Post #101 Kintokisan, Gorgeous day in the Fuji Hakone Izu National Park

 Greetings cave dwellers.  Thank you for dropping by again.  Pull up a rock.  Make yourself a smore.

Astute readers (ie, me and probably nobody else) will recall that my last post was a "Part 1" and therefore probably expected this to be a "Part 2".    Well, if you did, you were wrong.  

This is a blog about mountains so the occasional cliffhanger is to be expected.  Just hang on.

I will get back to Doshi Village someday.  Don't worry, I am not a serial killer.

Yesterday morning I was heading to the same area I went to last week to continue my adventures around the Doshi Village but changed my mind on the way.  My hike in Doshi Village doesn't promise very much in the way of beautiful views and I really want to do it just to say that I have done it.  There's nothing wrong with that.  A so-so day on any mountain is better than any day just about anywhere else.  Yesterday's weather was just so special, though.  It was a short window of clear blue skies opened up between long periods of rain and clouds or haze.  The majestic glimpse of Mt. Fuji I caught as I was going through Doshi Village made me abruptly adjust my plans.   I decided to take a trip to Mt. Kintoki in Hakone for a hike that has been on my bucket list.  

I don't know where I heard of Mt. Kintoki, but it ended up on my bucketlist somehow or other.  I have been to the other side of Ashinoko (Lake Ashi) many years ago to visit the historically significant tourist attraction of the Hakone Checkpoint.  I vaguely recall taking a boat ride, too.  I intend to get back there someday.

Lake Ashi is quite a resort area.  All of Izu is.  There are several ropeways up to the mountains.  It's a golfer's paradise.  There are numerous resorts and onsens.  There are great views, of the lake, of the Sagami and Sugura Bays and, of course, of Mt. Fuji.

Here are the details of the hike.  This is just a hike I came up with on a whim one day.  There are trails all around the lake and if you don't want to go to the particular area I did, I am sure you can find something suiting your desires.  Getting around the area is easier than I had expected.  There are bus stops everywhere.

Getting there:  In my case, I took my scooter.  That made it easier for me to get to the north side of the lake.  It was about 110km from my home.  It took about 3 hours of driving.  If going by public transportation, most people go to Hakone Yumoto Station to the northeast of the Checkpoint first (a little over an hour by shinkansen from Tokyo Station) and then take buses to where they want to go.  The Hakone Checkpoint is 52 minutes by bus from there.  The time and the train and bus changes are the reasons I haven't been there in so long.  As the crow flies, it's not far.  As the trains and buses run (or even cars), it's a hassle.

Getting around there: is surprisingly easy.  There are bus stops everywhere.  Just be aware that there are many different bus companies and you need to pay attention to exactly which bus stop and bus it is you need. 

The hike:  I like water, so I decided to start at the lake.  Starting this far away enabled me to hit a few peaks on the way to Mt. Kintoki.  It was about 12.5km and had an elevation change of something like 970 meters up and 1,070 meters down.  The trail, for the most part, was very gentle.  There were almost no chains or ladders.  Anyone could do it.  I think the word for the day was pleasant.  There were several places along the way accessible by car that could shorten the trip.  I exited the mountain at the Kintoki trailhead.  As you can see, that was quite close to the top.  I did this in just under 5 hours.  I don't run, but I'm faster than most.

Facilities:  No water on the trail until the top of Mt. Kintoki.  There were free public restrooms along the way.  At the top of Kinotoki, there is a paid restroom.  Also, there are two little mountain huts at the top.  They had plenty of food and mountain swag.

Let's look at some pictures.

Most people probably have no idea that you might hear loud noises coming from Mt. Fuji.  I took these videos from Lake Yamanaka on my way yesterday.  The bangs are from USMC howitzers at Camp Fuji.  They were firing a lot yesterday.  Made me nostalgic for my days with my 11C platoon.

Motorboat prices (up to 5 people)

Once around the lake ¥10,000

Special Course ¥8,000

Halfway ¥6,500

Pedalboat (3 people) 30 minutes

swanboat ¥1,500

Rowboat 30 minutes

2 people¥1,000

3 people ¥1,200

"We also have fishing boats and motorboats available."

