I have spent the last four hours perspiring under the summer sun, moving slowly and photographing wildflowers. Having hiked the circuitous, twin-peaked route around the caldera of constantly active 1,041-meter Mount Tarumae, I then loped up and down a small peak known only as Kyu-san-ni (its height, of 932 meters, since kyu means "nine," san is "three" and ni is "two"). With that behind me, it was a half-hike, half-scramble to the top of wonderful, 1,103-meter Mount Fuppushi.

This is one of my favorite day's outings in Hokkaido, in the superb Shikotsu-Toya National Park (NP). It is long and varied enough that it feels to be a proper workout, and it well clears the cobwebs from my mind. But the scenery alone would be enough to sustain my efforts, while it's sufficiently diverse in its wildlife that at almost any time, save midwinter, there is something alive of interest to watch — whether it is insects on the summit, pipits singing over its flanks, alpine flowers growing in the pumice barrens in spring and summer or woodpeckers tapping in its woods in winter.

Mount Fuppushi itself is no great peak, especially in comparison with the towering summits of the Japan Alps, but being 1,000 km north of that range it shares a similar climate at the top despite its lower stature.