Mostly Japanese Mountains: Just . . . Lake Shoji area dayhike #Skywatch Friday

Greetings cave dwellers.

For the emperor's birthday holiday this week, I went to Lake Shoji, the smallest of the Fuji Five Lakes. This is one more leg in a long project of hiking the mountains on the shores of all five lakes in an unbroken line. I've completed most of the western four lakes. I have more work to do on Lake Ashi to the east.

Location: Panoramadai

Starting and stopping point: Bus Stop below Panoramadai パノラマ台下バス停

Mountains climbed: Panoramadai (パノラマ台) Shoji (精進山) Sanpobun (三方分山) Goko (五湖山) Yokosawanoto (横沢の頭) Seiya (西精山)

Getting there/getting around: This is accessible by bus on the blue line from Kawaguchiko Station or Fujisan Station. There are very few buses and it's a long ride. There is a free parking spot right next to the trailhead where I parked my scooter.

Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu 32 FUJI-SAN MISAKA・ASHITAKA-YAMA 富士山　御坂・愛鷹山

Weather Information: Mt. Sanpobun weather

Total Time: 6 hours 44 minutes Break time: 36 minutes

Distance: 15.4km

Elevation: Lowest: 900m Highest: 1,465m Total Ascent: 1,345m Total Descent: 1,345m

Technical considerations/difficulty: Not a terribly technical hike. Not much exposure. It's all well below the treeline. There is little in the way of chains or ropes. There are steep parts and there are some parts of the trail that have been washed away in landslides. There hasn't been much snow this season and I didn't even bother to put on my crampons.

Facilities: Nothing on the trail to speak of except for a sheltered picnic bench at the panoramadai.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

I've said it before. There is a certain world-famous brand name that I don't patronize because--well I won't go into their myriad of offenses here. I won't buy their products but I do begrudgingly agree that their slogan is great. Just Do It. Yesterday was another day when Just Doing It paid off for me. I had the day off and wanted to get a day of hiking in but the weather didn't look great and the futon was mighty warm and cozy at 5:00 am. And . . . the plan for the day entailed riding my scooter 3 bone-chilling hours before even starting a long day. The prospect of a long, cold grey day with no worthwhile views made me wonder if the risks didn't outweigh the possible rewards.

The sky matched my grey mindset for the entire 3 hours I spent on the road out to the foothills of Mt. Fuji. I usually make the ride non-stop. On this trip, I stopped 3 times to warm up.

Then, just as I reached my destination, the sky cleared up and the temperature rose a few degrees. Once again I was glad that I was Just Doing It.

I never regret Just Doing It. Sometimes I stop doing it when something is stupid or dangerous--but that is something different.

The place: As Lake Shoji is the smallest and least developed of the Fuji Five Lakes it is a sweet spot to visit. It's not really easy to get to for a day trip so there are fewer tourists than on the other lakes. There are only a few hotels and restaurants. One hotel has campsites on the lakeside. The panoramadai and the lakeshore have the best views. I did see on one of the billboards for a hotel that they have a rotenburo (露天風呂--outside bath) with a view of Mt. Fuji. That would be cool! If I weren't such a cheapskate, I would try it. For my purpose of tying up the loose threads between this lake and Lake Sai to the east, I hiked far to the east to Mt. Yokosawanoto. If your purpose is a pleasure hike with nice views, I think you should skip about half of my plan. I would recommend going to the Paroramadai before heading northeast to Mt. Sanpobun and finally descending down to the lake from there. That portion of my hike was where all the best views were. The last several hours of my hike were not the most photogenic.

This is what the map looks like:

Let me show you some pictures.

Remember what I said about access to this place being difficult? Check out the bus schedule. It's a long wait if you miss a bus!

The trailhead to the Panoramadai

Fuji sometimes forms lenticular (lense-shaped) clouds. When they are directly over the mountain, they are called kasagumo--"bamboo umbrella-cloud". When they form to the leeward side of the mountain, they are called tsurushigumo--"roll clouds". I think these must be tsurushigumo.

Looking west from the Panoramadai. That is Lake Motosu--the western-most of the five lakes--down below. My last trek on this side of the lake region will be to circumambulate that lake. Lake Motosu has a massive tranquil campground.

Mt. Omuro is directly in front of Fuji in the next picture. I climbed that from the south side of this lake in August. That is in the Aokigahara Forest. That has a sad reputation for being a suicide destination.

Ryugatake and Omuro hike

This is where I exited the woods at the end of my trek. The trail I used from Mt. Goko down to the lake is a secondary trail and doesn't appear on all maps. You can get an idea of the condition of the trail by the condition of its entrance. That rickety wooden thing in the middle of the picture is a stair/ladder.