This is a continuation of the Mitake Valley walk.
Near Sawai Station on the JR Ome Line, cross the Kaede bridge over the Tama River and you will find Kanzanji Temple.
The canyon’s boardwalk has quite a lot of uninhibited ups and downs, and I was unexpectedly a bit out of breath when I climbed up the stairs here. If this is the case, I should have stopped at Sawanoi and took a rest and sake.
I decided that it was too hard to climb any higher, so we skipped the sign for the gazebo and walked in the upstream direction.
Since the left bank was in the sun, I thought it would be better to walk along the Kanzanji temple side right bank to take beautiful pictures of the autumn leaves on the opposite side. For example, here is how I did it.
However, in retrospect, I thought that the forest along the riverbank itself was deeper on the right bank, and the shape of the grove was more beautiful there, so next time I have a chance, I would like to come back when the right bank is in the sun, or in bright cloudy weather when light can easily circulate even on the shady side.
This is a shot taken from the Unose bridge looking upstream.
Since the sun shines only on the left bank of the river, the contrast is inevitably high when trying to take a wide view of both banks from the bridge, and it is a bit difficult to finish the photo. I used ART to lift up the shadows to some extent, but it would be unnatural to do so any further….
There are many people practicing canoeing and rafting on the Tama River here.
This photo is not the best fall foliage photo, but the boat framed it in at the right time.
The Gyokudo Art Museum is located on the right bank of the river, and there is a huge gingko tree that is quite spectacular, even from a distance.
I think I may have gotten too close to the tree in this photo, and in fact, I may have missed capturing its majesty. How can I take a good picture of a huge tree?
I looked back from the upstream side and tried to capture the scenery of the riverbank through the magnificent gingko branches.
This picture is also beautiful, but it doesn’t capture the majesty of the large ginkgo tree. By the way, you can see the gate for the canoe race hanging from the rope stretched over the river.
How about a bird’s-eye view from the upper deck Mitake bridge, looking down at the clear stream of the Tama River?
I was able to emphasize the beautiful yellow leaves of the gingko trees, but the size of the huge tree is not expressed because I am looking down on it…hmmm, difficult to do.
From the Mitake bridge over the Tama River, you can easily see the beauty of the valley and it is the best place to take a bird’s eye view. Many people were setting up their cameras, but looking back on it later, I don’t know why I didn’t take photo in overhead view of both banks of the river that everyone else took.
The only I have left is the one above, taken downstream of the bridge aiming at the gingko trees and showing the yellow leaves on the front bank.
The one below was taken on the upstream side of the bridge, but it shows the autumn leaves on the right bank against the background of the distant mountains, instead of an overhead view of both banks.
*By the way, you may be wondering about the huge structure in the mountain on the far right of this photo. I also noticed it after developing the photo and looked it up. It appears to be a facility related to a hydroelectric power plant. Water taken from the Shiromaru Regulating Pond further upstream of the Tama River is carried underground to here, and then dropped along the slope from the middle of the mountain to the Tama River No. 3 Power Station (hydroelectric power station) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Transportation Bureau located directly below here.
It’s so cool isn’t it? I followed the related homepage for a while, but it is just my imagination, since not much clear information is disclosed.
Back to the story (lol), I am not sure if I remember why I took this kind of picture at that time, but that’s all the photos from this canyon walk. I used the HD DA*16-50mm as well as the smc DA*50-135mm for this article.
The last stop was the goal of the walk, Mitake Station on the JR Ome Line.
This is another unmanned station, but a fine one.
We departed from Ikusabata Station at about 10:00 a.m. and arrived at Mitake Station a little before 1:00 pm., with a snack break along the way. It is an easy walking course that allows you to take pictures, have fun, and walk leisurely, and enjoy the whole process of enjoying nature in three hours. However, there are ups and downs along the way, so please wear comfortable walking shoes and clothes.
Equipment used: K-3III, HD DA*16-50, smc DA*50-135
