As mentioned a few days ago, the other weekend we had to change our plan at short notice. We had actually chosen a small mountain for our hike, but news where out about a bear cub hanging out around there, which prompted the local authorities to close the ascent route.

Well, if we're not allowed to play with the bears, we'll just take it one level higher. Nobody should say that we were afraid. And for this very reason, we met up with an old friend we hadn't seen for a while. It's not just bears that roam the forests of our region, but also a T-Rex, which we have already bumped into several times so far.

Even though most people tend to avoid T-rexes, our friend is not as wild and dangerous as he might seem at first glance. He might always look a bit fierce, but as we discovered, he's actually quite a friendly fellow who just wants to play. And you can really have a lot of fun with him too, especially if you're a bit smaller and younger.

Of course, I didn't miss the chance to climb around on him as well, even if I did bump my head from time to time. But I've long been used to minor aches and pains, and the happy faces around me were clear proof that we were in the right place.

So far we've always encountered our friend alone, but I wonder if there are more dinosaurs roaming the forests here by the Sea of Japan. Or do the many bears in Japan dispute their territory? No matter how hard I've tried, I haven't really got an answer to these questions. But fortunately, at least our friend seems to like it here in the region and I'm really looking forward to meeting him again soon. Hopefully it won't take too long this time...