I walked out the door Sunday morning with the idea of going for a trail run on a nearby hill. As often happens, as soon as I walked out the door I got other ideas. It was just so beautiful outside that I wanted to do something a bit more substantive. Looking up at Mt. Asama and its fresh covering of snow gave me the idea to run on its diminutive neighbor, Koasama. (Koasama means "Small Asama.")
It was great. I've already blogged about this run and don't want to repeat myself. If you want details, check out the old post.
Greetings cave kids and critters. It's one in the afternoon and my eyes are drooping as if it were one in the morning. I forewent some sleep last night in order to get up and go to see the diamond effect of the sun rising behind our local volcano, Mt. Asama.
As is often the case, before embarking on one of these adventures, I was wondering if it was a good idea. The weather forecast wasn't perfect. It was super hot last night and I couldn't sleep.
As is also often the case after one of these adventures, I AM SO GLAD I DID IT! The weather was perfect! We caught the diamond effect really nicely. We had great views of Mt. Fuji, Yatsugatake, the Northern Alps, Mt. Azuma, etc. The temperature was comfortable. What a great morning hike this turned out to be.
Let me give you the stats and then show you some pictures.
Free parking behind the visitor's center. There is a JR bus to the Takamine Hotel bus stop in front of the trailhead. It's 45 minutes to there from Komoro Station or 55 minutes from Sakudaira.
Lowest: 1,970 m Highest: 2,404 m Total Ascent: 768 m Total Descent: 768 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
A bit steep at times but there are no chains or ladders, just a few ropes for guidance. The ridgeline from Yarisaya and Nokogiri is not a place I would want to fall.
Facilities:
The visitor's center is well-appointed. The Takamine Hotel has a commanding view of the plains below. There is an emergency hut near Mt. Kurumazaka in case the volcano erupts.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
What a great area this is. My recommendation? Go and hike there!
I found out about the diamond effect on Mt. Asama by coming across a flyer for a tour a few months ago. Armed with the date, time and location for viewing this sunrise, I took my friend Michael to see it on our own. In order to not get mixed in with the crowd, we started hiking earlier than the tour group. We got to the viewing point much earlier than they did. It was worth the wait, though. It was a great hike!
We got to the viewing spot at about 4. Sunrise was 5:12.
Mt. Azumaya, one of the 100 Famous Mountains. I got rained on a lot there earlier this month.
Near here, it started to smell like sulfur. We encountered a sign warning that we were about 2 km from the volcano and that we shouldn't stick around long.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,404m Highest: 1,655m Total Ascent: 258 Total Descent: 258
Technical considerations/difficulty: Loose gravel/sand. Nothing steep. Very runnable.
Facilities: Public restroom across the street from the trailhead. Emergency shelter (in case of eruption) at the trailhead.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: Today I bagged my 777th peak on a quick run after school. Mt. Koasama ("Little Asama") is a bump on the eastern side of Mt. Asama--the volcano. It's about 800 meters lower than Asama. I do wish there were fewer clouds. The view of the top must be cool.
Today's listening: Just my own huffing and puffing
S'up, cavedwellers? I'm not going to write much. There is no reason to spend more time blogging than I did running!
Hope you're all having a great summer!
This is at the trailhead. The building is Tokyo University's volcano monitoring station.
This is a campground in Tsumagoi.
The west peak
Explanations of the restrictions and the danger. Level 1 means un-restricted access to Mt. Asama. Now it is Level 2. You can't go closer than a few km from the crater.
The box to the left of the sign is to deposit hiking plans. (I do mine online. Ask me if you want to know how. I never go into the woods without telling someone my plans.)
Peaks bagged: Kurumazaka Yarigasaya Tominokashira Kurofu
Getting there/getting around: There is a large parking lot behind the visitor's center. There is also bus service to Komoro, Sakudaira, and even Shinjuku. JRBusKanto runs a bus from the Shinjuku Bus Terminal. It takes 4 hours and costs ¥3,400. I think there is one departing Shinjuku around 10:30 and a return bus at 16:20.
Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu 19浅間山軽井沢・長野原の山々ASAMA-YAMA KARUIZAWA-NAGANOHARA-MOUNTAINS
Elevation:Lowest: 1,966m Highest: 2,404m Total Ascent: 493 Total Descent: 493
Technical considerations/difficulty: This is a fairly straightforward hike. It's not very long. The trailhead is at a mountain pass so you're already as high up as a car can take you. Most of the hike is below the treeline but when you pop out onto the peaks on the edge of the valley facing Mt. Asama it is a bit dizzying. There are no chains or ladders, but you do need to scramble over some boulders. I really wouldn't want to slip off of one of those rocks. Alltrails calls this hike "hard". YAMAP gives it 3 out of 5 for "strength". I don't know if I'd call it hard...Perhaps if you only put on your hiking boots once in a while.
At the visitor's center, there are the ubiquitous warnings about bears. I'm starting to pay a little more attention to them because there do seem to be more bear encounters in this corner or Nagano and Gunma than I'm accustomed to in other areas. That said, I am still not getting a bear bell. Wow, I find them obnoxious.
Facilities: The visitor's center is remarkably clean and large. There's a snack bar, rental helmets, poles, gaiters, brochures, some items of clothing for sale, vending machines, and restrooms. It's a happening place. Next to that is the Takamine Kogen Hotel which has a commanding view of the valley below and Yatsugatake beyond. Behind the hotel, there are more restrooms open 24 hours a day. There is no water on the trail. There is a very rudimentary emergency shelter on the trail. It's basically just a big tube open on both ends. I assume this is purposed more for protection from eruption than for anything else.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This hike was a bit of daytime reconnaissance for doing the same trail in the dark later this summer. When I was doing some trail research the other day, I came across an ad for a tour to see "Diamond Asama" at sunrise: Diamond Asama tour . That sounds like fun! I learned about the diamond effect from Mt. Fuji. As the sun sets or rises directly behind the mountain, rays of light get super bright. Now, I think it's nice that these people are giving a tour to see the effect--but they are charging money. One of the things the caveman dislikes--almost as much as he dislikes pretentious jerks who refer to themselves in the third person--is spending money. Armed with the date and place when the diamond effect is likely to occur, I decided to check out the trail in daylight ahead of time. It was a great excuse to go for a short hike after work on a Thursday afternoon!
Thankfully, there was another brief window of nice weather in this rainy season so that I could do it! We have had a few days of real torrential downpours recently so yesterday's clear weather was just the bees knees. It was almost as good as sliced bread.
And, hiking at that time of day, on a weekday no less, meant that I had the trail and peaks all to myself.
I saw this guy on my way up the road to the trailhead. I call him Fred. Fred the animal.
Inside the visitor's center
Looking down toward Komoro and Saku cities.
Much of the trail is like this. At spots, there are rhododendrons, too.
The Shelter. This is not your usual mountain shelter. I assume it's to shelter during an eruption. I've seen similar ones on the other side of Mt. Asama, too.
That is Mt. Asama. The air quality level is still such that we can't go near the crater. I can't wait until we can.
I live down there. Can't you see my house?
Heading back down
The hotel is on the left side.
The Bus Stop
Looking west
That's all for today. Thanks for dropping by my cave. Come back again. Subscribe if you feel like it. Leave a comment if you are of a mind to.
