Greetings cavedwellers.
This is a report on Mt. Senjogatake (仙丈ヶ岳), the Queen of the Minami Alps.
Senjogatake (仙丈ヶ岳)
. . . is a mountain in the northern Minami Alps. It is one of Japan's Famous 100 Mountains and is also on the list of Japan's Famous 100 Flower Mountains. The actual reason it was named Senjo, which means measure, was lost in the memory dustbin of history quicker than I can say "Where'd I put my stupid car keys?" Because of it's gentle curves, it's colloquially known as the Queen of the Minami Alps. This is in contrast to its pointier and, dare we say more masculinely shaped neighbor, Mt. Kaikomagatake. That one is known as the Prince of the Minami Alps. (Who made up these nicknames, anyway? Sigmund Freud?)
Since it's not particularly dangerous, Senjogadake is seen as an entry-level kind of mountain for those first venturing into mountains over 3,000 meters high.
Area:
Northern section of The Minami (Southern) Alps. Ina City, Nagano and Hokuto City and Minami Alps City, Yamanashi
Location:
Map: ***The Caveman is giving up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps. They go out of date after a year or so and the links die. If you want a link to their latest map, comment and I'll get you a link to their latest map of the area.
Starting and stopping point: Kitazawa Pass Bus Stop 北沢峠バス停
Peaks bagged: Kosenjogatake (小仙丈ヶ岳) ~ Senjogatake (仙丈ヶ岳) ~ Daisenjogatake (大仙丈ヶ岳) ~ Uma no Se (馬の背)
(First-time) peaks # 942~945
100 Famous Mountains: #39 Senjogatake (仙丈ヶ岳)
Getting there/getting around:
The first thing you need to do is get to Todaipark (戸台パーク) so that you can get the bus to Kitazawa Pass. (¥1,370 one way, ¥2,740 roundtrip). There is ample parking there. It costs ¥1,000
You can get to Todaipark by bus. Here is a link to Ina City's page with JR info and Japan Rail's (JREAST) page with their info. I am glad I could drive. Trying to puzzle through those timetables makes my head hurt. If you plan on using public transportation and need help figuring out the train/bus situation, leave a comment.
Helpful Info
Weather Information:
Time and distance
Total Time: 6:52 Break time: :34 Distance: 12 km
Elevation: Lowest: 2,036 m Highest: 3,033 m Total Ascent: 1,306 m Total Descent: 1,306 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
A day after completing this hike, my ankles 🦶 are still wobbly and I don't really want to do too much walking today because I have kind of a stiff gait. I walk kind of like this guy. 🧟♂️
I think that most people going to Senjogatake from the Kitazawa Pass don't go as far as I did. I wanted to bag two more peaks so added about another half of the distance of the usual hike's distance. What I did yesterday in distance and elevation change is roughly equivalent to climbing Mt. Fuji from the Gotenba side. No wonder my ankles are stiff.
There are a few spots with chains on this hike, but not too much. It's pretty high, so some of the hike is above the treeline. The wind can blow. The only spot that got my adrenaline going a little was on a narrow ridge of boulders between Senjogatake and Daisenjogatake. I really wouldn't want to slip there.
The usual route from Kitazawa Pass to Senjogatake and back is 8.4 km and is a change in elevation of about 1,000 meters. THE LAST RETURNING BUS IS AT 4 PM. DON'T MISS IT.
Facilities:
The Senryuso adjacent to the Todai Park Bus Stop has an onsen (¥800), restaurant and lodging. Parking costs ¥1,000. You pay on the way out. They have pin badges and t-shirts. I bought a t-shirt there last time I passed through there. It has a map of Japan with the 100 Famous Mountains and their locations listed on it. I have been surprised by how many people have commented and complimented me on that t-shirt every time I've worn it.
Komorebisanso is a lodge at the Kitazawa Bus Stop. No campsites. This would be a logical place to stay if you wanted to climb Kaikomagatake on one day and Senjogatake on another.
Kitazawa Bus Stop has a pay toilet.
There are pay toilets at the various mountain huts on the trail. There is also a booth for portable toilet usage on the trail at the Yabusawa Hut (藪沢小屋).
