Our first night was spent at the hot springs at the base of the mountain. When we arrived, we could not see the area around the inn. But all night long we heard this kind of *chuff-chuff* sound -- I thought it was mechanical, like some kind of pumping system. And of course everything smelled of sulfur! But the hot bath was genuinely relaxing, even if we were all left with the odor of rotten eggs. The next morning we could see the hot spring was venting gas and making the sounds, part-way up the mountain. A short hike up the other side of this small valley, and you could see the steam rising from the vent.
The next day we drove up the mountain to a lodge. The lodge was connected to a series of cabins along a tall wide stone stairway. We had lunch about halfway up the stairway, then hiked up to the top. The fog was too thick to see much. That night, the Lynn boys were taught a lesson in mah-jong by Akon. And the next morning, April 14th, we got up at 5AM and tried to catch a sunrise. On the way up we could see the moon, large in the twilight. The sky brightened, and I think the driver thought we would miss the sunrise. Then the fog rolled in and see couldn't see much for a while anyway. We blasted around in this mini-van along a very narrow and twisty road. After the mah-jong and the driving, the Lynn boys did not look too good. We tried to salvage the morning by going to see the lake, but the fog there was even worse! On our way back, however, the clouds suddenly broke open. Aenoch found a can of paint, and marked the location to prevent future trips from straying into car-sickness and fog.

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