, and mostly shallow, indeed we walked several hundred metres in the stream both directions from where we were camped. The adults and kids had so much fun in it, ranging from sitting with our feet in it, to skimming rocks, building rock towers, and even jumping into places that were deeper.

Camping at this time of year can be really hot. So we worked hard to find somewhere close to water where we could cool off (and had showers). I was so relieved to find that our campsite was shaded most of the day too. So, though it was hot and humid, it was easy to cool off, and we had a great view. As you can see in the following photo, our three tents were facing the stream, and the fourth "structure" the common area/kitchen, also faced onto the stream. Gorgeous!

One small downside was this cute, but not easy-to-walk-on bridge. We had to park on the other side of the stream and carry all our gear across. We were thankful for the three strong teenage boys in our group!

Sunset from the first night. We were in a valley, as you usually are when you camp near a stream in the mountains of Japan. So we could only catch small glimpses.

The below photo was just a little downstream from our tents where I went to sit on a boulder on my own and read on Friday afternoon. You can vaguely see our tents on the left of the photo.

Earlier in the afternoon David brought a chair down into the stream for me (the bank between our tents and the stream was steep and a bit slippery). It was especially lovely to sit with my feet in running water. Which says a lot about the temperature and humidity. Most of the year in Tokyo I am trying to keep my feet warm!

My view of my feet while reading on my Kindle.

This solitary tree was across from our campsite. Lovely shape!

We knew a typhoon was forecast for Saturday night and that we might not be able to stay for our planned three nights (they hadn't let us pay for three nights when we arrived). So we packed a lot into Friday. It was definitely "seize the day" time. 

Mid afternoon we drove to a local dam (Arima Dam) that is often seen by the school's year 11 students when they do their "Wilderness Trek". It was so hot, though, so we didn't stay long. But long enough to take some photos from the dam wall. This is just such a typical "rural Japan" photo! Mountains occupy over 80% of this nation.

We were in for a surprise at the dam, courtesy of social media and a good friend. I'd posted a photo of our campsite on Facebook the day before, and unusually, had included the name of the campsite. Hazel, a Scottish friend (middle of photo below), saw it and as she was in the area visiting family she decided to see if she could seek us out. She arrived at the campsite just after we'd left for the dam, but it so happened that the lady who runs the campsite had seen us leaving and asked us where we were going (she has discount vouchers for a local hot spring and wanted to make sure we weren't going there without the vouchers). So when Hazel arrived, the campsite lady was able to tell Hazel where we'd gone. Amazing! 

I usually see Hazel several times a year at missionary women's gatherings, but that hasn't been happening in the last 18 months. The last time I saw her was in March in a Zoom meeting with about 70 other people. To see her in person was so special. She also knows Renee (left in the photo) and Mark, our camping buddies, from their first stint in Japan when they were stationed here with the US military. 

This is the other direction from the dam wall.

Mark brought two of his bikes to camp and he and one of the teenagers, who's also a biking fanatic, rode to and from the dam. Here we waited, on our way home, at a very long red light!

To give you an idea of our location, the campsite occupied this "triangle" of land. The parking area was where the green "pin" is at the top of the map and we camped about where the "a"of "Iruma" is. All the land was more than a metre above the river, with fairly steep banks, but obviously the forecast of a typhoon coming through was a concern. These typhoons can deliver large amounts of rain in a short period (it's not unusual to hear forecasts of 80-100mm an hr). So this wasn't a smart place to be if the typhoon did hit. Not to mention the possibility of tree branches breaking, nor the idea of packing up in heavy rain and carting everything over a slippery bridge. So, we negotiated a deal to stay till after lunch on Saturday and then went home 20 hrs early. 

Our "Plan B" kept the camping vibe going just a little longer. The BBQ we'd planned for that evening, we had at our friends' house and then we enjoyed a movie night (something we wouldn't have done camping). Then the two friends of our youngest, who'd been camping with us, slept the night at our house. 

It's only the second time we've been "evicted" from a campsite by a typhoon in ten years. Though we did leave another campsite very early after being dumped on by a storm at 3.30 a.m.. And only one camping plan has been cancelled in 10 years. That wasn't due to a typhoon, but merely cold, rainy weather in spring, plus it had been a bold, audacious plan with several families and lots of kids. That's not to say we haven't had rain at other times while camping, just not to the point of needing to abandon the trip.

Last week I wrote here about how this is 10 years of camping for us in Japan. I've just now looked at the map and determined we've now camped in 30 different campsites! Some of them more than once, so probably we've set up at a campsite about 40 times. Here's the map where I've been keeping track of the campsites. What an adventure! And it's not over yet. Clearly we've got some work to do in northern and western Honshu, not to mention Kyushu and Shikoku (the other two of Japan's four main islands).