Hikeling to Mt. Aso

Greetings cave dwellers.

I made a couple excursions this week.  I didn't deem either trip blog-worthy at first but have changed my mind because today's weather is miserable and I have nothing else to do right now.

Don't you feel special now?

In all seriousness, I think relating these two trips could be useful to some of my readers who want day trip ideas in western Tokyo.

The first trip was hikeling around Akiruno and Hinodemachi.  I took my bicycle from home through Akiruno and Hinodecho to a forestry road (林道) off Route 184 near the Tsurutsuru Onsen.

My initial plan was to ride to the trailhead, hike to Mt. Aso and then return to the bicycle and go home the same way I came.  When I got to the top of the forestry road, I decided to just take my bike with me up to Mt. Aso.  I know the trails there and I already knew that, even though I would have to carry or push my bike a bit, it isn't too extreme.  This is the top of the forestry road.  It is steep, as you can see.

The top of Aso.  It has nice views of Tokyo on a clear day.

Since I made it up to Aso, I decided not to turn back but to keep going on the ridge down to Mt. Konpira, which is not too far from Musashi Itsukaichi Station.  The ridge trail to there is also not so extreme and I know that there is a bike path to the top of Konpira from the street.

Some of the trail is like this:

Some of it is steep.  When I got to Konpira, I decided not to descend on the path I know but to descend on the path down to Shonakano (小中野) because I'd never been down it.  I am glad I was going down because this was a fairly rugged hiking trail and I had to carry my bicycle all the way.  

This last pic is from that final stretch.  I wish I had a better example picture for that part because it was quite steep and characterized by tree roots and boulders.

That's all for now.  I hope that might give you some ideas.