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今日は、お陰様で４０歳になりました。（そろそろ、「若」旦那と呼べなくなります…）　
アメリカでは、４０歳の誕生日代わりと特別です。人生って、平均で８０歳ぐらいという事で、４０を超えれば、あとは下り坂だと。つまり、丘を越えちゃう：オーバー・ザ・ヒルです。本来なら、大々的な誕生日パーティーをやるけど、現状は現状で、代わりに違う意味で記念で丘を越えました：北アルプスを上高地から登って、新穂高ロープウィーで下りました。オーバー・ザ・アルプス！

この誕生日で色々と幸せでした。山を登る前の夜は上高地の西糸屋山荘で泊まりました。その時に、奥原社長に誕生日プレセントでワインを頂きました。（美味しく頂きました。有難うございました！）次の日は息子たち２人を連れて行く予定だったが、長男がお腹を壊しっちゃったので二男と二人で、親子タイム。天気が崩れていたので軽い雨の中で登りました。標高２３８５ｍの西穂高山荘に泊まりました。着いたら、まずはお疲れの生ビール（！）にしました。Ken君は温かいカルピス。奥原社長が先に連絡してくれたお蔭で、少しVIP扱いになりまして、二人は６畳の個室になりました。早く着いたので、夕食を待っている間、山荘のゲーム（オセロ）を借りたりしました。早い夕食を食べたら、外は雨が止んだので二人で山荘から少し上に登って、石積みの所からの景色を眺めました。次の日の朝ご飯は５時半でした（早い！）。その後、バックパックを置いて、西穂高の山頂（２９０９ｍ）へ向かって、登りました。２７０１ｍの独標まで登れたが、雲の中だったし、その先の道はどんどん厳しくなるからそこで休憩し、Uターン。山荘に戻ったら、ヘリの配達がちょうど来たからそれを見てから、バックパックを取って、ロープウェーの駅まで下りました。ママと長男、娘が車で回って、ロープウェーを上がってくれました。景色（残念ながら、雲だらけ）を見て、皆でロープウェーを下った。ちなみに、ロープウェーはちょうど４０年周年で、今年に４０歳になる皆は無料で乗れた。ラッキー！そして、降りて、奥穂高温泉郷の栃尾温泉で昼食を食べたところのおじさんに立ち寄り温泉の事を聞いたら、お店の前に川沿いの露天風呂があると。なおかつ、料金は「気持ち」だと。たくさんのラッキーが重なって、とってもハッピーなオーバー・ザ・ヒル・バスディーになりました。

Today was my birthday. The big 40. Over the Hill. If we were living back in the States, it would be an excuse to throw a big party. But since this is Japan, things are a bit different. However, I commememorated the "Over the Hill" spirit in a literal way -- by going over the hills: the Japanese Alps. And with an unfortunate turn here, but many fortunate turns there, it turned out to be the most splendid birthday ever.

The family and I spent the night in Kamikochi, where the innkeeper of Nishiitoya proceeded to present me with a bottle of wine in honor of my birthday. The next day, I was planning on going for the climb with my two sons. However, son #1 went down with a sick stomach, so it was just son #2 and I. We left Kamikochi (approx. 1,500 meters elevation) and, in a light rain, climbed up to the Nishiho mountain hut (2,385 meters). Okuhara-san had apparently called ahead, so the people at the hut gave us the VIP treatment with our own private room. After a relaxing draft beer (!) (and a hot calpis drink for Kenny), we waited out the rain playing othello until our early dinner. The rain let up a bit, so we went for an after-dinner walk up to a view point marked with some stacked rocks. After adding our own rocks, we headed back down and went to bed. Next morning's breakfast was early -- 5:30am! We left our packs at the hut, and climbed up towards the summit of Mt. Nishihotaka-dake. We made it as far as the Doppyo (sub-peak), 2,701 meters. Being that it was socked in by clouds, and that the path became considerably more technical from there, we decided to turn around. On the way down, we got some peak-a-boo views between clouds of Kamikochi valley to the south, and the Shin-Hotaka Onsen ropeway to the north which we were planning to use for our descent. We reached the Nishiho Hut just in time to see the helicopter food drop, then shouldered our packs and headed down to the ropeway station. Mari had driven around from Kamikochi with Andy and Misaki, and took the ropeway up, where Kenny and I were waiting for them. After taking in the view (err, clouds) from the top, we all rode the ropeway down. I was happy to find out that the ropeway company was celebrating its 40th birthday, so everyone born in 1970 got to ride for free -- lucky! When we got to the bottom, we grabbed lunch at a hole in the wall in Tochio Onsen. We asked the old guy behind the counter about a place to take a bath, and he told us there was an outdoor bath along the river just across the road, and it was a pay-as-you-please onsen. Again, lucky!

All those fortunate events led up to the best Over-the-Hill (literally!) birthday!

西穂山荘のHPはこちらClick here for the Nishiho Mountain Hut website