Mostly Japanese Mountains: Caveman is denied a sunset. Mt. Hachibuse in Okaya, Nagano.

Hello cave cats and cave chicks.

This is a report on a short hike in the late afternoon in Okaya and Matsumoto, Nagano.

It wasn't a long hike and not the clearest day so this post will be short.

Area:

Location:

Between Okaya and Matsumoto in Nagano.

Map: ***The Caveman is giving up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps. They're great but since they update almost all their maps annually, I find it hard to post usable links. If you want a link to one of those maps, comment and I'll get you a current link. If you want to search on your own, their maps are available on Rakuten and Amazon.

Printable online topo map (Japanese. It has trails.)

Printable online topo map in English (The same site in English but it doesn't show the trails.)

Starting and stopping point:

Hachibuse Sansou

Peaks bagged:

Maehachibuse (前鉢伏山) Hachibuse (鉢伏山) Maefutatsu (前二ツ山)

(First-time) peaks # 924~926

Getting there/getting around:

Car. There is only one access road and it ends at the Hachibuse Sanso.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Mt. Hachibuse Weather in Japanese

Time and distance

Total Time: 1:30 Break time: :00 Distance: 6.7km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,782 Highest: 1,928 Total Ascent: 325m Total Descent: 325m

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Very gentle walk. A little too rocky for running much but no ropes, chains or ladders. There are a lot of critters.

Facilities:

¥200 pay toilet at the sanso. Parking is ¥500. Trail fee is ¥300. Overnighting at the sanso w/2 meals is ¥10,500. 1 night without any meals, ¥6,000.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

I really wish it was clear. Maybe another time. I only made this hike because I had a business appointment in the area and wanted to take advantage of that fact with the few hours of sunlight I had available. My plan was to get to the highest point in the area to catch the sunset. Time-wise, it was very feasible. The weather just didn't cooperate. If I have training at the same place, I'll cross my fingers for good weather and do this hike again.

I started at the parking lot at the Hachibuse Sansou (Lodge)

The trail is like this most of the way. Easy to walk on. Hard to get lost.

It only took me ten minutes to get to the first peak.

Utsukushigahara is a beautiful place.

My initial plan was to hike Maehachibuse and then see the sunset from Hachibuse. Since I was being robbed of the sunset and I was making good time, I decided to go on to Mt. Maefutatsu before going home.