Almost, but not quite.....

....an image I've been hoping for for some time.

Having been very warm yesterday during the day, and then cooler in the evening with a little rain, I had a hunch that there may be some low lying cloud/mist around this morning, as such I set an early alarm. 

At 6am it just appeared grey and dreary outside so I put the alarm back to 7am and afforded myself another hour in bed.

As 7am it wasn't a whole lot different but I decided to head out anyway.  Heading across the bridge over the Shinano River I could see some mist in the valley to the left with the mountains above it, the clouds were just starting to break up letting some blue sky show through, along with a little sunlight.

I headed across to route 71 which runs between Shiodani and Kawaguchi, knowing this would be the best place with a view of the mountains and the mist/cloud.  The view of these mountains is the place where I first fell in love with the beauty of the area, it was the first place, back in April 2007, when I saw sunshine in Niigata, the mountains still covered in snow.  Ever since I've strugged to find a vantage point with a nice foreground to the mountains.  This morning it almost all came together, but not quite, I needed to be 10ft taller.  This afternoon I'll be going and looking at step ladders in the hardware store.

From there I headed across to Mushigame, by the time I arrived the sky had all but cleared of clouds.  I only really wanted to grab a quick shot of the mud ponds that lie between Mushigame and the breakfast spot.

I headed down the track that leads into them.  As I was taking my pictures I heard, 'Mark san, Mark san,' behind me.  Looking up it was Kato san who owns the photo gallery in Mushigame, the track to the mud ponds runs beneath his property.  He was out taking in the morning view, and what a view, fancy waking up to this every morning.  This was actually taken from his 'garden' where he insisted I go.  As I was taking the pictures he disappeared into the house.  As he returned he said, 'Mark san, coffee time'.  I could have fancied a hot coffee, instead he gave me a bottle of a very strange 'health drink' they drink here.  It's sweet, sickly and can best be described as tasting like medicine.  He then spoke to me for around 10 mins or which I can honestly say I really had no idea what he was talking about, the best I can guess is that he was telling me where some good photo spots were at the moment.  His garden would do for this morning.