koyo – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

Apple Cake and Autumn Leaves

Susan Spann Blog December 3, 2021December 3, 2021apple cake, autumn leaves, Japan, koyo, Kyoto, Kyoto sweets, philosopher's path, pomme, urban hikes

Kyoto is famous for autumn foliage, but I’d only been there once in autumn (on another research trip, in 2016)–and the timing was wrong to see the colors at their peak. I thought I was too late this time, too, but as luck would have it, I was wrong.

On Crying-Bug Mountain (Nakimushiyama) [No. 144-146]

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, Blog, Hikes November 8, 2021December 3, 2021autumn, hiking, hiking in Japan, Japan, koyo, mountains, Nikko, Tochigi, travel

On October 24, I headed north to Nikkō, in Tochigi Prefecture, to hike a new-to-me trail that included Nakimushiyama (鳴虫山), an 1,103-meter mountain not far from Nikkō station. The route went up and over three smaller peaks, too, and though much of the trail is surrounded by trees, there were a few spots with beautiful views as well.