Mostly Japanese Mountains

100 Famous Mountain, Mt. Zao in Miyagi. Beautiful volcanic crater.

S'up?

. . . about Mt. Zao (蔵王山)

Mt. Zao is the name given to a collection of peaks extending across the border line of Miyagi and Yamagata Prefectures. It is a place famous for skiing, snow monsters, onsens and beautiful scenery.

Area: Tohoku (東北)

Tohoku is the name of this region of Japan. "To," which sounds like "toe," means east, and "hoku" means north. This area of Japan is famous for agricultural products inland and for fish and seaweed along the coast. The western side of Yamagata is on the Sea of Japan and it's eastern edge borders Miyagi in the center of Honshu Island. Miyagi extends from there to the Pacific coast in the east. Much of Miyagi was devastated in the disaster on March 11, 2011. Perhaps you remember the names of places such as Sendai or Sanriku?

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 of the Zao area.

Starting and stopping point:

Okama High Line Parking Lot

Peaks bagged: Mt. Katta (刈田岳 )and Mt. Kumanodake (熊野岳)

(First-time) peaks # 1,113~1,114

(100 Famous Mountains) peak # 58

Getting there/getting around:

I drove. There are buses also. Zao is a famous tourist destination so there are lots of ways to get there. You will often see skiing advertisements for Zao in Tokyo. If you want to go to Zao from Tokyo on public transportation, take the shinkansen to Yamagata and then transfer to a bus. You can get to Yamagata Station from Shinjuku by bus as well.

N.B. The public transportation options I just gave will bring you to the Yamagata side of Zao. I hiked from the Miyagi side. We also stayed on the Miyagi side at a great Airbnb in the Togattaonsen District.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Tenkura (Japanese)

Mountain Forecast (English)

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time: Distance:

The Caveman did it in: Total Time: Break time: Distance: km

Elevation: Lowest: m Highest: m Total Ascent: m Total Descent: m***

***This is a fairly easy walk. There is only an elevation change of about 200 meters and the distance is only about 5-6 km. I had Mrs. Caveman with me so went at a much more leisurely pace than normal. We spent about 3 hours taking in the scenery and enjoying ourselves.

Technical considerations/difficulty:

I guess in winter it would be a different story, but hiking here on a summer day could be done in sneakers and jeans.

Facilities:

The parking lot we started at has restrooms, a restaurant and a shop for souvenirs. It's the type of place tour buses use.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

So glad we did this. This was part of a four-day trip we took. We had basically 3 days in Miyagi. One we spent on the mountain followed by an onsen. On the other days, we dropped by a kokeshi doll museum (those are particular to Tokoku), we went to a bird museum of sorts called the Kotori Hausu, and on the same day, we checked out the Michinoku Public Park in Kawasaki was amazing. We also dropped into a fox Zao Fox Village. It's a giant fox zoo which you can walk through. The foxes are walking around freely. Not only that, but for ¥1,000, you can hold a baby fox and have a picture taken. They are really cute. On the way home, we drove through Sendai and then up to Matsushima. That part of the trip was a bit poignant for me. After the disaster in 2011, I volunteered in that area several times and on Sunday morning, we went to Mass at Shiogama Catholic Church, which was the base of volunteer operations. The volunteers would sleep on the floor of the Church and go out from there during the day to help with the cleanup. It was nice to see some of the locals and to see how the area has recovered in the past 15 years. Our final stop was Matsushima, a harbor with an amazing collection of islands strewn about it like dark jewels scattered on a light green carpet. Matsushima gained its title as part of the 日本３景　 (Nihon sankei), (Japanese 3 scenic spots) in a book written in 1643. It is something to see.

Here are some pictures:

A longer video is here.

On the drive there

This is at the top of Mt. Katta

I try to make at least one snowball every month. I was successful this June.

With Mrs. Caveman with the Okama in the background.

This is at the top of Kumanodake

Looks almost like a cave!

Here are a few pictures from the rest of the trip....

I'm not saying where this is.....They don't want pictures uploaded to the internet.

Matsushima

Zuiganji Temple in Matsushima

Matsushima deserves a video because it is cool. I'm too tired, though.

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Sunrise over Mt. Asama, a volcano I've been dying to see

S'up?

What's going on, cavedwellers?

I'm a bit worse for wear today. As I was returning from my hike this morning, I felt fatigue and muscle aches I don't usually feel. It was not until I started writing this post and did some reflection that I realized what was going on. I was not tired from just today. It's the cumulative effects of my activities over the last month. I realized that in 10 outings this month, I logged 150 km. A lot of that was trail running, so my knees have taken more of a pounding than usual. No wonder my middle-aged body was rebelling.