There is water at the Uma no Se Hut (馬の背ヒュッテ) and the Yabusawa River is potable.
There is another lodge 10 minutes from the Kitazawa Pass. It has tent sites and water.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
Do it. This is a great mountain. If I had thought of it before, I would have made this into an overnight trip. I think I would pitch a tent at the Choeigoya (link above) and hike Senjogatake and Kaikomagatake in successive days. Both hikes are about the same distance and difficulty and the Choeigoya is right in the middle. I live not too far away and could do both mountains on separate day trips but being tied to the bus times was a hassle. Between the two trips, I spent at least 3 hours waiting for buses. (And the buses are sometimes late! I have never experienced a late bus in Japan.)
I couldn't sleep the night before and left early. I got it in my head that the first bus was 5 so I got there at 4:30. I was wrong. The first bus is 5:30. Tickets don't even go on sale until 5. I was hanging out by myself.
Then, after I got my ticket, I went to the bench at the bus stop to line up and found that people had already left bottles of water on the bench to mark their place in line!
Then, just about 5:15 when there was a large crowd already lined up, someone from the bus company came out and said the bus would depart late!
This was the closest I got to a blue sky all day. That blue patch is about 20 miles away.
It rained, sometimes quite heavily off and on all day.
Kaikomagatake is one that I climbed about 2 weeks ago. That is a beautiful mountain.
I was surprised to see any fall foliage at all. It's been warm this fall.
The first peak of the day, Kosenjodake.
Linger on this picture a minute. It'll move.
Japan has so many beautiful flowers.
Daisenjodake.
3rd peak of the day.
Senjo Hut
The Senjo Hut has a viewing deck. Unfortunately, visibility was bad.😢
These trees are directly below the deck.
This is a ptarmigan, raicho (雷鳥) in Japanese. The x in ptarmigan is silent. The characters for raicho directly translate to "thunder" "bird". I wish it was thunderbird in English. That sounds way cooler than ptarmigan and is a lot easier to spell. I came across a family of four of them near the Senjo Hut.
After the birds, I made a slight detour to try and bag one more peak, Mt. Uma no Se, ("Horse's" "Back"). I encountered a lot more leafy trees in this area than usual. Even though the maple trees aren't changing yet, some other leaves have turned. There are a lot of gnarly looking birch trees in the area that are cool, too.
I tried pushing my way through the pine searching for a trail for a while. ('Dwarf' Pine my ass. It was over my head.)
Then I saw a pink ribbon! Those are used to mark trails. Hooray! I fought my way over to it only to find it was a cruel joke. There ain't no stinking path anywhere. Who put that ribbon there, and why? I'll never know.
I don't know if there is any other marker up there or not . . .
It'll be our secret. 😉
This is the closest the sun came to making an appearance today.
It was like this for approximately 10 seconds.
The Uma no Se Hutte (Hut) (Link at the beginning of this post.)
Inside
The next sight to see was a stream and several falls.
Next stop was the Komorebisanso by the Kitazawa Bus Stop to wait for the bus home.
I blew it on the time. There is a bus at 1:10 and the next one isn't til 3. I got to the bus stop at 1:30. D'oh!
Interestingly enough, although cell service was fine on the mountain, there is no signal around the pass. You can use the wifi in the Komorebisanso but it was like ¥600. Yikes.
Despite the price of the wifi, the Komorebisanso is a nice, clean place.
One thing I appreciated is that they have some running water and brushes they let you use to wash your gear off.
My personal graphic designer/retail magnate (AKA Mrs Caveman) appreciated this display.
Well cavedwellers, that's all.
I have had a hard time concentrating on making this blogpost. Mrs. Caveman
and I have plans to go camping in a few days and I have a few more hikes I've
been scheming and daydreaming about these days. I feel like a kid in a candy store.
If you haven't subscribed to the blog, what are you waiting for? If you're really happy, try out the buy me a coffee button. I could use a new pair of boots. (That's a standing headline if ever there was such a thing as a standing headline.)
If you really haven't had enough of this mountain, look at this:
The hike to the adjacent 100 Famous Mountain Prince of the Alps, Kaikoma is worth checking out.
That's all.
Caveman out
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