Mastering Makihata-san

Makihata-san has been on my list of hikes for a long time, and what better time to climb then with the incoming fall colors? Taking advantage of good weather and matching days off, me and my hiking buddy decided make the short trip over the border to Niigata. We managed to get up as earl as we could on our day off and arrived at the parking lot at 9AM.(3 hours  late by Japan hiking standards)  The parking lot was packed but we managed to squeeze into a somewhat dubious spot and got underway on our day's task.  21/2 short hours later we reached the summit draped in early fall colors with typhoon clouds looming in the distance.