I stuck my hand in the water here.  I was surprised how warm it was.  

The lake is very clean.

I was able to pick out this watergate from the mountains.  I couldn't believe how far away it seemed.

This is near the beginning of the trail.  Much of it was like this.  Not too drastic a slope and surrounded by vegetation.  

The cicadas, of course, were loud.  The birds were chirping away.  The atmosphere reminded of the Allman's song, "Blue Sky".  It was not only picture perfect, but song perfect.

That sandy, smokey area to the left of center is the Owakudani Valley.  It is traversed by a ropeway.

Here's a view of the watergate

It's the season for mountain lillies.

The top of Kintoki.

I'll put this up in case you want any explanation of the background of the name of the mountain.  I'm sure this will clear things up so much no more explanation will be necessary.  

Maybe this will help.

Kintaro on wikipedia

You may be seeing this picture and assuming it's really delicious.  Actually, it's not.  It's my failed attempt at making calzone.  It was so bad that I kept the leftovers until I could eat them in the mountains.  Since everything tastes better in the mountains I figured I could stomach it here if I could not eat it at home.

Kintaro hard candy*.  There is a story behind this.  

*How they make it is kind of interesting.  Look for a video on youtube if you want to know how.

If I climb one of the 100 Famous Mountains, or if I go to an exceptionally cool mountain, I might buy some swag.  Not often, though.  I'm a cheapskate.  

I liked the ax on this mountain so I broke open my wallet and bought this 手拭い ("tenugui", ie, handcloth) from the Kintaro Chaya on the top of the mountain.  Tenugui are very light, cotton cloths and are super useful for hiking.  I always have two or three when I am hiking.    

The proprietor of the Kintaro Chaya was a really sweet obaasan (old lady).  When I bought the tenugui, she presented me with that Kintaro candy and some other sweets.  She even split a popsicle-type thing in half and gave half to me and half to another customer.

I was so struck by just how nice she was that 5 minutes down the trail I decided to go back and buy a t-shirt.  For plunking my dough down for the t-shirt, I was rewarded with another popsicle.  This time a whole one just to myself!

The Kintoki Yadori Stone.  Kintaro was born here.

That's all for now.  I am dying to get out there again.  I have a lot of time off and more places on the bucketlist . . . but it's raining.  There is rain in the forecast for something like the next 10 days.  Keep your fingers crossed for another window like yesterday.

Take care.

Izu Peninsula Mt. Amagi One of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains.

 

I had Monday off this week.  I decided on a trip that would allow me to make the best use of that long June day.  I headed down to the Izu Peninsula, to Mt. Amagi, one of Japan's Famous 100 Mountains.   (Mt. Amagi=天城--"Heaven Castle")  It's a hike I've wanted to do for a while but have put off because of the distance.  It's not a challenging hike and it's far so it's hard to justify the time and expense.  The usual train/bus route costs over ¥5,500/about $45 and takes 4.5 to 5 hours each way.  I opted to go on my scooter.  That also takes a long time but would cost about ¥700 in gas.  Despite the savings, the drive time had me worried.  Googlemaps gave an estimate of between 3.5 and 6 hours each way.  Assuming the longer estimate was correct, I could be looking at 12 hours crouching over my moped.  Yikes.

I decided to roll the dice and take my chances.  I got up at O dark thirty and left home an hour later at sunrise.  (4:30 these days.)  Even though it's far, the ride was worth it.  The ride actually gave me the best views of the day.  On the way I caught a glimpse of the top of Odawara Castle while passing through Odawara.  The Izu coast around Atami and Ito were gorgeous.  Coming home, I took the inland route which brought me under Fuji's gaze around Gotemba.  I always wonder "Am I the only one who sees the giant eye on the top of Fuji?"  I was able to enjoy dinner on the shore of Lake Yamanakako at sunset.  That was beautiful.

These first several pictures are of the ride down.   Izu is one giant playground.  The ocean is beautiful, as you can see.  There is surfing, fishing, boating--but also golfing, and hiking.  Its hot springs are quite famous because it is a very active region geologically.  It would be a nice place to spend a week or so if you had a suitcase full of money.

