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Ten minutes on the road, we came to these steps

leading to

this bridge

Walked up more steps,

and came to this grand entrance

to Tsukuba Shrine

Prayers and wishes being said

A huge tree on site

About 800 years old

To the left of the shrine are another set of steps

we turned right to the cable car terminal

Before we reached there, there were more steps of course

Finally we came to the start of our trail. To the left are steps to the cable car station for those who want to go to the mountain top the easy way, we took the steps on the right for the hard way

Gnarly trunks and roots serve as steps

At first the trail is fairly easy

with wide and flat steps

This tree just happens to be in the middle of a step

This is the course we took (supposedly to be finished in 90 minutes, er...)

First rest area

Soon the trail turns hellish with slippery stones on steep slant

1.1km to Miyukigahara or 1.4km to Mt. Nantai (Male mountain) top

So close to the cable car...

Makeshift steps

The trail gets really steep

We reached an area near the source of Minanokawa River

Water seeps from the rocks

on to the ground

A big water scoop is provided for people to catch water to wash hands (or to drink?)

Thank goodness there are some decent steps after a hard climb