Today I took Mrs. Caveman for a traditional Sunday drive. My plan was not to go hiking at all.
Honest.
The plan was to take her for a lovely lunch at a Michi No Eki near the Utsukishigahara Highlands which has a nice view.
After laboring uphill for a long time, just 100 meters of so before the pass from the south side of the Utsugushigahara to the north side--where that Michi no Eki is-- we encountered a locked gate across the road pronouncing it closed for the winter.
Happily, right next to that gate was the parking lot for the Yamamotogoya (mountain hotel)
That hotel is adjacent to the trail up to the Ogato Hotel on Mt. Ogato (王ヶ頭--"King" "Head").
We parked there and initially planned just to walk as far as the first hotel and check it out. The going was easy and we kept on going. We eventually got to the highest point in the area. Despite there being a few feet of snow on the ground and being at an elevation of over 6,000 feet we were able to do the "hike" in regular street clothes. Everyone else was wearing snowshoes but they had packed the snow down enough in places that we could walk without sinking in.
I truly love where we live. The license plates on the cars in the parking lot were from places far away. People had to spend a lot of time and money to get to someplace we're able to get to on a whim. I'm really grateful.
It was a nice surprise of a day. The weather was beautiful and the views were great. Mt. Fuji even made appearances. Not bad, considering that is about 110km away.
Take a look at the pictures below. Maybe Mrs. Caveman will make a cameo on the blog.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,927 Highest: 2,034 Total Ascent: 166m Total Descent: 166m
Technical considerations/difficulty: This is a pleasant walk.
Facilities: There are a few inns up there. Plenty of pay toilets. Restaurants, etc.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This is a really nice place. It's a plateau with great panoramic vistas. Since it's a plateau, you don't have to climb at all. Today we just walked a few miles. I made a longer trip here last August. That post is here: August hike around Utsukushigahara.
Fuji
The top.
There are a lot of antennae up there. It makes this place easy to spot from other mountains.
We had lunch at the Ogato Hotel. The Caveman usually doesn't do store-bought food. This was a special treat, though.
Considering lunch was at a restaurant on a mountain, the prices weren't bad. Unlike other mountains huts, they obviously don't get their supply by helicopter. The beef stew was ¥1,200. ¥500 for a coffee was a bit dear, though.
That hotel actually has a shuttle bus service. I also noticed they had a lot of snowshoes and boots for their guests to borrow. My guess is you could go there "tebura" (Japanese for "empty-handed") and do the hiking thing.
*After I did this, I found out that I was actually trespassing on the ski area I traversed and that the authorities and owners don't want anyone to do that. I was copying a plan someone else had used. I assumed it was ok because, although there were signs on all the surrounding trails saying no entry, there were no warnings on that route. Evidently, the authorities didn't think it necessary to put warnings there because it's private property. They don't want anyone going anywhere near the peaks of Shirane from any route at all.
I chalk this up as one more thing in the mountains that I wouldn't do again--but that I'm kind of glad I did.😜 You, dear reader, know better than I did though. Do as I say and not as I do. Don't do it.
Getting there/getting around: Car. The place I started is on a toll road. ¥1,070 to get in and the same amount to get out. Can't get around the toll--except if you go early in the morning before the booth is manned, I'm told.
There is a Seibu bus stop where I started. According to the sign on the bus stop, dated last November, a bus stops there three times a day. I can't find the bus route on googlemaps, though. I think the bus probably does still run, but Seibu hasn't told google. That's often the case with local bus companies. I can't puzzle through Seibu's website either.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,423m Highest: 2,071m Total Ascent: 847m Total Descent: 847m
Technical considerations/difficulty: It's steep. For most of the hike, I was walking straight up abandoned ski slopes. There are no ropes, chains, ladders or boulders to negotiate. There are two spots where you aren't following ski trails and you have to pick your way through unmarked forests. I needed my GPS there. Other than those spots, you'd have to be blind as a bat to get lost. There're really no windbreaks. I got a sunburn. I should have remembered sunscreen.
Facilities: Nothing on the hill. Nothing open, at least. The abandoned ski lodges and lifts are still there.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: Loved it. I still enjoy the mountains even when I can't see much because of less-than-clear skies. Then there are clear days like today. Wow.
And I had a whole ski area to myself! What a treat.
This post is brought to you by the Chinese Communist Party.
I caught the wuflu (for the second time) last week. Similar to my first time catching COVID, I felt like I had a bad cold for the first two days and then got better fairly rapidly. I was told not to go to work for the whole week so as not to infect my students.
I was not told to not go to the mountains.
The mountains have always been my go-to for social distancing since the plandemic first struck.
After all, if I were to stay home in my pajamas and watch Tik Tok all day, the commies would win!
Some of my readers might think I'm a conspiracy theorist because of some of my thoughts on COVID.
I'm pretty sure they called Noah a conspiracy theorist, too.
Until it started raining.
I took advantage of some absolutely gorgeous weather on the last day of my quarantine to tackle Mt. Kusatsu Shirane in the Joshin Etsu National Park in Gunma.
Mt. Shirane is an active volcano and there are restrictions on how close you can get to the crater. One of the peaks is listed as one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains. It is only accessible from one side, the side of the closed ski resort. Because of trail restrictions, this is the only legal way up.*(As I said before, this isn't legal either.)
The bus stop. I parked on the side of the road here.
That's where I started.
My first time to try these bad boys out. They worked great!
For the most part, the snow was crusty and sounded like styrofoam as I went along. There were several areas on the hike where the snow conditions changed and I would sink in despite wearing the snowshoes. It was over waist-deep in places.
The weather report called for temps well below zero Celsius. They were wrong. Particularly in the sun, it was downright balmy. I had a "wicking layer" (basically long underwear) under my snowpants. I was sorely tempted to take off my snowpants and hike in my underwear because it was so warm.
Mt. Haruna (Gunma) is in that group of mountains.
Mt. Asama
That pointy one is another of the 100 Famous Mountains, Mt. Azuma.
I climbed it once last year on a cloudy day and had no idea how pretty it is.
I'll have to go back on a nice day.
Haruna, Asama Kakushi and Hanamagari are in this pic.
I didn't realize it until I got home, but that hill in the foreground offers a great viewpoint of a crater. I'll have to go back.
The marker on top
There is another tourist spot right where I parked my car. It's the Tsumagoi Bokujo (Tsumagoi Ranch) and Aisai Bell. There are a few plays on words going on here. The name of this village, Tsumagoi, (嬬恋) is a combination of the words for wife and romantic love. The Asai of the Asai Bell's name is another combination of different characters that mean love and wife. Check out the website for yourself and copy and paste it into google translate.
It's a hoot.
I particularly liked this sentiment. "The Japan Beloved Wife Association has been more concerned about the phenomenon of households becoming colder than global warming. As the number of beloved wives increases, the fatigue that has plagued the marital environment will be alleviated, and the home will become a little warmer."
