Arafune

Arafune is Japanese for enormous rock ship with sheer cliffs on all sides that if you were to fall off the cliff (or get hit by a stick [thrown by an immature foreigner] while aimlessly wandering off-track down below) you would die...several times over. Many geologists theorize how such an enormous thunderhead of rock and stone and other hard things became into being in this particular location. Here are some of their hypotheses: (1) seismic hoop-la and rigamarole involving plates and pushing; (2) God; (3) liquid, hot magma, and; (4) an enormous meteoroid crashed into this particular location after discovering how to achieve its dream of finally becoming a meteorite (see definitions of meteor, meteorite, and meteoroid for clarification on astronomically [pun intendend] nerdy punchline).

After spotting Arafune from atop nearby Mount Myogi several weeks ago, Enid and I decided to hike up it last Friday. It was intense. It was fierce. It was daunting. Much like hearing your own eulogy, it was death-defying and life-defining.

Scratch that. It was actually pretty simple. And a lot of fun.