Total Time: 1:13 Break time: 3 Distance: 6.8km (4.25m)
Elevation:Lowest: 1,113m Highest: 1,373m Total Ascent: 373m Total Descent: 373m
Technical considerations/difficulty: A lot of this is runnable.
Facilities: My run brought me past a campground twice. I suppose there maybe water there. There is a public restroom. I'm not sure if they close in the winter. I just checked and they are taking reservations until December 31. I'm not sure if they close then or if they just aren't taking reservations that far out. Arafune Panorama Campfield
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This was a great run. It enabled me to connect the dots of my footprints a bit. Even though it was just a short time, running at the golden hour under clear skies gave me better views than I've had on several long excursions lately.
I won't write too much. I've already spent more time on this blog post than I spent in the woods!
Like I said, much of this is runnable.
One of the many great views of Mt. Arafune.
There is a pasture full of cows. I wondered how they kept the cows safe from bears. I did notice that the pasture is surrounded with barbed wire.
Coming down off Monomi, I ran on pavement for a while. Deer love these type of roads, especially at this time of day.
Mrs. Caveman and I first came to this area to look at the field of cosmos a few weeks ago. They're all gone now.
I love this sign! It is actually oriented to what it overlooks.
One of my pet peeves is that signs like this in Japan are often not oriented to the direction they are pointing. You have to twist your head around and try to do geometry in your imagination to reconcile the map with what you are seeing on the ground.
Well done Saku City for this sign!
This song is played in this town over loudspeakers at 5:00 pm every day. I think every town in Japan plays something near the end of the day to signify the time. It's not at 5 everywhere and some municipalities play different songs.
This song is called Yuyake Koyake 夕焼け小焼け. Yuyake expresses the idea of the last bright sunlight before the sun goes down and koyake is the light that remains just after sunset. It's quite nostalgic for me. The first town I lived in in Japan played this song at the end of the day. Doing some research for this blog post revealed that the lyricist was from Hachioji. Not only that, but I also realized that a place I hiked through before (on a long hike from Musashi Itsukaichi to Takao, 26 km) was named Yuyake Koyake Fureai no Sato in his honor because it's near his birthplace.
I really love this song and it was poignant to hear this here at this time of day.
Well, that's enough for now.
If you liked this place at sunset, check it out at sunrise here
Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cave visitors of all ages.
How'd you like my clickbait title? It's hard to become an influencer. In my last few posts, I mentioned skinnydipping and you wouldn't believe how many views I got. I'm not sure how I feel about the type of new readers I'm getting, though.
Unlike many internet entities; I'm not lying with my titles. Maybe gilding the lily a bit, but I'm not lying. Keep reading and you'll see what I mean.
Honest. You can trust me. I'm not like the others.
Anyway . . .
I went for a bit of a hike on the Yatsugatake Range yesterday. It wasn't a picture-perfect day, but it was still a great experience.
Getting there/getting around: I drove. There are buses to the trailhead I used. They run between the Nitago Onsen and Koumi Station 4 times a day starting in April 22. I guess they run until the snow makes the road impassible.
Total Time: 7:08 Break time: :36 Distance: 16.5 km (just over 10 miles)
Elevation:Lowest: 1,571 m Highest: 26,46 m Total Ascent: 1,386 m Total Descent: 1,386 m
Technical considerations/difficulty: Much of this is above the treeline. There are not a lot of spots with chains or ropes but a lot of this hike is steep and there are a lot of boulders to negotiate. I think the only places where getting lost would be a possibility would be at trail intersections. Most of them are well-marked, though. If you pay attention, you should be fine.
Facilities: There are lots of onsens, huts and waterholes. There are several campgrounds.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This is, I'm sure, a great collection of mountains, but I really don't know just what they look like. It was not clear enough long enough over a wide enough area for me to have gotten a good look! The one peek I got of the peak of Tengudake from below was really cool. This is another on a long list of mountains I have to go back to.
I was surprised at the number of onsens and campgrounds in the area. I also was surprised by the number of people I saw. It didn't ever seem crowded, but there were a surprising number of hikers up there.
"The only possible excuse for this book is that it is an answer to a challenge. Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel." Orthodoxy
I have listened to or read Orthodoxy, and a few other Chesterton classics, several times. I find more and more gems each time. He's not immediately accessible. I find that the first 90% of a chapter is usually bewildering and takes a lot of concentration. The last 10% or so when he pulls everything together makes the hard work worthwhile! And, along the way, some of the quotes are just so clever and, well, quotable.
OK.....let's look at some pictures
The Shirabiso Hut next to Midori Ike. There are camping sites here as well as some food, etc.
Midori Ike (Green Pond)
Looking up toward my invisible destination, Mt. Tengu.
Looking up from Midori Ike in another direction toward Mt. Inago.
Back on the trail
Mt. Tengu's eastern peak
Looking back at the eastern peak from the western peak.
People were standing and waiting with their cameras for a long time hoping for breaks in the clouds.
This is the first fall foliage I've seen this year. It's at an elevation of about 2,500 meters. It's still all green down below.
The buildings are the Neishi Hut and that is Mt. Io behind them in the cloud.
"Io" means "sulfur". It is the same word as is "Iwo Jima" ("Sulfur Island") Sure enough, it smelled like sulfur around here.
That is a woman taking a bath in Japan's highest outdoor bath. I'm glad she was clothed! Even so, I wish she wasn't there. I really felt creepy taking a picture with a scantily-clad maiden (actually, more like a grandmother) in it--even from a distance. I couldn't not get a picture of this pool, though. That is cool.
The path to the outdoor bath . . .
This is the marker proudly pronouncing Japan's highest outdoor bath. I felt really awkward whipping out my iphone to take a picture here. The woman in the bath was the only person around. I made some small talk with her when I took this picture and tried to make it obvious I was more interested in the sign than in her. Haha. She didn't seem to mind me being there.
Mt. Io
This is the Honsawa Onsen. This is the business that owns the outdoor bath. (1,000 yen, by the way.) They have some indoor baths, too. There is also some lodging and several tent sites there. I saw quite a few people there and they all seemed to be having a great time.
Walking through the Honsawa Onsen
Before heading back to the car, I passed by the Midori Ike again. Thankfully, the clouds had cleared and I finally got a picture of Mt. Tengu.
Well, cave dwellers, that's all for now. Come again.
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