Distant view of Mt. Hakusan from Mt. Yoshinogatake in Fukui

                           Distant view of Mt. Hakusan from Mt. Yoshinogatake

Last weekend, the weather was fine, and I climbed Mt. Yoshinogatake in Eiheiji-cho, Fukui Prefecture. Although the altitude of the mountain is only 547 meters, it is good for me to be able to enjoy hiking relatively easily even in this season. Moreover, the approach to the mountain is less than 30 minutes by car from the center of Fukui City. There was hardly any snow on the climbing road from Matsuoka Kamiyoshino Village, and it was a comfortable hike about 1 hour climb and 40 minute descent.

Mt. Yoshinogatake is one of Echizen Gozan (The famous five mountains in Echizen). I think that the Echizen Gozan has a strange combination of a high mountain like Mt. Hakusan and low mountains like Mt. Yoshinogatake and Mt. Monjusan, but each of the mountains has a common legend that a famous monk of the Nara period "Taicho" opened the ways to climb them and founded shrines there.
Following the sign, from the top square, I walked for a few more minutes, and  there was a place named "Hakusan Observatory", from which you can see the beautiful appearance of Mt. Hakusan. It has few snow this winter and the front mountains still look like ones in late autumn, so the contrast between them is prominent.
*"Hakusan" means a white mountain.
T.S

                                           
                                        The top of the Mt. Yoshinogatake