Lake Chikato to Mt. Hachibuse via Maehachibuse, Maefutatsu and Yokogawa. Nagano spring hiking at its finest.

  

S'up?

Hello, peeps.  I made a trek out to Mt. Hachibuse and its environs the other day.  This enabled me to knock out a few trails and peaks in the area I hadn't been to yet.  It was a beautiful day for a long hike.  It was a long hike.  It was about 19 miles.

. . . about Mt. Hachibuse and the area

Very cool.  Go there.  Soon.  Hurry up.

Area:

Matsumoto and Okaya in Nagano

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. Hachibuse.

Starting and stopping point: 

Mt. Chikato Park Parking Lot

Peaks bagged: Chikato (千鹿頭) ~ Koutakuji (広澤寺山) ~ Takatoo (高遠山) ~ Miyairi (宮入山) ~ Maehachibuse (前鉢伏山) ~ Maefutatsu (前二ツ山) ~ Yokogawa (横川山) ~ Hachibuse (鉢伏山)

(First-time) peaks # 1,098~1,100

Getting there/getting around:  

There is limited free parking at the Chikato Pond.  Please note that you should park head first.  Also, about half the parking spaces are public and half are designated as private property.   Don't park in front of the green signs that say 私有地につき無断駐車禁止.

Helpful Info

Weather Information: 

Hachibuse weather in Japanese

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time:  13:42    Distance: 28.8

The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 9:28  Break time:  :31 Distance: 30.3   km

Elevation:  Lowest: 604 m Highest: 1,929 m Total Ascent: 2,023 m Total Descent: 2,023 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

There are only two or three steep spots with ropes.  The main difficulty is just the distance.  Even though there is a great change in elevation, it's not that noticeable because the distance mitigates the steepness a bit.  Much of the trail, actually, is on forestry roads (林道), too.

Facilities:  

The Hachibuse Sanso has a parking lot, pay toilets and food and lodging.  It opens from mid-May until early November.  

There are picnic benches at the top of Hachibuse.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

These are really a lovely collection of mountains.

(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:

sunscreen

Let's look at some pictures:

I crossed a milestone on this hike.

Chikato Lake

The trailhead

From the viewpoint above the Chikato Shrine

Matsumoto City below with the Northern Alps in the distance

 Much of the trail is just plain pleasant.

Mitsumine to the left.

Tateshina to the direct front.

This is looking back from Mt. Mitsumine

At 1,929 m, Mt. Hachibuse was the highest point of the day.

I still had another four hours or so of hiking to get back to my car from there.

This was taken in August of 2024

This is from the same spot in December, 2025

Back to civilization.

I love these few weeks in spring when the rice fields have been flooded but the sprouts haven't come up yet to disturb the reflections.

Are you interested in this area?

Check out

Chausu and Mitsumine

Takabocchi and Hachibuse in snow

Wada Pass, Wada Mountain, South and North Peaks, Mt. Mitsumine, Mt. Futatsu, Mt. Yokokawa and Mt. Maefutatsu

Well, you made it this far.  Have you subscribed to the blog yet?

How about buying me a cup of coffee?

Actually, if you click the "Buy me a Coffee" button and duke me some duckets, I probably won't buy a coffee.  I'll buy some socks!  I went to a sento (cheap, public bath) on the way home yesterday and it seems I left *one* of my socks there.

I really like that pair of socks.

Sigh

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Caveman out