The borderline of Kofu and Fuefuki Cities, Yamanashi.
Location:
Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map centered on Mt. Daizokyojitera.
YAMAP's Estimate Time: 7:36 Distance: 13 km* (YAMAP can't include the part I walked on the street.)
The Caveman did it in Total Time: 5:57 Break time: :31 Distance: 17 km
Elevation:Lowest: 262 m Highest: 989 m Total Ascent: 1,273 m Total Descent: 1,273 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
This is a fairly easy area to walk in. It's steep in sections, but there are no ropes, chains, ladders, boulders or anything above the treeline. The only concern is to not get lost because some areas, particularly the trail I descended, aren't marked well. Even so, these mountains are right next to a sprawling plain and it would be possible to get back to civilization fairly easily even if you lost the trail.
Facilities:
Nothing
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
This is a collection of rather minor peaks. It's the type of area that, I assume, the locals would go to for a quick hike. For me, I would not have gone out of my way to go there if not for concerns about bad weather elsewhere on this particular day.
Although these aren't the highest mountains, they did offer some nice views of Mt. Fuji. Personally, I enjoyed dropping by the area because I hiked an awful lot in and around Fuefuki when I was living in Tokyo. It was a bit nostalgic to be near mountains such as Kentoku and Daibosatsurei. Also, this area offers views of the ridgeline north of Lake Kawaguchi which includes peaks like Mitsutoge and Kurodake. I have many fond memories of hiking all those mountains.
(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:
What's up cave critters? I had the chance the other day to connect the dots of my footprints with some past hikes. One day in August of last year, I hiked to Mt. Hachibuse and Maefutatsu from Okaya. Last winter, I hiked from the Yashimagahara Wetlands over Mt. Washigamine as far as the Wada Pass. On this hike, I took the chance to hike the space in between. It was a great chance to see the area in a different season. Actually, when I did the hike to Hachibuse, it was cloudy and rainy so I didn't see anything then. When I hiked Washigamine, it was a winter wonderland. Wow, it was beautiful. It wasn't exactly a perfect day weatherwise for this hike, but it didn't rain and I did get some long views, although no truly complete panoramic views. There are links to those blogposts at the end of this post.
Area: Shimosuwa, Nagawa, Okaya
This hike ranges through several different municipalities. It starts just northwest of Mt. Washigamine and the Yashimagahara Wetlands and proceeds northwest to Mt. Mitsumine before turning west to Mt. Futatsu.
Peaks bagged: Mt. Wada, South Peak (和田山南峰) ~ Mt. Wada, North Peak (和田山北峰) ~ Mt. Mitsumine (三峰) ~ Mt. Futatsu (二ツ山) ~ Mt. Yokokawa (横川山) ~ Mt. Mae Futatsu (前二ツ山)
(First-time) peaks # 1,052 ~ 1,057
Getting there/getting around:Car. I don't think there's public transportation anywhere around here. Note that the Venus Line is closed from November to April.
The Caveman did it in Total Time: 7:23 Break time: :17 Distance: 21.1 km
Elevation:Lowest: 1,512 m Highest: 1,888 m Total Ascent: 1,648 m Total Descent: 1,648 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
This is a really straightforward hike. There are no ropes, chains or ladders to contend with. It is fairly exposed, so a windy day could get cold.
Facilities:
Nothing on the trail. About 20 minutes down the hill from Mt. Mitsumine is The Mitsumine Chaya (Teahouse) There is a pay toilet there and a fun restaurant which also sells mountain vegetables. I dropped in there once on a road trip and my guests and I all thought it was a nice place. They must close in winter because the road closes.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
These are just some really lovely mountains. They are far enough from the Kirigamine, etc. that there are no crowds, but they still have much of the same charm of that area and have similar great views.
(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:
There are a lot of bear sightings these days. I did see some scratches on a few trees and some scat (poop.) Bring some bear spray and make noise, especially in the morning or early evening.
Let's look at some pictures.
The Nakasendo was one of 5 main highways in the Edo Period (1603-1868). This trail follows it.
Much of the Nakasendo is now paved road and there are many historical buildings and businesses on it. One of Japan's oldest hotels, the Saku Hotel, is in my town. It opened in the 1400s and has hosted many notable people from history, including Hokusai.
*Three* signs.
The top of Mt. Mitsumine. (Mt. Three Peak)
The highest point of the day.
Nagano has nice fall foliage.
(We're already seeing snow when we look up at higher elevations.)
Didn't I just see three warning signs?
Trouble comes in threes.
Yay! The sun came out.
Fuji was a nice surprise. I didn't think it would clear up enough.
Lake Suwa was much of the artistic inspiration for the anime, "Your Name", (君の名は).
