Mostly Japanese Mountains: Culture Day on Mt. Arafune, one of Gunma's Famous 100 Mountains. Great Fall Foliage. 紅葉狩り

S'up?

. . . about Mt. Arafune (荒船山)

This is a way-cool mountain on the border of Nagano and Gunma Prefectures. It's deservedly listed as one of Japan's 200 Famous Mountains.

Area:

Like I said, it's on the border of Gunma and Nagano. From the Tomo Iwa--the large cliff at the north end, you can see the Northern Alps, Asama, Saitama, etc.

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 of this area.

Starting and stopping point:

Uchiyama Pass Arafune Trailhead Parking Lot

Beward of Bears

Bear Information kumamap **See notes on a picture later in this blogpost.

Peaks bagged: Arafune (荒船山)

(First-time) peaks # ---

Getting there/getting around:

Bicycle on this particular day. There is free parking at the trailhead. Usually, it's not anywhere near full. The parking lot was full this particular day, but people were able to park along the street.

The nearest train stations are Nakagomi, in Saku, or Shimonita in Gunma. I guess you could take a taxi from there.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Arafune Weather

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time: 5:22 Distance: 9

The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 2:52 Break time: :04 Distance: 8.9 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,064 m Highest: 1,422 m Total Ascent: 675 m Total Descent: 675 m

The hike stats:

The bicycle stats:

I started out at an elevation of about 675 meters. The highest point I rode to is about 1,100 meters. Coming home is considerably faster than riding up there!

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Facilities:

There are a lot of ropes and chains. Some parts are on top of a narrow ridge that slopes away quite steeply on both sides. That said, there is nothing too spicy and none of the hike is above the tree line.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

Since this is my 3rd or 4th post, I'm not going to write too much. It should be obvious by now that I like this mountain.

Let's look at some pictures:

I've never seen more than one or two cars in the parking lot. They really came out for leaf-peeping on this national holiday.

I had no problem finding a parking space for my vehicle. Phew.

That's Tomo Iwa from the trail

Hasamiiwashugendojoato (鋏岩修験道場跡)

This rock is the remains of a training spot for mountain ascetism.

That pointy thing is the peak of Arafune

Remember I said I'd get back to bears?

These claw marks appear new. They may or may not be. I know from experience that these claw marks can still look new years after they were made.

That said, I do know there are bears in this area and that Kumamap doesn't record any incidents near here. I have a friend who works nearby at the Arafune Panorama Campground and every week I see him and he tells me of another sighting. (That campground is to the northwest of this spot.) I have also met locals people in the neighborhood to the south when mountain biking and they've told me there are bears in the area.

I don't live in fear of bears, but it is worth trying to beware.

FWIW, I took this picture when I was a bit off of the trail.

There is a long, level trail between Tomo Iwa and the peak of Arafune. This area has lots and lots of deer. Keep your camera handy when you walk through here.

I only saw two deer this particular day because there were so many hikers and the deer were hiding a bit.