Around Saiko, Onigatake, Outake, Settougatake, Iyashinosato Nemba August, 2022
Greetings and salutations to cave dwellers of all ages and sizes.
I'm happy to say that I was able to get out to my mancave again yesterday. This time I was able to knock off a few more peaks in the Fujigoko area. Yesterday I was hiking along a ridgeline north of Saiko ("West Lake"). Let me give the hard-cold facts first and then I'll tell a bit of a story with pictures.
Location: Ridge north of Saiko. Mostly in Fujikawaguchiko
41 minutes by bus from Kawaguchiko Station. The first bus (on a weekday in August) leaves at 9:10 am. The last bus back leaves about at 3:50 pm. Check ahead!!! Then check again. Bus schedules are seasonal. Fujikyuko Bus English information
Lowest: 910m. Highest: 1,738m. Total Ascent: 1,458m and Total Descent 1,459m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Some ropes and steep spots necessitate some upper body strength. Some of the steep spots are a bit slippery so you must watch your step.
Facilities:
Nothing on the trail. No water, toilets or commerce. The parking lot at the Iyashinosato Nenba place is free. There are vending machines there and (seasonal, I'm sure) restaurants and souvenir shops just outside the Iyashinosato Traditional Village. I don't think there is even a public toilet there unless you pay the admission fee and actually enter the Traditional Village.
Thoughts/observations:
I was more pleased with this hike than I expected. My first visit to Saiko left me unimpressed. I descended to the lake from Junigatake after hiking over from Lake Kawaguchi. Mt. Fuji isn't really visible at the lake level there so the views weren't great. I must say the views from above the lake and, at water level also on the west side, are really great. This hike could definitely be done year-round but I would bring spikes in the winter. If you want to hike around here, you might want to skip the last peak I went to. There was nothing to see. I only went that far because I plan on continuing this trail at a later date.
Today was the first time I've seen actual crowds of tourists in a long time. The campgrounds are full. The lakes are dotted with people in various boats and SUPs. I was happy to see Japanese getting out and enjoying themselves. I'm happy for the tourist businesses, too. I didn't enjoy the traffic coming home, though. 😂
If you looked very closely at the map, you may notice there are two mountains pronounced "Settodake." If you looked even closer, you might notice that the Japanese characters for the two mountains are different. This is a particularly frustrating aspect of the Japanese language. Because the writing system is based on ideographs, there are a lot of homophones that are written completely differently and mean different things. The fact that these mountains are in spitting distance of one another adds another level of danger of miscommunication. Yesterday I had a conversation on the trail about Settodake with another hiker only to ask myself later if we were talking about the same place.
One other thing about one of the names of these mountains. One of them is Onidake. "Oni" (Owe knee) means ogre or demon. It is also the word Japanese kids use when they play tag. In English, we'd say, "You're it." In Japanese you say "O mae ha oni da!" (You are the oni!)
These days the first rays of the sun wake me up. That is useful for these hikes because it's about a 3-hour ride to get to the areas I've been going to lately. Yesterday I was wondering upon awakening if it was a good idea to go--the weather forecast wasn't spectacular and it's a drag to go so far and then be denied a picture-perfect day. And couldn't my feet use a break anyway? Blah blah blah
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. My hesitancy about the day usually dissipates by the time I open my front door and head outside. I'm always happy that I just go.
Of course, I was happy that I went.
It was a nice ride.
These two pictures from the road are exemplary of the random weirdness I encounter in Japan that bewilders and amuses me.
Almost there . . .
One of the things I really like to do is to identify the mountains I've been on in the past. Hiking around Mt. Fuji makes this especially fun because it gives such a great vantage point to look in all directions. I took this picture quite a while back from Mt. Fuji and it takes in where I hiked yesterday as well as a couple hikes I made one week previously on Mt. Ryugatake and Mt. Omuro.
From yesterday's hike:
That was way more information than you wanted, I'm sure. I liked playing with the pictures, though.
On to yesterday's activities.
Off to the trail . . .
It was steep getting up to the first mountain but once at elevation, the view was worth it. This ridgeline has great views all along the way.
Mt. Kagitake. Not the most exciting mountaintop.
This is the marker for the last mountaintop of the day. Not exactly breathtaking.
The last couple miles were on an old paved road.
These last several photos are not of the mountain but of the Iyashinosato place. Being sweaty and carrying my backpack, I wasn't into this type of sightseeing thing but if you were sightseeing around Saiko I think this would be a nice place to spend a few hours while getting a sense of what life was like here back in the day.
There are various and sundry exhibits, restaurants and shops.
This sign says "Koshu Silk". If you are familiar with Tokyo, you may know Koshu Kaido (Street). It runs past Shinjuku Station. Koshu Kaido, which runs out to Yamanashi, to a city named--wait for it--Koshu City, was the Japanese silk road.
The Caveman is a cheapskate but he pried his wallet open here just long enough to buy Mrs. Caveman a souvenir.
Well, like Porky Pig says, "That's it, everyone." I have one more excursion planned for this summer vacation that I'm really excited about. Stay right there on the edge of your seat and I'll give you a report next week.
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