I love the contours.
Mt. Arafune is 45 km (about 28 mi.) from this point.
Bambi and his friends showed up a lot.
If you are interested in this area, check out one of the adjacent hikes.
This mountain is the southernmost peak in Japan's Northern Alps (Kita Alps). It's the only active volcano in the Northern Alps. There are two peaks, north and south. The southern peak is slightly higher than the northern but is off-limits because the trail is in bad shape.
As it is not as high or remote as the rest of the Alps, Yakedake is do-able as a one-day hike. It is a beautiful hike. I think. I didn't see too much because of clouds.
Area:
The Northern Alps, AKA Hida Sanmyaku, are known as the roof of Japan and are home to several of the tallest mountains in the country. Nearby Kamikochi is kind of a Mecca for Japanese hikers.
Location:
Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map.
I drove. You can get there by public transportation, but it's a 6 or 7 hour trip from Tokyo. If you're taking public transportation, this mountain is slightly more accessible from Kamikochi. Get to Matsumoto on the shinkansen and take the bus to Kamikochi from there. Even that's a 5 or 6 hour trip, though.
The Caveman did it in Total Time: 5:36 Break time: :40 Distance: 10.6 km
Elevation:Lowest: 1,154 Highest: 2,544 m Total Ascent: 1,327 m Total Descent: 1,327 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Nothing too difficult. No chains. Only one or two spots with ropes. The final ascent is a bit of a scramble but nothing too hairy. It is a fair change in elevation so it might be challenging for a beginner, but not crazy.
There are bears in the area and the Yakedake Hut posted information on recent sightings in the immediate area.
Facilities:
Porta-potty at the parking lot. There is a mountain hut selling t-shirts and snacks. Meals are available for the guests. Yakedake Hut's website
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
Yet once again, the weather report was bad. Thankfully, the weather wasn't as bad as the forecast. It was not clear for most of the day, though. I need to look at the internet for pictures of Yakedake to know what it looks like!
(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:
Your wits and something to discourage bears. Bear spray is a good idea.
Let's look at some pictures.
Here's a short animation...
And a longer video . . .
Interesting stuff growing on a fallen tree trunk.
"White Water Falls"
The aforementioned falls
"1 km to the volcano"
At the Yakedake Hut
I have seen so many signs warning of bears in my
time here but never anything so specific or so local
to the area I was in.
The Yakedake Hut
The lady here was really nice and made
a point to ask me about my plans.
This is what it's like walking around a volcano.
At some points along this hike, the temperature went up
as I passed something like this.
The top
I'd like to find out what kind of bird this is.
Do any of you know?
Kamikochi is down there.
I was the last one here at around 2:45. I was glad to find that parking wasn't a problem.
This guy wasn't on the mountain. He was down below in the onsen area.
It is a public, co-ed outdoor bath next to the Gamada River.
The Caveman let loose his wrath a bit on an old guy at this outdoor bath. That dude is lucky I didn't have a club with me.
Mrs. Caveman is quite modest and doesn't do the public nudity thing so she's never been to an onsen. She'd like to try an onsen, but we've had to find one where everyone is clothed in order for her to do it.
In researching this area, we found this onsen that is for never-nudes like my wife.
(I suppose Tobias Funke would like it, too.)
Well, when we got to the bath, there were 5 people in it. 2 white women were in there in their bathing suits and 3 middle-aged Japanese guys were there in their birthday suits.
The sign clearly says bathing suits are mandatory (in Japanese as well as English).
Mrs. Caveman decided to give the bath a pass and walked to wait for me by the side of the river while I took a dip. After I'd gotten out and changed, I walked to retrieve my bride. Just about the same time, one of the naked guys also got out of the bath, left the rotenburo area and also started to walk to the river.
Still totally naked.
My wife, basically was hiding behind a rock in mortification at this dude that was walking toward her.
I gave him a piece of my mind. While pointing at his naughty bits I said in fairly rough Japanese, "Could you hide that thing? !?! There are signs here saying that you must be clothed!"
You can imagine he reacted as if he was Chris Rock to my Will Smith.
(That's not saying I wasn't more justified than Will Smith.)
At first, he was almost apologetic. I said a few more things to him and escorted my bride away. He started to mumble and complain behind my back as we left but I felt it best to just ignore him.
It was kind of ironic. These days Japan is really suffering from over-tourism and is stressed that a lot of the foreigners are flouting the rules of Japanese society. In this case, though, it was the foreigner telling the native to follow the rules.
More monkeys. This is an abandoned resort building. It's been taken over by the monkeys.
That's it for now.
If you want to see more of the Northern Alps, check out one of these hikes.