Waking up at 1:00 am and heading toward a mountain for the sunrise may have something to do with fatigue, too. Ya think? 🤔 ＊＊

Regardless of the fatigue, it's been worth it. After all, I walk so much because I like it, and I've scratched some satisfying things off my bucket list with all the extra miles lately.

＊＊It's a few days later now and I realize that I actually injured myself on that hike. Early on in the hike, I tripped and banged my shin on a rock. It appears I bruised my shinbone when I tripped that morning. No wonder I felt less than 100% when finishing that hike. Looking at my leg's condition (discoloration below the injury, swollen ankle and a large welt at the point I whacked my leg) and looking up these symptoms on the internet gave me pause. It appears that a bone bruises should be checked out and can get worse without proper rest. It seemed I might be looking at a month or even two of not being able to hike! I went to an orthopedist this am and, thankfully, he gave me the ok to keep doing my thing. Thank God. I have so many plans for so many trails.

. . . about Mt. Asama

This is an active volcano and has been off-limits for the past three years because of the possibility of eruption. It's the most active volcano on the main island of Honshu and the Japanese Meteorological Agency classifies it as A. Whatever that means.

On May 22 of this year, the eruption alert level was lowered to Level 1, and hikers have been allowed to get to within 500 meters of the caldera. Due to the air quality, there is still that restriction. The adjacent peak called Maekake is climbable, but the actual peak of Asama, at 2,568 meters, is still off-limits.

The Asama Mountain Range:

This is on the border of Gunma and Nagano Prefectures. Asama is at the highest and easternmost extremity of a ridge that runs about 15 km from Karuizawa in the east to Mts. Yunomaru and Eboshi in Tomi City in the west. Between Asama and those peaks, there are several ski areas, an athletic center for training at high elevations, a high elevation wetland, and many lodges and onsens. It's a great place for outdoor sports all year round.

The Asama Mountain Range

One of the first bucket lists that I completed upon moving here was to bag every peak along that ridge--except for Maekake and Asama, of course. I have had so many great experiences taking in the flowers, observing the wildlife such as serows and deer, and snowshoeing throughout the 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 of this area.

Starting and stopping point:

Tengu Onsen/Asama Sanso

Peaks bagged: Asama/Maekake(浅間山・前掛山)

(First-time) peaks # 1,112

Getting there/getting around:

I drove.

A bus from Komoro Station can take you to the Asama Tozanguchi Bus Stop--about a 50-minute walk from the onsen. If you're going by public transportation, the Takamine Hotel at the Kurumazaka Pass is probably easier.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Tenkura weather forecast for Maekake

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time: 7:22 Distance: 12.7 km

The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 5:22 Break time: :25 Distance: 13.8 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,411 m Highest: 2,524 m Total Ascent: 1,236 m Total Descent: 1,236 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Nothing technical. There are no ropes, chains or ladders to speak of. It can get windy above the treeline.

Facilities:

My starting point was at the Asama Sanso/Tengu Onsen. There is lodging there and an onsen. There are also horses that you can lead around and, I think, probably ride.

About halfway up the trail, at a free resthouse called the Kazankan, there are public pay toilets.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

This is something I've been hoping to do since moving to the area three years ago. I'm disappointed that it got cloudy before the sun came up, and I wish the caldera were visible from Mt. Maekake. Still, it was a great hike, and I'm glad that I did shoot for sunrise because I had the mountain to myself, and it is getting busy these days. I'm not the only one who has had an eye on the alert levels, and many hikers are making a beeline to Asama to cross it off their bucket list.

I am soooooo glad that I made the insane decision to hike it in the middle of the night. I had the mountain to myself. Now, the mountain looks like this as people flock here from all over the country. Wow.

(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:

to make use of technology. One of the apps I have is called peakvisor. It's main function is to identify the mountains in your pictures. One function of Peakvisor that I used on this trip was to identify the time of the sunrise and the exact place the sun would rise. This helped me point my smartphone in the right direction in anticipation. (Unfortunately, the sun was hidden behind clouds, but I knew where it was.)

Let's look at some pictures.

This is what Asama looks like in winter. Doesn't it look like a chocolate dessert dusted with confectioner's sugar?

The Tengu Onsen has parking for ¥500.

The other option for a trailhead is by the Kurumazaka Pass by the Takamine Hotel.

I've been to both places numerous times. My choice of this particular trailhead on this morning came down to a simple matter of time. The Takamine trailhead is about 8 minutes further up the road.