mountains – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

CHAPTER 12: At Least the Frog Was Happy

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion September 17, 2020September 17, 2020100 Summits, Climb, hiking in Japan, Ibukisan, Japan, mountains, Mt. Ibuki 0 Comment

The rain should have told me climbing Mt. Ibuki was a bad idea. Unfortunately, my lack of mountain climbing experience (or even hiking experience) left me entirely unprepared for the events that followed.

Chapter 7: Fear Is a Liar

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion August 16, 2020August 17, 2020100 Summits, climbing, Hakkoda, Hakkoda Ropeway, hiking in Japan, hyakumeizan, Japan, mountains, Mt. Hakkoda

Aomori Prefecture, on the northern end of Honshu (Japan’s largest island) is famous for its apples. Hirosaki City, in particular, is so proud of its “ringo” that it puts them on city mailboxes.

Chapter 1: Victory–And Misery–On Misen*

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion August 11, 2020August 12, 2020#100Summits, Climb, hiking, Japan, Japan photography, mountains, Mt. Misen, sacred mountains

Mountain: Mt. Misen (弥山), Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (The short caption directly beneath each photo matches the text in CLIMB.) My first view of Miyajima: (original photo taken in June 2015). The Otorii is visible at center left, and the mountain rising just to the left of center is Mt. Misen. Historically, the entire island was considered sacred ground. The first Otorii was built before the tenth century; the existing gate dates to 1875. The Ōtorii (great torii) measures 24 meters wide and rises 16 meters high (measured from the sand on which it sits). Torii are sacred Shintō gates that

Three Days in Nikko

Susan Spann Blog July 4, 2019July 4, 2019Climb, Japan, matcha, mountains, Nikko, travel

I recently spent three days in Nikkō, one of Japan’s most important historical and religious sites. The area is not only a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, but an excellent place for hikers and mountain climbers.

CLIMB

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog May 14, 2019May 14, 2019#100Summits, Climb, climbing, Japan, memoir, mountains

I’m thrilled to announce that the memoir about my #100Summits journey, titled CLIMB, will release on January 2020 from Prometheus Books! From the jacket: After more than forty years of living “safe and scared,” California attorney and mystery author Susan Spann decided to break free by climbing one hundred of Japan’s most famous mountains, inspired by a classic list of hyakumeizan peaks. But when an unexpected cancer diagnosis forced her to confront her deepest fears, the mountains of Japan became the setting for an even more transformative journey from pain and fear to a new life fueled by hope, confidence, and strength.

Halfway to 100!

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog January 3, 2019January 3, 2019100 Summits, hiking, mountains, Tsukuba

On December 31, 2018, I climbed Mt. Tsukuba – at 871 and 877 meters, its peaks are among the smallest of the Nihon Hyakumeizan (100 famous mountains of Japan) but the peak itself has important links to the Japanese creation myths, as well as a “rivalry” against Mt. Fuji (which Fujisan may or may not be aware of).
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Almost-Halfway 100 Summits Update!

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog November 16, 2018#100Summits, 100 Summits, Corinne O'Flynn, hiking, Mitake, Mount Mitake, mountains

I’ve been climbing my way through the autumn, and simultaneously working on the next Hiro Hattori mystery (tentatively titled Ghost of the Bamboo Grove), and it occurred to me that I’ve been a bit remiss in my blogging updates. Whoops . . . The summit count currently stands at 43 – a respectable almost-halfway total, though the coming snow will present some challenges moving forward.

Fujisan Decides

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog October 21, 2018October 21, 2018100 Summits, climbing, Fuji, Japan, mountains, Mt. Fuji

Anyone who climbs mountains regularly knows that the climber gets to plan, and to attempt, but the mountain has a say–if not a deciding voice–in whether or not you stand upon its peak. In some cases, that also goes for whether or not you even see the summit.

Mt. Tomuraushi – and Pikachu!

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog October 1, 2018September 30, 2018100 Summits, hiking, hyakumeizan, Japan, mountains, pika, pikachu, Tomuraushi

My third and longest climb in Hokkaido was the first on my 100 Summits quest that I almost failed to complete. But it wasn’t pain or exhaustion that almost cost me the summit. On Tomuraushi, as always, time proved my worst enemy. My guide Takuto and I began our hike at 7:40 am at the trailhead near Tomuraushi Onsen, where we’d spent the night. If you read the sign, you’ll notice the peak lies 9.2km from the trailhead – and they’re not an easy nine kilometers, either. The hike begins with a lovely walk through pristine forest. It has some

To Hokkaido . . . In The Wake of the Quake

Susan Spann 100 Summits, Blog September 9, 2018#100Summits, 100 Summits, climbing, Hokkaido, Japan, mountains, Yotei

I started planning the 100 Summits Project a year ago, and even then I knew the most difficult region of Japan in which to climb would be Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost major island. Most of Hokkaido lies beyond the northernmost terminus of the Shinkansen (bullet train) which ends its run at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto terminal, 1,099 kilometers from Tokyo but only at the southernmost end of Hokkaido itself. From there, it’s almost a full day’s ride by express train to the northern end of the island – and the hyakumeizan peaks are scattered across Hokkaido like a handful of dice flung down by an angry

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