Showing posts with label 紅葉. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 紅葉. Show all posts

Not too high, but a bit spicy. Mt. Kuwagara and Mt. Ogeta in Gunma.



What's up, cavecrawlers?

Another day, another mountain (or two).

Location:  Tomioka City, Gunma

Starting and stopping point:  Parking Spot

Peaks bagged: Kuwagaradake (鍬柄岳) Ogeta (大桁山)

(First-time) peaks #840 and #841

Getting there/getting around:  

I drove.  There are a few different parking areas.  Getting to the parking lot was a bit nerve-racking.  It meant driving several km on a very narrow road that is strewn with fallen leaves and branches.  The road was so narrow that I don't know what you would do if you encountered a car coming the other way.

The nearest train station is Sendaira (千平) on the Joshin Dentetsu Line which runs between Shimonita and Takasaki.

Map:  Yama to Kogen Chizu #21 西上州 妙義山・荒船山

Weather Information: Kuwagara's Weather

Total Time: 2:23  Break time: 3  Distance:  7.1km

Elevation:  Lowest:  334m Highest: 831m Total Ascent: 683m  Total Descent: 673m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  The hike to Ogeta is fairly straightforward.  There are some steep parts but no chains or ladders to speak of.  The detour up to Kuwagara on the way is another story.  That is a large boulder and has a loooong steep section with chains.  This part had the best (only, really) views but isn't for the faint of heart.  It was a bit spicy.

Facilities:  There is one public restroom by one of the parking lots I passed on the way down.  There's nothing on the trail.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  It was fun.  You should do it.  I wouldn't say it should be at the top of your bucketlist, but if you're starting to scrape the barrel for ideas you might go here.


Today's listening:  

Bible in a Year

Winston Churchill on A Short History Of


Since I had limited time for this hike, I bopped over into Gunma and hiked for just about 2.5 hours.  

I was only a few miles from Mt. Myogi but didn't get to see it clearly.  😢

Here's a map and then some pictures.




This is visible from the parking lot.

This is the access road.  The picture makes it look better than it is.




Not to far up the trail is the trail junction with a little spur off to Kuwagaradake.  From there it is only about 10 minutes to get to the top of the rock.

This is the beginning of the chains.  You need the chain all the way to the top.


I usually don't like to leave my pack anywhere because I'm paranoid of being separated from my stuff in case of emergency.  Seeing how steep the wall was, though, I decided to leave it for this short excursion.
I'm glad I did.  It would have been too unwieldly.


Looking east toward Gunma and Tochigi beyond.







The top?






Maybe that's the top?





Maybe that is the tippy-top ahead.  No thanks, though.  Mrs. Caveman is too young to be a widow.  The picture doesn't really capture it but there is nothing below to stop you if for some reason you were to fall.  If I were able to hook onto the chain or if there was someone with me I would do it but not alone.


Below the rock, back on the hiking trail.





We interrupt our regularly-scheduled programming for this important announcement.




Nearing the top of Ogeta

The top of Ogeta.  Mostly obstructed views.




That's Mt. Myogi through the trees.  I wish it was visible.  It's a cool looking collection of rocks.


There's still some fall foliage around.






No Plan Survives First Contact With the Enemy. Leaf-peeping around Mugikusa Pass~ Shirakoma~ Nyu~ Nakayama~ Maru



Welcome cave dwellers to a leaf-peeping extravaganza.  

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."  Mike Tyson

I agree with Iron Mike.  You can never count on a plan to go, well, according to plan.  

That's where contingency plans come in.

As far as the mountains are concerned, I tend to have a lot of contingency plans up my sleeve because I spend so much time daydreaming about the mountains.

I hadn't been for a long hike in a few weeks and had planned a long one for Saturday.  I planned it so as to get to the top of Yatsugatake before the snow flies.  

Then I looked at the weather forecast.  Rain.  On Sunday.  You may wonder why the forecast for Sunday was so important.  Well, Sunday is the day I was going to take Mrs. Caveman leaf-peeping.  It just wouldn't do for me to go play outside on Saturday and leave her at home knowing that she'd probably be stuck inside on Sunday.  

Plan 2.  An earlier start on Saturday for a shorter hike with an early enough return to come back and get the little woman.  (Don't be getting on my case about calling my wife the "little woman."  She's short.  Got a problem with it?  Take it up with Peter Dinklage.  Nothing wrong with being short.  [Unless you want a part as a dwarf in a Disney movie.]  "Good things come in small packages" and all that, you know.)  

Anyway, I got up early Saturday and drove to the target area only to find the last 5 miles of the road were closed.  Drat.  Foiled again.

Plan 3.  Thankfully, I had another hike of a similar length already planned.  It was just a case of punching a few buttons on my iphone and driving 10 minutes to another trailhead.

I'm writing this tongue-in-cheek, but I do offer this vignet as a service.  I love the mountains and enjoy spending time out there--but I do take it seriously.   On the fly, I was able to make a change and still do something fun and safely because I had put in the time previously to study maps and figure out the logistics for this type of situation.  If only I could apply this level of attention to work or to retirement plans . . .

Before I get going, let me apologize ahead of time if there are too many pictures.  It was one of the most photogenic days I've experienced in weeks.  It was really beautiful and I couldn't stop snapping away.  Now I find it hard not to post every single picture I took.

