virtual hugs

On September 27, a horrific natural disaster occurred in Japan...Mount Ontake erupted.

To tell you the truth, until the story hit the news, I didn't know Mount Ontake existed.

The weekend was a beautiful one, the fall foliage beautiful, many were out and about on Mount Ontake to check it out.

Unfortunately, the mountain erupted without warning killing many that were at the top and many that were trying to escape.

It has been almost two weeks and many are still missing. The recent typhoon last week also hampered rescue/recovery efforts.

After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, the scientists now say that the magma under Japan has shifted.

In recent years there has been talk of Mount Fuji erupting though they aren't exactly sure of when.

It got me thinking about my climb up Mount Fuji, many years ago.

We were lucky that time.

With Mount Fuji being designated a UNESCO site recently, the amount of people hiking up these days has increased significantly.

I don't mean to scare anyone with this post, just make people aware.

In the future, I hope there will be more safety procedures put in place on all hiking areas in Japan.

I hope all those missing will be returned to their families soon.

Sending you all a virtual hug.