TOKYO - OCTOBER, 2012 [PART TWO]

I took a day trip to Mount Fuji and Hakone, outside of Tokyo. Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, and is shaped like a volcanic cone. Because of its height it is always covered with snow at the top of the peak. Unfortunately, because of its height it is most often obscured by clouds at the top. I took pictures of the area around the mountain, and you can see the top of the mountain in one photo if you look very closely. I also included a picture from the internet to show what the view would be if the clouds were not present.

This is a photo taken from the area below Mt. Fuji. The clouds parted for about one minute, and I was able to get a picture showing the top of Mt. Fuji, above the clouds. It is hard to see where the clouds end, and the snow covered top of the mountain begins.

As we drove further up the mountain, the leaves on the trees began to show more fall colors. The air  was cold, crisp, and fresh. I love to be in the mountains.

We drove to the area called the Fifth Station, which is the furtherest up the mountain you can travel by vehicle. There was a great chateau like building with a restaurant (and of course souvenirs) with a viewing platform to view Mt. Fuji up close (if the clouds weren't there). There was also a small shrine for the hikers who would continue up the mountain from there on foot.

Part of the day trip to Mt. Fuji was a cruise on Lake Ashi, which is outside of the Mt. Fuji area in Hakone [about two hours southwest of Tokyo]. The cruise was on boats that were like pirate ships or galleons. It was kind of funny, but the Japanese tourists went crazy over it.

These are pictures taken from the boat of the shoreline along the lake, and of the sun setting behind the mountains. As part of the trip we were supposed to take a ropeway [cablecar] to the top of the mountain shown in the middle picture above, but because of the heavy traffic coming from Mt. Fuji we were not able to make it in time before it closed.

Because we were not able to go to the ropeway [cablecar] we were taken to the Narukawa Art Museum in Hakone which is on a hillside overlooking Lake Ashi (with a view of Mt. Fuji, weather permitting.) There was an outside terrace overlooking the lake, with beautiful views of the area around Hakone. The third picture above I found on the internet which shows the same area in the two pictures I took above it that shows the view of Mt. Fuji without the clouds.