I made a plaque for Ryuji and mounted an original Friend Cam - hand made by me in 1975.

Officials of Tottori goverment, San’in Kaigan Geopark, and Japan long Trail Association.

The Governor of Tottori Prefecture welcoming us.

レイ・ジャーディン (Ray Jardine)

On stage, these people are very well known to the Japanese. That's Katsu whispering in my ear, translating what Ryuji is saying. At one point he said "Without Ray Jardine, I wouldn't be here. His climbing invention saved my life. I was climbing a cliff and fell off, and every one of my protection anchors pulled out, except for one - a Friend. I was left hanging by that single Friend."

On stage.

"Loon" and Tomoya talking about some of my adventures. Loon had hiked the AT, and speaks English. Tomoya is a well known hiker; running a big store in Tokyo selling ultralight hiking gear.

Behind stage. Wakana and Hatsumi, TV personalities, singers and song writers, and strong hikers. Photo by Jenny.

"Team Ray-Way".

Buffet at the Forum party. I was busy meeting people, and didn't get a chance to eat dinner.

At the party, several people brought their backpacks for me to sign. One fellow said "Henry David Thoreau changed my mind, Ray Jardine changed my entire life."

This guy gave me a nice home-made ultralight stove.

Tomoya trying out my backpack for size.

Kazuya leads our group in pre-hike stretching exercises.

Something else I found curious. Jenny talking with a person who didn't speak English. They hiked side by side for along ways, talking all the while. I think the woman was giving Jenny a lessen in (elementary) Japanese.

The initial part of our day's hike led 1/4 mile through town, to the start of our trail through the woods.

A beautiful overlook, out across the ocean.

The 15K hike was one of several hiking events that weekend. The organizers limited the 15K hike to 40 participants. This event was sold out.

Five of these guys had driven twelve hours to attend this event.

Another striking viewpoint.

"Thousand Dollar Rock" (loosely translated)

This guy's father used to be an avid climber. He wanted me to sign his dad's Friends. At this point, the photographer said, (to no one in particular) "This is amazing" (Ray has touched the lives of so many people).

Katsu handed me an ice cream cone, and the woman wanted to pose for the picture. The dark color in the ice cream is squid-ink.

Here he is making hot ramen for lunch, at one of our rest stops along the 15K. The stove works surprisingly well for its weight. (If anyone has any of these people's names in English, please Send Us Your Questions or Comments.

Our day's 15K hike started on the back side of those mountains.

Another covered view point and rest stop.

We have still a ways to go to reach the sand dunes. And there's a storm moving in.

"Bandanna" had hiked the AT this year, and had traveled 10 hours to attend this event. The 15K hike was full, so he met us at the half-way point and served a delicious, hot snack called Amazake.

Starting to rain.

the Geopark authorities used sandbags as steps for climbing the dune. Very clever I thought.

Reminds me of a scene from the Chilkoot gold rush

At this point everyone is pretty cold, but still happy. :)

The wind and rain is slacking.

At the conclusion of the 15K hike, we came to this warming hut. Very nice and much appreciated by all.

The Officials at San’in Kaigan Geopark host a farewell dinner. Back row: Naoto, Hideo, Ray, Naoto Y., Yuji. Front: Yoshihide, Jenny, Katsu, Kazuya.