Ultralight hiking training, learning through experience

It's late September and the stubborn summer heat is still lingering. I held a UL (Ultralight) hiking training for my company, so I'd like to write a report on it.

What is UL hiking training? I think many people are wondering, but this training is an experiential training that involves a two-day, one-night hike, which was organized after we became involved with a certain outdoor gear manufacturer. It was conducted under the hypothesis that hiking with the UL spirit should lead to positive realizations both at work and in everyday life. (This is also the theme of the Kamiyama Hiking Club .) UL hiking has brought about a big change in my life. Now I decided to organize this project, hoping to convey at least the essence of it to everyone at my company.

The three members who participated in this training were: All of them had some experience with exercise, but it seemed like this was their first time hiking.

Lectures

First, we gathered in a conference room at the Yoyogi headquarters and made time to learn about UL. Even though it was a hiking training, we thought it would be better to first input information, prepare, and then go hiking to confirm it, rather than suddenly heading to the mountains. In order to make the UL hiking training better, we conveyed two main things in the classroom.

First, what is UL?
I think many people don't know what UL is. I think they only know about Uniqlo's down jackets. I used to be like that too. Here's an excerpt from the materials used in the lecture:

Another question is, "Why do we do UL hiking training at a company?" When the employees who participated told their friends outside the company about this training, they were surprised and asked, "Why do we do such training at a company?" I will explain this with an excerpt from the materials for the classroom.

What I especially wanted to convey was that making things lighter is not the goal. Making things lighter is merely a means to an end, and I hope that once you have made them lighter, you will be able to rethink how you choose things and how you think, and gain some hints for thinking about how you work and live. It has been very difficult to put into words what I have felt through UL hiking, and I was worried about how I would have conveyed it. Nevertheless, I ended the lecture with the intention of trying to put it into practice.

After the lecture, the participants lined up the tools they would actually be using, weighed them, and created a list.

Preparation, movement

The practical session took place about two weeks after the lecture. The setting was Mount Unsayama, a rural mountain in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, where the Monosus Kamiyama office is located. It was about a four-hour journey by train, plane, and car from Yokohama, where I live. I boarded an early morning train and headed for Haneda Airport. As I slid the straps of my backpack, which was much heavier than my usual business trips, into my shoulders, I remembered what Hideki Toyoshima had said: "The weight of luggage is the weight of anxiety." I think I was filled with anxiety about taking everyone to the mountains and anxiety about whether the training would produce any results.

We arrived at Tokushima Airport and traveled to Kamiyama Town by rental car. In the car, I talked with Mr. Zhang, who was helping me design this project, about what we hoped this training would ultimately be like.

Set items that you want to think about in the training, and while giving them some freedom, tell them only the framework that you want them to think about. The aim of this training is for participants to take home some kind of hint for their daily work and life, so I decided to tell them that in advance.
I later found out that this setting was the core of the training. (Continued in review)

Hiking requires a lot of planning, including the purpose, schedule, and transportation arrangements, but sometimes it's better not to decide too much. The same goes for my recreational hiking plans, and it's very important to find the balance.
Think about the date, the route, the places you will stop at, and also what to do if things don't go as planned. Hiking often doesn't go as planned, including the weather, the state of the other participants on the day, and the traffic conditions on the roads. (A route that you take to change your plans and go down the mountain is called an escape route. It is important to have an escape route in mind in advance.)
Be prepared, but not overprepared. And be prepared for anything. I think a lot of what I find fascinating about hiking is in the preparation.

After moving, we first visited the Kamiyama office. We were happy to be reunited with the members working in the Kamiyama office, and exchanged greetings with people we had never met before. After that, we each went about our normal duties, and in the evening we started selecting and packing our equipment for the next day. We took the time to take stock of what we would be taking with us on our two-day, one-night hike the next day, and what each item would be used for.

Since most of the participants did not have their own gear, we just laid out on the tatami mats everything we had borrowed, including tents, sleeping bags, mats, gas and alcohol stoves, from our backpacks. We explained most of the features and how to use them, and asked them to choose the one that best suited their image. Even for tents, there were several types available, including one-pole shelters, bivies, and freestanding tents. Before actually using them, participants first understand the characteristics of the equipment in their heads, such as how easy it is to set up, how light it is, and how comfortable it is to sleep in. After that, they actually pitch it in the mountains and sleep in it, which gives them solid knowledge. I think that repeating this process will lead to a hike that is unique to them. The same can be said for work.

