Mostly Japanese Mountains: Caveman climbs Mt. Mitsutoge and does leaf-peeping in front of Mt. Fuji in the Arakurayamasengen Koen (新倉山浅間公園)

Greetings and salutations cave-lovers everywhere.

My better-half/lovely bride/love of my life let me go to the mountains again the other day. Mrs. Cave Dweller really is special that way.

I decided to try a mountain fairly close to Mt. Fuji with hopes of catching some leaves turning. I was having a difficult time deciding just where to go and finally hit upon going to one of Japan's 200 Famous Mountains called Mt. Mitsutoge (三ツ峠山). I've seen this mountain from quite far away but had never climbed it or seen it close up.

The name of the mountain translates literally to "Three Pass Mountain". That makes sense. It's comprised of three peaks or about the same height quite close to each other.

I opted for public transportation for this trip. For me, that means taking the JR Chuo Line to Otsuki and then transferring to the Fujikyu railway. The Fujikyu railway runs to Lake Kawaguchi via the Fuji Q Highland amusement park and the bus station to one of the 4 main trailheads of Mt. Fuji. Since it goes to an amusement park, the trains are really cute. The one I took had a Thomas the Tank Engine theme.

People who aren't on holiday get to commute on these trains, too. I love Japan.

I didn't go to the end of the line. I got off at Shimoyoshida Station and started hiking from there. Being early on Sunday morning, the station was un-manned.

Here's the train leaving that station.

The first thing I passed through on my hike was a park/shrine called Arakurayamasengen Koen (新倉山浅間公園).

This stairway, with its brilliant red maples made for an inviting welcome to the Koen.

Stairs at Arakurayamasengen Koen (新倉山浅間公園)

The spectacular views of Mt. Fuji make it a pretty cool place to take wedding pictures.

新倉山浅間公園　Arakurayamasengenkoen wedding pic

By the way, I don't know these couples. I'm pretty sure they don't know each other, either! Word is that they were getting a discount on their photos by having them taken together. Don't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret.

It was hard not to keep turning around and taking pictures of Fuji. Looking at it with binoculars was really cool. You can see the varioustrails as they switch back and forth up the slopes.

Fuji from Arakurayamasengen Koen (新倉山浅間公園)

That park is a nice place for a walk with your family or for a date. It's a fairly steep hill but it only takes 15~20 minutes to get from one end to the other.

It is the home of the Chureito Pagoda. The view of Fuji taken from behind this pagoda is quite iconic. Unfortunately, they are building a new viewing deck behind the pagoda and that particular picture can't be taken until construction is completed next March. This is the front of the pagoda.

Once I passed through the park and hit the first mountain peak of the day, I saw very few people until I got near the top of Mitsutoge a few hours later. It was pleasant walking. Even though it was 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 Celsius), I was hiking in a t-shirt most of the day.

I encountered Bambi's family along the way.

This is one of the three peaks. Can you see on the brown shed the letters NHK? NHK is Japan's National Broadcasting Coroporation (Nippon Housou Koukai). Can you spot the guy working on the antenna?

(I can't stand NHK. They want you to pay to support it--even if you don't watch it or if you don't even have a TV.)

The view of Fuji from here is one of the best 100 in Japan. Or so I'm told. It was cloudy then and Fuji disappeared while I was on top.

This gaggle of people is on top.

This is looking down at one of the passes from near the NHK antenna.

There were a lot of people climbing here. It was something to see.

I'll only post one pic of the cliff. I could post 20. That is one gargantuan rock.

The name of this rock gave me a kick. Wisdom tooth is "oyashirazu" in Japanese which literally means something like "unknown to parents". I guess wisdom teeth are different than regular teeth, which are preceded by baby teeth--the existence of which every parent is aware. Just my guess. There is another rock formation down the trail that means something like "The empty-wombed saint."