log 80: lost

found

Mount Inari. Such a beautiful mountain with incredible culture. I went back to visit and pay my respects at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto this past week. I decided to hike up all the steps to the summit early in the morning even though I was wearing jeans and boots, not my brightest planning. I caught a couple of looks on the way up because it was -1C out and I was wearing a t-shirt. I was drenched in sweat and steaming from the long walk. After finally reaching the summit I saw a small path leading off the man-made trail and decided to follow it in hopes of finding an observation point. After 10 minutes of walking, I stopped just to listen. Peace and quiet. Just the wind and the birds. I remember thinking, “Do I turn back, or do I just keep going?” I had no signal, I was poorly prepared, and nobody knew I was there. The right decision was to turn back and follow the steps back down the mountain through the thousand gates. But being the young and dumb 23-year-old male with a “c’est la vie” attitude, I continued down the path. I didn’t see anyone for an hour, Just me and the birds. At some point, I was afraid I was lost. There were very few markings of where to go and all of the signs were in Japanese. One foot in front of the other, down random paths I made it down the mountain and very very far from where I started. I didn’t expect to go hiking that day, and I didn’t expect to find a path to the summit of the mountain. I’ve been to Mount Inari previously and didn’t expect to see anything new that morning, but sometimes things just happen. I’m happy I decided to take a chance, even if I wasn’t prepared for it. Maybe there’s a lesson for my life somewhere in this story.