Once you have decided on the tools you need, it's time to pack. Put your belongings into the backpack.
When doing this, it is important to pay attention to the order and method of putting things in. Put in items that you will not use right away and that are lighter first. This is to make it easier to quickly take out what you need when you need it, and by putting heavier items on top, the center of gravity will be stabilized and it will be easier to walk.
In order to maximize the density of the pack, we each packed our belongings while exchanging advice, such as taking some things out of the sack and packing them in, or leaving space for water and food. I was looking forward to finding out the answer to questions like, "Can I fit this much in?" and "Which pocket should I put this tool in?" on the next day's hike.

We measured the final base weight (total weight of luggage excluding water and fuel) on a hanging scale. Everyone else's weight was 3.8kg to 4.5kg, which is within the UL weight range, but mine was 7kg, which was quite heavy.

After packing, we had dinner. The members working in Kamiyama also gathered and made okonomiyaki, which was a lot of fun. One of the attractions of off-site training is that members who don't usually meet can get together and eat together.

We set up a hot plate on the table and talked about our daily lives while grilling okonomiyaki.

The day ended with moving to Kamiyama, packing, and interacting with members who live in Kamiyama. I think that interacting with people who live in Kamiyama before entering the mountains makes the training in the mountains deeper. The lights of the town seen from the top of the mountain the next night reminded me of these ordinary moments in my daily life.

Hiking and mountain overnight stays

The first day of the hike. We woke up just after 5am and got ready, rubbing our sleepy eyes. We were able to leave smoothly because we had already prepared most of the things the day before. We gathered at a convenience store and bought breakfast to give us energy, water for the hike, and food. We ate bread, rice balls, coffee, etc. there or put them in our backpacks to eat while hiking. This is where we made our final preparations.

"Somehow it got in!" said Zhang with relief. That night, he noticed that the food was popping inside.

We moved to the foot of the mountain, shared the rough route and time allocation on our smartphone screen, and then started hiking. The hiking course this time took about 4 hours one way. We took a break along the way and walked slowly to the summit. After passing the summit, we looked for a tent site, set up the tent, walked around the area, had dinner, and went to bed. That was the plan.
Everyone started walking with excited looks on their faces, with some letting out sounds of surprise as the course suddenly started descending, and others immediately washing their faces in the stream at the entrance.

After walking for about an hour, I reached the ridge. A ridge is the ridge of a mountain, and if I follow this line, I will be hiking from mountain to mountain. The wind blowing up from the southwest cooled my sweat and I felt a little cold. I took out the wind shell that I had stored in my side pocket and adjusted the temperature.

Along the way, we checked directions and talked about which way to Tokyo, and also reviewed the gear we had brought with us.

Along the way, we checked directions and talked about which way to Tokyo, and also reviewed the gear we had brought with us.

We decided to go out onto an open road with a great view and have lunch.
Rice balls, bread, side dishes, coffee. Everyone spread out what they wanted and enjoyed it. Zhang said, "It's great to be able to eat bread from Kamapan (a bakery in Kamiyama Town run by Food Hub Project, a Monosus affiliate) in the mountains!" and Motoki, who was trying to make coffee using a drip bag, only realized that he needed two cups, one for boiling water and one for the server.
Watching this, I gradually came to realize that there must be some different circuit at work when talking about something and when actually doing it.

After lunch, we walked for about an hour, and the plants around us started to get shorter. We could see the nearby mountains clearly, and felt that we were getting closer to the summit. We were finally at the top of Unsoyama. When we reached the top after climbing the last steep slope, we could see the satisfaction of having accomplished something from the smiles on everyone's faces.
Pointing to the ridge from the summit, we discussed where we should stay for the night. A point that looked close by turned out to be more than 30 minutes away when we walked there. I felt that the sense of distance is different between the city view with its buildings sprouting up and the mountain view with few obstructions.

From there, we walked in search of a place to camp. We looked around while searching for a place away from the hiking trail, and on as flat and open a place as possible.

We found a good spot, put down our bags and decided to pitch our tent. It was around 2 p.m. Normally, people would still be busy at work at this time on a weekday. However, in the mountains, it is better to pitch a tent while it is still light out.
We each searched through the fallen leaves trying to decide where to pitch our tents. We found that this place was fluffy, or flat but narrow, and we lay down to find the place that would become our "home."
Once the locations were decided, we set up the tents, each with its own unique characteristics. Perhaps because it had rained a little the day before, the ground was soft, making it easy to insert the pegs. We set up the tents, feeling each step by touch, how to apply tension, how to tie the strings, etc.

When the tents were completed and we looked around, it felt like a town. We pointed to the flat area in the center of the tents and said, "This is the meeting place." We were already looking forward to dinner. After that, we decided to take a break and walk around the area. The slightly open area we had seen from the top of Mt. Unso was surely ahead.

