Caveman closes 2024 in the snow. Jinbatorigoe to Yagoromine in Ueda City

 

End of year greetings to all you spelunkers.  

This marks my last report of the year.  I went for my 86th hike yesterday and knocked off my 161st peak of 2024.  It's been a great year in the mountains.  I haven't had any injuries and I'm very grateful for that.

I hope and pray that you all have a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy year in 2025.

. . . about these mountains

There isn't much to say.  These are not famous or particularly spectacular.  They just happen to be a few mountains I hadn't yet hiked on.  They overlook the Chikuma River's valley, Ueda City and Sakaki Town.  There are views of Utsukushigahara, Yatsugatake and Arafune.

Area:  Ueda City/Sakaki, Nagano

Location:

Map:  ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link.  This link is to a printable topo map

Starting and stopping point: 和合城跡登山口　Wagojoato Trailhead

Peaks bagged: (神場鳥越) Jinbatorigoe ~ (高津屋山) Takatsuya ~  (虚空蔵山) Kokuzo  ~ (弥五郎峰)　Yagoromine ~ (兎峰) Usagimine 

(First-time) peaks # 984~989

Getting there/getting around: 

I drove.  I borrowed the parking lot at Besia, not too far from the trailhead.  It was empty.

The nearest train station is Nishi Ueda on the Shinano Tetsudo.  That's easily within walking distance of one of the trailheads.  Ueda Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line isn't too far either.  If you wanted to come to the area by train, I'd change from shinkansen at Ueda and take a local train to Nishi Ueda.

Helpful Info

Weather Information: Nearby Mt. Taro's forecast

Time and distance

Total Time: 4:45  Break time: :20  Distance:  9.17 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 413 m Highest: 1,077 m  Total Ascent: 866 m  Total Descent: 868 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

This isn't terribly high but it's steep.  It's a challenge to keep your feet under you in slippery conditions like I had today.  Thankfully, there are long sections with ropes.  There could be more, though!  I slipped twice.

Facilities:  

There's nothing on the trail except for a few benches here and there.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

These are some minor peaks sandwiched between two valleys in Ueda City.  I wouldn't make them a destination for a trip from far away.  It is a good place for a local to hike, though.  The views of the valley below and some of the distant mountains was nice.  It would be nice to go there on a really clear day. 

The trail starts at a cemetery.  I think these are the graves of all the unsuccessful climbers.

(That's a joke.)

It was steep.  The way these hills pop up so drastically from the flat valley reminds me of a whack a mole game. 

This is the only picture I took of any ropes.  I should have taken more to be representative.  There are a LOT of ropes on these trails.  I wish there were even more!  They are a huge help because there are so many steep slopes with nothing to hold onto.  Yesterday was a particularly difficult day for walking because the ground isn't quite frozen.  Although there was an inch or two of snow cover, below that the ground surface was fallen leaves on top of mud.  It was more slippery than it would be with frozen ground and/or a lot of snow.

This is the top of Usagimine (Rabbit Peak).  This was a bit dizzying.

If you're curious about what is visible . . .

This is the Yanagi Yu (Willow Onsen) in Ueda.  I really was looking forward to this after the hike.  

This place more like an old-fashioned sento than a resort-type onsen.  Before it became common for every house or apartment to have a bath, people would take a bath at the local sento.  Sentos are communal baths and don't have all the amenities, such as restaurants and massage chairs that onsens do.

  

When I arrived, the obaachan (old lady) running the place started cautioning me about the hot temps and telling me not to get burned.  I figured she was just assuming that I wouldn't be used to hot baths because I'm a foreigner.  I asked what temperature the water is and she said 45 ℃ (113 ℉)!  (A hot tub is typically about 100~104℉.)  

I keep the bath at home at 42 ℃--and that's hotter than a lot of people can stand it.

That's all for this year.

Caveman out

Mt. Akiya and Mt. Goshu in Shimonita, Gunma

 

. . . about Shimonita

Shimonita is a small town of about 7,000 souls in Gunma.  It is just to the east of Mt. Arafune near the prefectural boundary with Nagano.  It's famous for konyaku (devil's tongue) and Welsh onions.  These hills are not very high but they are rugged and offer the chance for hiking in solitude.

Location:

Map:  ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link.  This link is to a printable topo map  Topo map centered on Mt. Akiya

Starting and stopping point: Side of the road by a fork in the trail 

Peaks bagged: Akiya (秋葉山)　〜　Goshu (ゴシュウ山)

(First-time) peaks # 983

Getting there/getting around:  

I drove.  I hear it's about 20 minutes by taxi from Shimonita Station

Helpful Info

Weather Information: Nearby Kanadake's weather forecast

Time and distance

Total Time:  2:52 Break time: :27  Distance:  4 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 440 m Highest: 940 m Total Ascent: 573 m   Total Descent: 573 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

A lot of this hike is slow and tedious.  There are no improvements on the trail such as boardwalks or stairways.  Much of it is steep with very loose walking surfaces.  There are very few things to grab onto if you lose your footing so the chances of slipping and falling are always a concern.  You really need a GPS and good sense to stay on track as the trail is difficult to discern.  There are pink ribbons along the trail but sometimes they are difficult to spot and these hills get so little foot traffic that it is hard to tell the difference between human hiking trails and animal trails.

Facilities:  

Nothing.  The stream by the road is suitable for drinking.  (At least I hope it is!)

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

I wouldn't go out of my way to put this on my bucketlist if it wasn't so close to my home.  It just met my needs for this particular day.  I wanted a shorter hike because I had something to do in the afternoon.  

Here are some stats and pictures.

