Big Buddha and Deer in Nara

 This was fun

Caveman out

Mt. Haruna of 200 Famous Mountains Fame

 Lake Haruna

Hello, cavedwellers.

Today's trek was around Lake Haruna in Takasaki, Gunma.  

Location:  Lake Haruna, Takasaki, Gunma

Starting and stopping point:  Visitor's Center Parking Lot (Public Restroom)

Peaks bagged: 氷室山 ~ 天目山 ~ 榛名富士 ~ 烏帽子ヶ岳 ~ 鬢櫛山 ~ 榛名山（掃部ヶ岳）

(First-time) peaks # 868 ~ 873

Getting there/getting around:  I drove.  There are several free parking areas.  I don't know how empty they are during tourist season, though.

Map: 山と高原地図 赤城・皇海・榛名 袈裟丸山・足尾山地 2024

Weather Information: Haruna Weather in Japanese

Total Time: 7:48  Break time: 1:24  Distance:  12.6 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,085 Highest: 1,449 Total Ascent: 1,367  Total Descent: 1,367

Technical considerations/difficulty:  Each of these mountains, by itself, is not particularly challenging.  Any of these peaks could be done in just a few hours.  Circumambulating (I love that word.) the lake, as I did, makes for several ascents and descents.  There are some areas where the snow is deep and some places with ropes where you need some upper-body strength.  

The snow conditions varied widely on this trek.  In spots, it is waist-deep.  On the south side of Haruna Fuji, there is no snow at all.  I needed snowshoes only for about 30 minutes.  Most of the rest of the day I needed crampons.  Going down was very slippery and icy in places.

Facilities:  There is nothing on the trails or mountaintops, but the lake is nearby and has many public facilities and tourist attractions.  Not much is open in the off-season, but the Yusuge Onsen is open and only costs ¥520.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  If you want to catch the view but are lazy, you could take the gondola to the Haruna Fuji Ropeway.  ¥950 roundtrip for adults.  

I don't feel particularly witty today, so I'll just jump into the pictures.

On go the snowshoes.

Thankfully, the temp. stayed at or below freezing all day.  I didn't need to deal with much melting snow or mud.

After going up to the first two peaks, I came back down to the water level--before going up again.  I repeated this a few times this day.  😜

Looking up toward Haruna Fuji

The view from Suzuri Iwa ("Inkstone Boulder") is the best one of the lake.

Kamongatake is the highest peak of the Haruna Mountains.  That was my last peak of the day.

The hike up to Haruna Fuji is on the south face of the mountain so all the snow was melted.  That was the only snowless trail of the day.  In contrast, the other side of the mountain was very deep.

Asama is 32 km away.

Mountain Graffiti!

"Sagamihara F.D."

"Isesaki F.D."

Ropeway prices.

Just beside the ropeway, there is a viewpoint.

It's 124 km to Mt. Fuji.

On a clear day, you can pick out Mt. Tsukuba (113 km) and Tokyo's Skytree (119 km).  It was too hazy to see Tsukuba.  I was able to find Skytree with the naked eye but my iPhone couldn't pick it up.

From the Ropeway, it's maybe a ten-minute walk up to the top.

"This way to the top and to the Haruna Fuji Shrine"

The shrine

Time to put the crampons on.  This side of Haruna Fuji is very snowy.

Time to go down.

Again.

Lots of critters out here.

A few times I could actually smell the deer.

After slipping and sliding down the 300 meters to the lakeside, I looked up at my next destination--Mt. Eboshi--in disbelief.

"Did I really put that in my plan?"

Eboshi is the word for traditional pointed hats.  There are many mountains named eboshi here.

This dude Lord Ashikaga really rocked one of those hats back in1868!

The trailhead to Eboshi.

From the top

Dining al fresco.

After Eboshi, the next stops were Mt. Bingushi and Suzuri Iwa.

From Suzuri Iwa ("Inkstone Boulder")

On the way up to Suzuri Iwa, I passed a young couple wearing jeans, sneakers and sweatshirts.  It was a nice day, so they just hopped out of their car on a whim to head up to the overlook.  They did not really think it through, though.  They got up to the top and then considered that going down would be harder than coming up.  The trail isn't long, but it is very steep and icy in many places.

Oh, to be young and in love . . .  stupid.  😆

 I gave them my hiking poles and wished them luck.

The biggest mountain in the next picture is Mt. Akagi.  I climbed that last year.

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2023/04/mt-akagi-red-castle-one-of-japans-100.html

This is what greeted me as I came off the mountain.

Back to the lake level

I dropped by the Haruna Lake Yusuge Moto Onsen and was greeted by these guys.  

The fat one is definitely the alpha cat.

Men to the left.  Women to the right.

I snuck a picture of the bath.  I won't put it up here, though.  

When I got home and looked at the picture, I realized there was a person in it!  When I took the picture, he was not visible to me and I doubt he could see me either, because he was outside and the window was all steamed up.  Imagine my surprise when I got home and looked at my pictures to realize the iPhone had picked up his image.  

Thank God it was too blurry to see anything.  I'd have to wash my eyes with bleach or something.

That's all for today.

Caveman, out.

(May 2022 repost) Quick trail run on Takao

 To my dear cavedwellers, I'm sorry if you feel flooded by a bunch of posts today.

Many of my posts on the blog seem to be hidden from public view and I've decided to repost them.

I think this is the last one!

With about 2 million visitors a year, Mt. Takao in Tokyo must be one of the most visited mountains in the world.  There is a monkey park on the top, tons of souvenir shops, a beer garden, more shrines than you can shake a stick at . . .

All that being said, visiting it in the off-season or in poor weather, you can actually experience something like nature and seclusion.

Since I knew I wouldn't be able to get a whole day in the woods this week, I opted for a quick run on Takao after work one day.

The overwhelming majority of visitors arrive at Takao via the Takaosanguchi Station on the Keio Train Line.  That is in a quaint neighborhood with restaurants, souvenir shops, a trick art museum, etc.  From there, many people get on the cablecar that brings you near the top.  You can climb from there if you are a cheapskate like me.

Takaosanguchi is not the only approach though.  Uratakao ("behind" "Takao") has a few trailheads that will access the mountain.  Those trails are always less populated even if the top is busy.

I ran to the top from the Takao Umenosato Machi no Hiroba near the  Jatakiguchi (蛇滝口) Bus Stop in the Uratakao area the other day.  

It was great.  The weather was threatening rain and I didn't start until after 4 so everything was closed and I saw only two people on my run.  Much of the trail is concrete so I wasn't that worried about twisting an ankle.  It was about 6km (just shy of 4 miles) to get to the top and back with a rise and then drop in elevation of 525 meters.   Here are some pictures.

Starting out, the concrete trail parallels a river.  Nice.

The top.  Sometimes this place is absolutely packed.

There are great views of downtown Tokyo and of Mt. Fuji from here.

If you live in Tokyo and have not visited Takao yet, shame on you.

Fuji is pretty from here on a clear day.

Those mountains in the foreground are the Tanzawa Range in Kanagawa Prefecture.  There're some wonderful trails there.  Beware of leeches during summer, though!  The mountain in the middle of the picture, the biggest one in the area, is named Hirugatake.  Hirugatake literally means leech mountain.

I deposited my scooter behind that visitor's center under the highway during my run.  Don't tell anyone.  They were closed.  The small building on the right is a public restroom.

Drop by the cave again sometime!

Caveman out.