Sun to My Back

It was a great day out at Zao.

Another Shot

Get down!

Looking Out Over the Mountains

This is such a nice field on the side of Zao.

Feeding Time

A goat at Zao Heartland.

The Pines of Zao

Some trees on the side of Zao.

The Okama Formation

The clouds continued to break so I could finally see the edge of Okama.

Green and Yellow Green

The caldera looks as if it is steaming while foliage grows all around.

An Opening in the Clouds

The clouds open briefly to reveal Okama.

Mountaintop Shrine

Okama is right down the slope on the other side of that ridge.

Rock Piles

The rock piles next to the shrine near Okama.

Coming Out of the Fog

Hikers out near Okama.

Zao

At the top of Zao, there is a shrine and what looks like a few grave markers. The stones are places there by hikers, climbers, and visitors.

Feed the Goat

I think that would be a good title for a website/blog.

Shades of Autumn

A weed in front of the autumn colors on Mt. Zao. Actually, the scene wasn't as impressive as it looks - I had to zoom in to get those colors.

Clowning Around

These kids were playing around the kokeshi doll cutout.

From Wikipedia:

Kokeshi (こけし, kokeshi?), are Japanese dolls, originally from northern Japan. They are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head with a few thin, painted lines to define the face. The body has a floral design painted in red, black, and sometimes yellow, and covered with a layer of wax. One characteristic of kokeshi dolls is their lack of arms or legs. The bottom is marked with the signature of the artist.

The origin and naming of kokeshi is unclear,[1] with historical ateji kanji spellings including 小芥子, 木牌子, 木形子, 木芥子, 木削子, etc. The hiragana spelling こけし was agreed on at the All-Japan Kokeshi Exhibition (全国こけし大会) in Naruko Onsen in August 1939.

Kokeshi were first produced by Kiji-shi (wood artisans) at the Shinchi Shuraku, near the Togatta Onsen, Zaō, Miyagi Prefecture[5] from where kokeshi making techniques spread to other spa areas in the Tōhoku Region. It is said that these dolls were originally made during the middle of the Edo period (1600–1868) to be sold to people who were visiting the hot springs in the north-east of the country.

XP Afternoon

This scene reminded me of the desktop wallpaper for Windows XP. I had to try to recover the picture because I severely underexposed it. I broke my own rule to expose to the right.

Vista Afternoon

Another shot I mangled and tried to recover.

Soft Sunrise

I was awake at 5 am and this is what I saw out the window of the onsen I was staying at. I should have put my camera on a tripod because is not very good. Just nice colors.

Kokeshi Kojo

I should have bumped the ISO on this.

This is where I made a kokeshi doll.

Autum Air

Signs of autumn in the orchard.