. . . about 霧ヶ峰・車山 (Kirigamine・Mt. Kuruma)
First off, why are there two names? It seems that Kirigamine is the name for the area and Mt. Kuruma is the highest peak in the area. Kiri means fog and the area earned the name because it often collects fog. Kuruma means car. I didn't see any cars on top of the mountain, so I don't know what that's about.
What a wonderful place this is. Situated in Suwa, this area is nestled between Yatsugatake to the east, Utsukushigahara to the north, and to the far west and around to the south by the various alps. As a bonus, to the southeast, sandwiched between Yatsugatake and the Southern Alps, Mt. Fuji is visible.
Being the highest point in the area, the panorama is stunning. Not only is this area high, it is also nearly barren of trees so you can enjoy the vistas all the time.
There are ski slopes on one side and there are launching points for gliders on the southeast cliffs.
Area:
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: Kurumayamakata Parking Lot/Bus Stop 車山肩駐車場
Peaks bagged: Kuruma 車山 ~ Chochomiyama 蝶々深山
(First-time) peaks # --
100 Famous Mountain Peak Mt. Kuruma (second time)
Getting there/getting around:
Free parking at the Kurumayamakata Parking Lot.
There are buses run by Alpico. Good luck puzzling through Alpico's timetable. Look for this part of the page to find the timetable for 霧ヶ峰線・八島湿原線 The main point of origin for a bus trip here is Suwa Kami Station.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why alpico doesn't arrange to post their timetables on googlemaps or why they don't have a simple translation service. Or why clicking "English" on their website brings you to a completely different looking website with no timetables in sight.
Helpful Info
Weather Information: 車山 (霧ヶ峰)
Time and distance
Total Time: 4:14 Break time: :23 Distance: 9.7 km
Elevation: Lowest: 1,610 m Highest: 1,924 m Total Ascent: 444 m Total Descent: 444 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Piece of cake. No ropes, chains or ladders. You start high up, so there's not much climbing involved. Most of this is above the tree line so it's hard to get lost.
If you go in the snow, don't forget sunglasses and suncscreen. I forgot sunscreen yesterday and got burned.
Facilities:
There are seasonal lodges and restrooms here and there. Some are even open in winter.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
If you ever get the chance, hike around here. It's really nice and not that taxing. This was my second time to climb Kuruma. The first time was in August two years ago. That day I hiked up from Lake Shirakaba to the east. That was a 19 km trek. It was so enjoyable, it felt like a walk in the park. I made a mental note on that day that I would like to go snowshoeing there sometime. Yesterday, I got my chance. This time I started nearer the peak at the Kurumayamakata Parking Lot. From that spot on the Venus Line Road, it is not that long a walk to the top and not that much of a change in elevation. I extended my hike to the marshes in the east, though. This made for a 9.7 km trek and enabled me to connect the dots with a hike I made to Washimine a month or two ago.
Let's look at some pictures. I hiked counterclockwise from the little blue arrow.
This is a long video.
This is a short one, just of the route taken.
The top
Kurumayama Weather Radar Station
Mt. Chochomiyama
Mt. Kuruma's radar station
Made it back to the place where my flintmobile was parked.
That's all for today.
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If you're interested in the other hike to Kuruma that I mentioned, It is here.
If you're interested in another snow hike I did just to the west of the marsh, check out my hike to Washigamine.
