A small, round brown pika sits comfortably on a thick, textured, moss-flecked branch of a dwarf stone pine tree in the foreground. The branch twists out over a fractured granite rock face. The background opens up to a vast, deep-focus view of layered green mountain ridges stretching into a misty, overcast gray horizon.

A Japanese Pika (Ochotona hyperborea yesoensis), or Naki-usagi, scanning its mountain territory from an elevated vantage point.

King of the Crags

Perched with quiet authority on the moss-flecked bough of an ancient stone pine, a small Japanese pika surveys a vast kingdom of mist and stone.

David S. McMeans

Mount Kurodake, Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido, Japan

Image

King of the Crags

Perched with quiet authority on the moss-flecked bough of an ancient stone pine, a small Japanese pika surveys a vast kingdom of mist and stone. Typically known for scurrying deep within the protective crevices of subterranean boulder fields, this remarkably bold individual has climbed into the sub-alpine canopy, utilizing the wind-twisted tree branch as an elevated lookout post. Below its tiny paws, the rugged granite cliffs plunge sharply into a sprawling labyrinth of deep, forested valleys that define the untamed heart of Hokkaido’s roof. As heavy, moisture-laden autumn clouds crest the distant peaks, this resilient ice-age survivor remains completely unbothered by the high-altitude chill—a vibrant, miniature sentinel watching over one of the most rugged and beautiful alpine wildernesses in the Far East.

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