The tunnel between Nagano and Gunma

Looking east across Gunma to Tochigi

To the north is Myogi

Looking west to Arafune, the long flat mountain in the picture.

Arafune is flat because the andesite rock on the top is resistant to erosion.

Its name means a kind of ship.  It's thought to resemble an aircraft carrier. 

The highest point looks like the bow of a ship.

Myogi again.

It's just so cool looking.

There are some caves on the way to Akiya from the road.

That's all for today.

If you want to see more of this area, check out Kanadake and Yotsumata

Caveman out

Hiking Kanagatake and Kayagatake in Yamanashi

 

. . . about Kayagatake and Kanagatake

This collection of mountains on the border of Hokuto City and Kai City is at the extreme western end of a series of mountain ranges that extends far to the east into Saitama and Tokyo.  It overlooks a valley which encompasses Nirasaki City and much of Hokuto City.  The 360 degree panorama at the top of Kayagatake takes in Mizugaki, Kinpu, Mt. Fuji, parts of the Southern, Central and Northern Alps and Yatsugatake.

Kanagatake (金が岳) means gold or money + peak.  Kayagatake (茅ヶ岳) means something like grass + peak.

Kayagatake has the sad honor of being the spot where Kyuya Fukada, author of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan, passed away from a stroke in 1971.  

Mt. Kayagatake is one of the mountains listed as one of the 200 Famous Mountains of Japan.  

Area:

Hokuto and Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture

Location:

Map:  ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link.  This link is to a printable topo map.

Starting and stopping point: 

Side of the road. No real parking lot

Peaks bagged: Kanagatake(金ヶ岳) Kanagatake South Peak(金ヶ岳南峰)  Kayagatake(茅ヶ岳)  Ozue(大杖)

(First-time) peaks # 979~982

Getting there/getting around:  

I drove.  

There is a bus to a different trailhead.  That bus runs from Nirasaki Station to 深田記念公園バス停 Fukada Kinen Koen  The link to that bus company is here.  茅ヶ岳みずがき田園バス総合案内

Helpful Info

Weather Information: 

Kayagatake Weather

Time and distance

Total Time:  4:17 Break time: :15  Distance:  9.4 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 976 m Highest:  1,764 m Total Ascent:  961 m Total Descent: 961 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

This is not terribly high so it is not above the treeline.  As it is at the edge of a valley, though, the wind was surprisingly biting.

On the approach to Kanagatake, there are a few spots with ropes and steep slopes I would discourage slipping down.  

The trail descending from Kayagatake and Ozue is not used very much and was covered with fallen leaves.  This is a bit nerve-racking because it makes for a slippery walk over ground where you can't see what you're stepping on.

Facilities:  

Nothing.  No waterholes, either.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations: 

I can't believe I didn't realize that I was hiking on the mountain where Mr. Fukada passed away until after coming home.  I am sure I had heard the name of this mountain before but it just didn't ring a bell when I was there.  If I was aware of the significance of this mountain I most definitely would have dropped by his gravesite.

I didn't encounter many people on the first or second halves of my hike but in the middle--the peak of Kayagatake, I was surprised at the large crowd on the peak.  I'm sure that Mr. Fukada's memory drew many of them.  (I'll bet most of them came by bus and therefore used a different trail than I did which would account for the scarcity of people I met while hiking.)

This is what the mountains look like from the road.

The trailhead is near an intersection of a forestry road and a road that goes past the CamppicaAkeno Campground.  There is no parking lot near there.

Forgive me for having so many pictures of Fuji.  There were so many great viewpoints.

My original plan for the day actually was to be playing in that snow in the foreground but I encountered a road closure on the way to the trailhead.  Thankfully, I had a backup plan just in case.

I found this spot interesting because of the ropes and the unusual moss.  The ropes up high on the left side  of this picture are a barrier so nobody falls off into the abyss that is on the left side of the ridge.

Looking west and southwest

First peak of the day.  I hadn't encountered anyone else until just after this peak.

The top of Kayagatake

There were probably 50 people on the top!  I was really surprised.

No one seemed to use the trail I descended on.

The last peak I hit doesn't even have a sign.

It's not really that cold!  For some reason, the mercury didn't show up in the picture.  It was fairly warm.  Probably in the low 40s.  (About 10 Celsius)

The trail passes through the Akenomura Senbon Sakura Park for a short while before joining the forestry road.

I was too shy to take a picture up close.  Those two guys are hunters.  You can't see the others, but there were probably 25-50  hunters congregated around all their vehicles.  I only talked to them for a minute--just enough to get them to tell me that they were hunting either boar or deer.  

I had so many questions I wish I'd asked.  For one, I didn't see any guns.  I also didn't see any dogs.  I don't know how you actively hunt without a gun.  I had heard a dog barking throughout the day so I thought it might have been part of a hunting party.

I also was interested in what kind of group it was.  I noticed from the license plates that they were from all over Japan.

I was also surprised that there were several cute girls wearing the orange jackets.  I never would have expected that in Japan.

This poor girl . . .

I encountered this bitch (for that is indeed the correct term for a female dog) on my last 10 minutes or so of walking.  At first, I thought it might be a hunting dog because of all the hunting going on and because she had a rather large collar.  I assumed it had some kind of tracking device.  She walked more or less with me until I got to my car and I left her.

I don't really like dogs--but this one was nice.

I hope she wasn't lost and that she her owner were reunited.  I was not sure if I should do anything or what I could do.  It was in the middle of nowhere.

Here are a few more labeled pictures for any of you who are curious.

Well, that's all for today.

Caveman out.