Location:  Northern Yatsugatake Range in Nagano

Starting and stopping point:  Mugikusa Pass

Peaks bagged: Nyu (ニュウ) ~~ Naka (中山) ~~ Takamiishi (高見石) ~~ Maru (丸山)

(First-time) peaks #832, 833, 834 and 835

Getting there/getting around:  I drove.  Parking is difficult at this time of year.  The parking lot at Shirakoma Pond is insanely crowded.  People wait overnight!  Some people parked several kilometers away from there and walked along the highway to get to a trailhead.  There is no parking on the side of the road.  You will be towed.  There is a bus from Chino Station (1 hour and 6 minutes).  There is a shuttle bus from the Yachiho Kogen Ski Area on Saturdays and holidays.  That service ends today (October 15, 2023) but the link to shuttle bus info for this year will perhaps be updated next year.  You'll have to do your own research.

Map:  Yama to Kogen Chizu 33 YATSUGA-TAKE TATESHINA・UTSUKUSHIGAHARA・KIRIGAMINE 八ヶ岳蓼科・美ヶ原・霧ヶ峰

Weather Information: Weather on Mt. Nyu (ニュウ)

Total Time: 5:12  Break time:  :58 Distance:  11km

Elevation:  Lowest:  2,099m Highest: 2,494m Total Ascent: 688m  Total Descent: 688m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  Some of this is steep and there are some boulder fields but there aren't a lot of chains or ladders.  Not too much of this is above the treeline.  It is colder up there.  It was below freezing when I started in the morning.  The trail for the descent from Maruyama has a lot of small boulders.  If they get wet, I think it would be slippery.

Facilities:  There are lodging with toilets and selling various food items, etc at Mugikusa Pass, Shirakoma Ike, and Takamiishi.  There are no other water/toiletry facilities on the trail.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  Shirakoma is pretty.  It's some of the best fall foliage I've seen in Japan.  It really was crazily crowded on the road.  I don't know what to recommend.  TBH I don't know if I would come go to this area at this time of year if I didn't live so close by.  I was shocked at the ong line of cars on the road waiting to get into the Shirakoma Parking Lot at 6:45 am!  They weren't waiting for the parking lot to open.  They were waiting for someone to leave!  Although I did take in the pond on my hike, I arrived there by walking through the woods first.  My plan started at Mugikusa Pass.  As it turns out, parking there is not really an option either.  I parked behind one other car at the entrance of the Mugikusa Hut off Route 299.  When I returned to my car in the afternoon, there was a sign placed in front of the front car saying "No Parking.  Park here and we'll fine you 20,000 yen.  We take license plate numbers."  

When I was driving home, as I was driving past the Shirakoma Parking Lot, I asked one of the old guys directing traffic how early you need to get there in the morning to get a parking space.   He said, "In the morning?  People are here all night!"  It's like a Grateful Dead concert, I guess.  Or Black Friday.

Today's listening:  Bible in a Year







Where I started.  This is next to the Mugikusa Hutte.  


It was just freezing when I started.  By noon, it was 17 celsius/ 62 fahrenheit.








Shirakoma Pond 白駒池
They say this is the highest pond in Japan.  I'm quite sure that "they" probably means the local chamber of commerce.  It's a popular place for leaf-peeping.  Probably because consumers are easily led around.  (Just kidding!  It is beautiful.) 

BTW, where I come from, we call looking at fall foliage leaf-peeping.  Sounds kind of pervy in an arboretical way, now that I think of it.  


Here, they say "momiji" "gari" which translates to "leaf"-"hunting".


I should incorporate this into my upper-level English classes.  "If you were a leaf, would you prefer to be peeped or to be hunted?  Discuss this with your partner."  


You can stay by the pond . . . Shirakoma Pond Lodge

Enough chatter.  Here are some pictures.







It's nice but to be brutally honest, I wasn't that impressed.  
I'm spoiled.  I'm from New England.
We have some of the best fall foliage in the world.


The first frost/ice I've seen this fall.  


The next few pictures are from Mt. Nyu (ニュウ).  
Fuji-san was in the house!

(BTW It was clear and I was able to get quite a few long shots today.  I could see Yamanashi, Tokyo, Saitama, Tochigi, Gunma, Gifu, Niigata . . . If you're interested in knowing what mountains I was able to see, the last half of this post is full of labeled photos.)












Mt. Asama is the big one in the middle of the next picture.

I live in that valley about mid-way from where I took this picture and Mt. Asama.


Can you find Cosmos Tower?  (In Saku City, Usuda)  It's in the lower righthand quadrant.


It's right next to Waldo.







From Nakayama Pass


Mt. Tengu.  I was there a week or so ago.  It was rainy so I didn't get a good view of it then.  I was really tempted to climb it again on this day but didn't want to make Mrs. Caveman wait.


From near the top of Nakayama



That Dai Kiretto is scary-looking even from here.

The mountain in the immediate foreground is Kirimine (Kuruma).  That is a great mountain!  I want to go snowshoeing there.




















This is the Takamiishi Hut, just below the Takamiishi.  ("High" "View" "Rock")
This place was really crowded.



They have a lot of food.  Their specialty is agepan ("ah" "gay" "Pahn") (Deep-fried bread).

I would have tried some but they only sell it in batches of 5 for 900 yen.  1.  I'm a cheapskate and 2. five pieces of deep-fried dough is more carbs than I need so I didn't buy any.  I got someone to let me take a picture of theirs.🤓🤓








This is on the way up to the Takamiishi.







From the Takamiishi





Ready for my closeup, Mr. Demille.


Is this the big rock?



The top of Mt. Maru.
Boo!

Is this my good side, Mr. Demille.




Lunch was leftover homemade sausage pizza.
It was ugly as sin but it tasted like a bit of heaven.
I'm quite sure it was better than that agepan.  
I know it was cheaper.




Getting near the end of the hike.

I climbed those hills in front a few weeks ago.  After 3 or 4 more day hikes, my footprints should span from one end of the Yatsugatake Range to the other.





This is inside the Hutte.


As promised, labeled mountains.



























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Caveman, out.

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