Since I left all or part of my luggage at the tent site, I felt light as if I had wings. I was especially excited by how light I felt, since I had a lot of luggage.
Along the way, I came across a road covered in dense matcha-colored moss, which looked like a luxurious carpet. Perhaps I only noticed this because my luggage was lighter.
When I arrived at the open area, I was greeted by blue skies and autumn-like clouds, and felt a sense of exhilaration as I remembered the path I had walked that day. I was happy to be in the mountains during this beautiful season.

We returned to the tent site and started preparing dinner. We had brought a small campfire pit, so we picked up some nearby wood and started a fire. The wood was damp and it was hard to get the fire going, but we gradually changed the fuel from thin, small branches to thicker branches, and eventually the fire grew big enough to cook with. We heated the bread and canned food we had brought with us, boiled water to make dry food, and cooked and exchanged what we had each planned.

The best part of the dinner I prepared was the toasted rice flour baguette.

As we sat around the bonfire, the night gradually deepened. As it got dark, the surroundings became quiet, and the bonfire in front of us swayed gently. We just watched it and listened to the sound of the wind blowing. We spent a luxurious time in the silence with no one else around.

After eating, I decided to walk a little on the dark night road. It was hard to find the way in the daylight and darkness, as if it were a completely different place, and I felt a little uneasy. Still, as I walked slowly relying on the light of the headlamp, my eyes gradually got used to it, and I noticed that the moonlight was very bright.
Suddenly, I remembered that I had walked the same path a few hours earlier and said that the moss here looked like a green carpet. When you feel something and put it into words and express it out loud, it can come back to life in an unexpected place. I discovered a green carpet shining dimly in the moonlight, and was able to walk along the path with a sense of relief.

When I got out into the open area, I saw a sea of clouds between the mountain on the other side and this side. The view from this distance was magnificent, unlike the view from the plane.

That was the end of the first day of hiking. I returned to my tent and sank into the softness of the mat and fallen leaves for a deep sleep.

The next morning, we descended

The next morning, I woke up around 5:30. The morning sun was rising, and the surroundings were dyed in a vivid orange like a sunset. The air was cool and refreshing, so I took a short walk to a place with a good view. The sea of clouds that had spread out the night before remained only slightly in the distance. I returned to the tent site, made some coffee, and had a light breakfast. Drinking coffee and bread while basking in the morning sun on the mountain is something special.

The second day's hike was mostly downhill, so it was a relatively easy course. Everyone had gotten used to hiking in the mountains from the ups and downs of the previous day, and we all started to call out to each other, so it felt like a sense of unity was emerging.
When avoiding fallen trees, when thorny branches are growing, when pushing through vegetation, think of the person behind you and call out to them. It may sound exaggerated, but in the mountains, calling out to them like that can save someone's life.
As we often work in teams, we realized while hiking the mountains that using our imagination to think about what is happening ahead and what the person walking behind us is thinking is important in order to reach the goal safely.

After walking for about two hours from the summit, we reached the trailhead. There was a stream, and we splashed water on our sweaty bodies. Motoki, who had run out of water just before the climb, jumped into the water and gulped it down as if he had found an oasis.

We walked slowly from the stream to where we parked the car along a gravel road called "Super Forest Road." From the forest road, we looked up at the ridgeline we had walked along the previous day and the day before. "So that's where we walked." As we talked, the mountain scenery seemed a little different from yesterday. Feeling sad that the hike was coming to an end, we arrived at the parking lot in no time. The paved road was very easy to walk on, unlike the mountain trails where we had to step over large logs and wobbly rocks.

We dropped off our luggage, got in the car and headed back to town. As expected, everyone except for me, the driver, seemed to be dozing off as the car rocked them, so we were relieved to have made it out safely.
We returned to town, washed off the sweat at Kamiyama Onsen, and had lunch at Kamaya. The delicious meal was so tasty after spending the day in the mountains. Ah, we're back in town. Here, too, we felt a sense of relief.

Introducing the menu by Kamaya's head chef, Mogu-san. Mogu-san's dishes are delicious even in their descriptions.

Looking back

After lunch, we went to the office and had time to reflect on the experience. First, we had a writing session to write down what we felt, and then we made presentations. The items we reflected on were as follows:

In each of the situations from 1 to 4, we discussed how we felt and how we should adapt to them. The following opinions were exchanged. Here are some excerpts from them.

1. Preparation and planning stage (classroom lessons, shopping, packing)

・UL hiking experience First, I made a list of the things I thought I would need for hiking. When I measured the total weight, it exceeded the weight limit defined as UL hiking.
From there, based on the benchmark weight, we asked ourselves, "What are we really needing?" and "Can we make one object fulfill two or more roles?" We then worked to eliminate things and considered, "Even if something is necessary, can we make it lighter by replacing it with something else?" and made the items lighter as we made replacements.

