A view from Mt. Kuju
. . . about Mt. Kuju (久住山or九重山)
Mt. Kuju is in the Aso-Kuju National Park in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. This is a volcanic region and has great views. The Nakadake peak next to Mt. Kuju is the highest point on the island.
Area:
Location:
Map: This link is to a printable topo map
Starting and stopping point:
Akagawa Trailhead 赤川登山口 near the Akagawa Onsen
Peaks bagged:
Kuju (久住山or九重山) ~ Tengugajo (天狗ヶ城) ~ Nakadake (中岳) ~ Inaboshi (稲星山)
(First-time) peaks # 1,007~1010
Getting there/getting around:
Drive. There is free parking. No public transportation to this trailhead.
Helpful Info
Weather Information: Mt. Nakadake of the Kuju Range
Time and distance
Total Time: 5:07 Break time: :29 Distance: 8.9 km
Elevation: Lowest: 1,029 m Highest: 1,791 m Total Ascent: 1,052 m Total Descent: 1,050 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Much of this is fairly steep and there are ropes you need to use to get up. On the descent, there was a long section of black, slippery mud. This section has ropes that you really need to use lest you slip. I counted myself as very lucky that I didn't slip there because it would have been impossible to wash that mud out.
Facilities:
Toilet at the parking lot. There is an onsen near the parking lot but that has a lot of days off. There is nothing on this trail. There is an emergency hut or two in the area. There is one waterhole annotated on the Yama to Kogen map but there was only a trickle of water when I was there (March). Someone noted that it was dry when they were there in August.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
As always, this was a great hike. Kyushu is far from my area and I'll probably not be there again but I'm glad I went.
Here's a video if you're into that
The Cavecar drove from Nagano to this trailhead via Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Four days after beginning this trek, upon finally reaching the beginning of the first hike, the car died in the parking lot at the trailhead. I called JAF (Japanese Auto Federation) and the wrecker driver came out.
As often happens, when the mechanic arrived, the mechanical problem disappeared and my car started right up!
I thought the prudent thing would be to give up on the hike and drive to a car dealer and to get it checked out more thoroughly during the day rather than risk it breaking down later in the day.
That would have been prudent. But I have never met Prudence so I decided to hike first and worry about whether I could make it home later.🤓👍😜
Thankfully, the car was ok after this incident.
Lots of volcanoes down here. You always have to beware of the alert levels.
Not too cold.
2.5 km later after hiking for an hour, I reached the top
御池 "O eekay"--"Honorable Pond"
Looking toward Mt. Aso
This was nerve-racking.
The Akagawa Onsen
(was closed on that day).
The sign says it's potable so I filled a water bottle. I thought this was really cool.
Well . . . you can drink the water but I wouldn't recommend it. Wow. That was gross.
If you've been around volcanoes or hotsprings, you have an idea of the smell. The taste is similar to the smell.
Not only did it taste bad, there is aftertaste. Every time I burped, I tasted it again.
Even the next day--after refilling the bottle with different water--the taste lingered in my water bottle.
The view of the river by the onsen
Well, I guess that is it for the Caveman today.
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Also, this is a shameless plea. I would like to ask for your financial support. There is a paypal link somewhere. (Buy me a coffee.) Use it. Share it with your friends. The Caveman could probably use a new car and always needs boots and socks.
Do you like volcanoes? Check out this one in the Caveman's backyard
https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2024/10/viewing-pearl-asama-moon-very-cool.html
If you want to see more of Kyushu, check out this hike on Mt. Sobo.
