hiwadasan hike

Golden Week started off rather silvery-gray with overcast skies and some light drizzle. Did another hike with some friends today. The destination was Mt Hiwada in southern Saitama. It's more of a hill than a mountain, only 300-something meters. There were some swallows near the station; the nest was on the wall of the waiting room. One of the parents was sitting nearby on a utility line, chirping away. There were no chirps coming from the nest, so either the eggs haven't hatched yet or haven't even been laid. I wasn't very motivated when I woke up today due to the weather, but once we entered the forest, it turned out to be really nice. It was humid, but a nice kind of humid that makes you feel refreshed. The smells were great too - a bit of petrichor mixed with some nice earthy smells and even some vegetable-y ones that reminded me of spring onions and wild garlic. Everything was very lush, and the moss everywhere evoked a Ghibli-like atmosphere. The small hokora shrines you often…