Scandalous! Japanese woman bathing al fresco in the mountains. Japan's highest outdoor bath and Mt. Tengu.

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cave visitors of all ages.

How'd you like my clickbait title?  It's hard to become an influencer.  In my last few posts, I mentioned skinnydipping and you wouldn't believe how many views I got.  I'm not sure how I feel about the type of new readers I'm getting, though.

Unlike many internet entities; I'm not lying with my titles.  Maybe gilding the lily a bit, but I'm not lying.  Keep reading and you'll see what I mean.

Honest.  You can trust me.  I'm not like the others.

Anyway . . .

I went for a bit of a hike on the Yatsugatake Range yesterday.  It wasn't a picture-perfect day, but it was still a great experience.

Location:  Tengudake 天狗岳 Nagano

Starting and stopping point: 　稲子湯唐沢橋登山口（みどり池入口）

Peaks bagged: Higashi Tengu (東天狗岳) ~~ Nishi Tengu (西天狗) ~~ Neishi (根石山) ~~ Mikaburi (箕冠山)

(First-time) peaks #828, 829, 830, 831

Getting there/getting around:  I drove.  There are buses to the trailhead I used.  They run between the Nitago Onsen and Koumi Station 4 times a day starting in April 22.  I guess they run until the snow makes the road impassible.

Map:  Yama to Kogen Chizu 33 YATSUGA-TAKE TATESHINA・UTSUKUSHIGAHARA・KIRIGAMINE 八ヶ岳蓼科・美ヶ原・霧ヶ峰

Weather Information: Nishitengu (Japanese)

Total Time:   7:08 Break time: :36  Distance:  16.5 km (just over 10 miles)

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,571 m Highest: 26,46 m Total Ascent: 1,386 m  Total Descent: 1,386 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  Much of this is above the treeline.  There are not a lot of spots with chains or ropes but a lot of this hike is steep and there are a lot of boulders to negotiate.  I think the only places where getting lost would be a possibility would be at trail intersections.  Most of them are well-marked, though.  If you pay attention, you should be fine.

Facilities:  There are lots of onsens, huts and waterholes.  There are several campgrounds.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  This is, I'm sure, a great collection of mountains, but I really don't know just what they look like.  It was not clear enough long enough over a wide enough area for me to have gotten a good look!  The one peek I got of the peak of Tengudake from below was really cool.  This is another on a long list of mountains I have to go back to.

I was surprised at the number of onsens and campgrounds in the area.  I also was surprised by the number of people I saw.  It didn't ever seem crowded, but there were a surprising number of hikers up there.

Today's listening:  

Bible in a Year

                               

 Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton, read by David Grizzly Smith  

"The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge. Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel." Orthodoxy

I have listened to or read Orthodoxy, and a few other Chesterton classics, several times.  I find more and more gems each time.  He's not immediately accessible.  I find that the first 90% of a chapter is usually bewildering and takes a lot of concentration.  The last 10% or so when he pulls everything together makes the hard work worthwhile!  And, along the way, some of the quotes are just so clever and, well, quotable.

OK.....let's look at some pictures

The Shirabiso Hut next to Midori Ike.  There are camping sites here as well as some food, etc.

Midori Ike (Green Pond)

Looking up toward my invisible destination, Mt. Tengu.

Looking up from Midori Ike in another direction toward Mt. Inago.

Back on the trail

Mt. Tengu's eastern peak

Looking back at the eastern peak from the western peak. 

People were standing and waiting with their cameras for a long time hoping for breaks in the clouds.

This is the first fall foliage I've seen this year.  It's at an elevation of about 2,500 meters.  It's still all green down below.

The buildings are the Neishi Hut and that is Mt. Io behind them in the cloud.

"Io" means "sulfur".  It is the same word as is "Iwo Jima" ("Sulfur Island")  Sure enough, it smelled like sulfur around here.

That is a woman taking a bath in Japan's highest outdoor bath.  I'm glad she was clothed!  Even so, I wish she wasn't there.  I really felt creepy taking a picture with a scantily-clad maiden (actually, more like a grandmother) in it--even from a distance.  I couldn't not get a picture of this pool, though.  That is cool.  

The path to the outdoor bath . . .

This is the marker proudly pronouncing Japan's highest outdoor bath.  I felt really awkward whipping out my iphone to take a picture here.  The woman in the bath was the only person around.  I made some small talk with her when I took this picture and tried to make it obvious I was more interested in the sign than in her.  Haha.  She didn't seem to mind me being there.

Mt. Io

This is the Honsawa Onsen.  This is the business that owns the outdoor bath.  (1,000 yen, by the way.)  They have some indoor baths, too.  There is also some lodging and several tent sites there.  I saw quite a few people there and they all seemed to be having a great time.

Walking through the Honsawa Onsen

Before heading back to the car, I passed by the Midori Ike again.  Thankfully, the clouds had cleared and I finally got a picture of Mt. Tengu.

Well, cave dwellers, that's all for now.  Come again.

Caveman out.