- Realizations when adapting to work and life I realized that in my everyday life, I tend to pack this and that into my bag, making it heavy, and I make impulse purchases without thinking about whether I really need the things I buy, and before I know it, my living environment has become overflowing with things.
I realized that only by understanding the weight I can truly carry (my ideal mobility and comfort) can I choose what to have and what to give up. I want to plan my life by understanding what I need and how much I need.

2. During activity (while walking in the mountains)

・Experience as a UL hike Since it was an unfamiliar mountain climb, there were many moments when I had to concentrate on my unstable feet. I thought it was a waste not to have the time to enjoy the scenery with everyone else who was enjoying it, but even though I kept looking at my feet, I noticed that the color and type of fallen leaves were different depending on where I was walking, and the feel of the soil had changed slightly, and I was becoming more sensitive to the sensations transmitted through my feet. Also, maybe because I felt more open when I was in nature, I felt like I had a lot of time to ask people things that I don't usually ask and talk about things with them.
When I looked at the situation again, I realized for the first time that the weight of the luggage I was carrying was not a major concern when it came to climbing the mountain.

- Realizations when adapting to work and life We tend to spend our days burdened with a lot of things, such as information that unconsciously comes in from the outside world and thoughts that go round and round in our brains, but by lightening the burden I carry, I have more space in my mind, and I feel like I can take a step back to look at things and focus my attention on what I really want to concentrate on.

3. When you are at a stagnation (resting between hikes, tent sites, dinner and breakfast)

・UL hiking experience When taking a break between hikes, I thought it was nice to have a place where I could take a quick break because the backpack was light and easy to take off. And when I resumed climbing, I could walk out quickly. When I took off my backpack, sat on a rock, a fallen tree, or the ground, and concentrated on looking at the scenery around me, I could feel the size of the mountains and the beauty of the lush green trees. I thought that this is the essence of UL hiking, "becoming one with nature." It was a very comfortable time that felt like my soul was cleansed. I thought that if my backpack had been heavy, I wouldn't have had the time to pay attention to the scenery around me.
When I arrived at the campsite and set up the tent I borrowed from Manabe-san, I thought to myself, "It's amazing how well-made UL hiking gear is. It was so light and compact, but it quickly transformed into a tent that I could sleep in more comfortably than I had imagined." As expected, I was able to sleep soundly and comfortably.
During dinner, I realized that I didn't have enough water. No wonder my backpack was too light. I realized that making everything lighter is not the answer. I was able to reflect on the fact that my optimistic nature had backfired.
It was a fun night, sitting around a campfire in the dark mountains, talking about work and just talking about trivial things. There was no table, no feast, and I didn't even have water, but my heart was full. I realized that even without great things, you can have a good time just by having friends who work together with the same purpose.
Through these experiences, I was able to understand in my body what I had understood in my head: "knowing enough." Also, the extra energy I gained from knowing enough helped me to know when I don't have enough.

・Realizations when adapting to work and life When you want to solve a problem or improve something, you may try to make up for what is lacking and suffer from the gap that remains, but I realized that thinking that what is enough is actually enough is a way of thinking that allows you to adapt to work and life. Also, I thought that it is because you are in a state of sufficiency that you can clearly see what is truly lacking.

4. Descending the mountain (morning - from the waterside/forest road to the car)

・UL hiking experience As the hike drew to an end, my load became lighter as I consumed water and food, and it was impressive to experience the clearer view. When the load is heavy, I tend to lean forward and look at my feet. As a result, I sometimes bumped into branches and leaves at eye level while hiking without noticing. As the load became lighter, my line of sight was raised and my view was clearer, giving me the time to look ahead and be aware of my surroundings.

・Realizations when adapting to work and life When you feel suffocated at work or in life, you tend to only be able to see what's right in front of you and your field of vision is narrow. I learned that by lightening the burden you are carrying (reducing the burden on you), your field of vision naturally expands, which is what allows you to adapt to work and life. I experienced the need to create opportunities to reduce the burden "physically" and "as a system," rather than with willpower.

The retrospective was very lively and lasted for more than two hours, exceeding the originally scheduled time. However, we still couldn't finish talking, and the conversation continued even in the car on the way to the airport. I was happy because it meant that there was a mountain of things that we felt.

I don't know how the things that were gained through this training will develop among the participants, but I hope that someday they will be able to lead to better work, lifestyles, and lives. There are so many things around us that we don't know until we try them, and our worries only change shape when we take action. It was a good time for me, who planned this training, to feel that way.

When I got home and unpacked my things, I could smell the fragrant bonfire. This was the first time we tried this training, but if we continue with intermediate and advanced courses after the beginner course, we may get a different reaction. I would like to continue this initiative in the future.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and colleagues who saw me off even though we were almost offline for the two days we were in the mountains, to the members of Kamiyama who welcomed me, and to the three members who participated. Thank you very much.