Here are the details of the hike:

Getting there:  Whether coming by bus or by their own car, most people start hiking at the Amagi Juso Tozanguchi Bus Stop which is adjacent to the Amagi Kogen Golf Course.  You can get there by bus (about 1 hour) from Ito Station.  You can get to Ito Station from Tokyo on the Tokaido Shinkansen.  There are cheaper local trains but they will take longer than the shinkansen.

Facilities:  At the bus stop, there is a free parking lot for hikers equipped with public toilets and water.  The only food nearby I saw was protein bars in the clubhouse.  There is a vending machine for drinks there, too.  Water is ¥210!

The hike:  It's not very strenuous.  There are actually several peaks that comprise Mt. Amagi.  There is Banzaburo , Banjiro and Togasa.  Most people just do Banzaburo and Banjiro.  They are accessible on a loop trail that passes near the golf course.  One side of the loop is the shakunage (シャクナゲ=rhododendron) trail.  I'm not really a fan of hiking near rhodos, but I'm sure it floats some people's boats.

The loop takes about 3~5 hours.  It's about 8km.  The rise in elevation isn't that great.  Maybe 700 meters?

I did that loop and also added in Mt. Kotake.  It wasn't that far and I'm always happy to bag another peak.  After that, I also added Mt. Togasa to my hike.  Most people ignore it because it is about a mile or so down the road from the golf course to its trailhead.  I am glad I did it.  There is a wireless relay station at the top so there is a mostly-paved road all the way to the top.  Also, I got my best views of the day from there.  

My day ended up being 16.3 km which translates to just over 10 miles in American.  I went up and down 1,140 meters in elevation.  

The parking lot/bus stop I mentioned is annotated as the Amagi Kogen Golf Course.  I didn't park there.  I parked just above the uppermost fairway on the map below.  You can see a little blue triangle there.

Before I get to this day's hike, here is a picture or two I took of the area from Mt. Fuji.  

These are from the trail:

Sagami Bay is on the left side of the picture.

. . . and looking back.

These are from Mt. Togasa.  Unfortunately, the bay wasn't so visible by this time of day because of the haze.  It was hot.  36 degrees Celsius at sea level.

More on this later.

That Mt. Omuro looks cool!

Omuroyama Izugeopark

The relay center on Togasa

Happy puppies.

 

Oh, I should mention the badge.  This is kind of like a participation trophy.  (That I buy for myself.  How pathetic.)  Many of the popular mountains produce a commemorative pin that you can buy.  I try to buy one every time I climb one of the 100 Famous Mountains.  I have a big banner that lists all of the mountains and I attach the badge to the banner each time I get a new one.  I'm such a geek caveman. 

This is the one I got yesterday. 

If you want to climb a mountain that has badges.  Make sure you find out where they sell them ahead of time--or at least before you leave the mountain.  I found out the hard way that if you don't buy them near the mountain, you're out of luck.  There is no one manufacturer that handles all of them.  You can't order one on Amazon or something like that.  Usually, they are only available at one vendor near the mountain.  If you don't get it there, you are out of luck!  The ones for Amagi are sold in the clubhouse.

Some thoughts about this trip.  I'm glad I went.  I am not a fan of Nike, but I do love their slogan.  As with most of these things I waiver about doing, just doing it has brought results.  I've never regretted going for a run in the rain or taking on a mountain that pushes my limits.  (I'm not above turning back when things are dangerous though!)

I did this hike during an off-period.  The best months to climb Amagi are May, early June, and October.  Those periods have the best flowers, the best views of Fuji and the ocean and/or fall foliage.

They also have crowds.  There are trade-offs.  On my return, it was really cool to be the only person on Lake Yamanaka.  On the other hand, none of the restaurants were open and I almost ran out of gas because the one gas station on my way was closed.  (Actually, they had just locked the door--5 minutes early--when I pulled up.  But that post is reserved for a review on googlemaps!)

That's pretty much it--except for the ride home.  I got some great views of Fuji on the way.  When all was said and done, I rode about 300km and the trip took me just over 16 hours. 

These are from Lake Yamanaka

Drop by my cave anytime.