Kamikochi — KAMERANNE

Last month I made a two-day trip to Kamikochi, a resort in Nagano Prefecture offering some spectacular mountain sceneries. I didn’t climb any of the surrounding mountains but walked along Azusagawa river running through Kamikochi prepared to capture the mountains, rivers, numerous ponds, deadwoods, flora and fauna and whatever would please my eye.

First morning turned out to be a disappointment as there was no fog I had very much hoped for and that I imagine would have turned the beautiful landscapes into magic. Nevertheless, I kept exploring the sceneries and even without the fog there was beauty everywhere to be seen. First few hours I spent capturing the Taishoike Pond, the Azusagawa River and the Tashiro Wetlands.

先月上高地に行ってきました。山登りは出来なかったですが、梓川沿いを歩き、山、川、数々の池、枯れ木などの上高地の美しい自然を撮ってきました。

初日の朝は期待していた霧は無かったものの、見渡す限り、美しい自然が広がりました。大正池や田代湿原を時間をかけて撮っていました。

Even though I was prepared to photograph landscapes, I could not resist changing to my 300 mm lens at times as there were some butterflies that one cannot find in Tokyo. After all, during the daytime, the light would have been pretty harsh for capturing landscapes. I was especially exited when I detected a tiny butterfly species, the Forest Pierrot for the first time ever.

旅の目的は景色でしたが、どうしても300ミリのレンズにも変えたりして、東京に見かけない蝶も撮ったりしました。初めて見たゴイシシミを発見したら、特に興奮してドキドキしながら撮っていました。

The second morning was somewhat better and offered some fog. After some hesitation I decided to go back to Tashiro wetlands again to see how it changed with fog and to observe the sunrise there. The view was stunning and kept changing with the rising of the sun. Also, the hay, the trees and the many spiderwebs were covered with dew drops, that sparkled in the morning sun.

二日目の朝は霧の兆しを感じたら再び田代湿原に戻ることにしました。霧のおかげでどうやって景色が変わるかを見たかったです。日の出もそこで向かいました。景色は素晴らしかったです！太陽が昇るにつれ、景色が変わり続けました。草、木、蜘蛛の巣などに露滴がきらきら輝いていました。

Later on I headed to another favourite spot of mine, the Myoin Pond. It was pretty crowded with tourists and the light was harsh as I got there. I was nevertheless happy to have gone to Myoin Pond as the hike to the pond goes through a forest where I found many butterflies, birds, monkeys and even a bear. It was my first time to see a bear in the wild. There was a time when the bear was looking at me and kept walking towards me. I didn’t know whether I should be worried even though it was just a cub. Luckily, it turned around away from me, so I didn’t need to think how I should act should it come very close.

その後明神池にも行くことにしました。着いたら、観光客で混雑して、光線も固くなっていました。しかし、行ったことは後悔していません。明神池に行く途中、蝶、野鳥、猿の群や熊まで撮れました。野生の熊を見たのは初めてでした。ある時熊が私の方向に歩いてきました。子熊でしたか、心配する必要あるかな、と一瞬思いました。幸い方向を変えてまた森に向かって消えて行きました。対処方法を考える必要はなかったです。