I wasn't planning on hiking yesterday. When I woke up and looked out the window towards the mountains, my plans changed. It had snowed the day before and the mountains were white. I couldn't give up the chance to play in the snow (at least) once more before it melts.
Mrs. Caveman hails from an island paradise where snow never falls. I'll never forget the look on her face one morning in New England when we opened the curtain and for the first time, she saw snow falling. She said, "It's magic!" Being from New England, I am not so apt to think of snow as magic all. But, she is right. It's magic!
I opted to head for Mt. Gozen yesterday. Mt. Gozen is the tall mountain on the right in the picture below. The pointy one on the left is Mt. Otake.
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Those two mountains, along with nearby Mt. Mito, make up what is called the Okutama Sanzan 奥多摩三山. That means something like the Famous Three Okutama Mountains.
For my hike, I took my scooter to the Fujikura Bus Stop on Route 205 in Hinohara Village. You can get there by bus. The bus from Musashi Itsukaichi Station takes 49 minutes. Yikes.
This was my fifth time up Mt. Gozen and each trail I've taken up there has one characteristic in common. Each one is steep.
Really, after just about 5 minutes I had risen this high.
And it continued like that, unrelentlingly. No wonder I always have wobbly ankles for a day or so after climbing Gozen.
The snow made for a nice walk. Most of the time it was about 4~6" (10~15cm) of powder. It was easy to walk on and the rhythmic crunching sound of the snow being packed under my feet was meditative.
This picture below was my only glimpse of the mountain on the way up. Gozen seems to like to keep a low profile and it's not as popular as the other two members of the 3 famous mountains. Mt. Mito has the Tomin No Mori tourist facilities and a fantastic winding highway around it which both attract crowds. Mt. Otake is just a hop skip and a jump from uber-popular Mt. Mitake with its shrine, shops and its cablecar. Gozen has nothing commercial and is hidden from the view of downtown Tokyo behind the pointy-topped Otake.
It's almost like Otake is sticking its nose in the air like some kind of alpine snob.
Maybe Otake does that to compensate. It's actually shorter than Gozen but keeps up the illusion of being tall because it is between Gozen and downtown. Maybe we should rename it Mt. Napoleon.
From downtown, you can't even see Mt. Gozen because of Otake. This is what Otake looks like from the other side, though.
It is nice that Gozen is less popular. It was nice to walk on virgin snow. The only tracks on it were those of Bambi and Thumper.
This is the refuge hut below the summit. It's a nice spot and I've stayed there twice. They discourage hikers from using these huts these days though since the Coronavirus hit.
There's a water hole right next to the hut. The sign is cautioning people to boil the water because deer might be pooping in the stream.
Another shot of Mt. Otake.
This part is not far from Mt. Sogaku. It's awful. The first time I encountered it I was climbing up it. It seemed so treacherous that I thought I'd lost the trail. Yesterday was even worse. I was going down it and the snow cover hid slick mud and loose rocks.
It's also much steeper than it looks.
The 3rd member of the triumvirate appears, Mt. Mito. Mito (三頭山) translates directly as "3 Head Mountain". It got its name because it has 3 peaks.
This is the trail I took. It wasn't a very long hike distance-wise, but it did take me over 5 hours. The 1,167-meter change in elevation and the snow were factors.
Well, I think that's all for today. I am still on spring break and have my fingers crossed to get out again real soon. Drop by the cave anytime.
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