Back to Future Again. Caveman bullied by a deer on his second trip to Mt. Kumotori.

 

Hello Cave peeps

I'm posting more of Mt. Kumotori, the highest point in Tokyo.  I first climbed this on October 23, 2018.  I liked it so much that I did it again exactly one month later.  For this trip, I took a different route and camped "wild."  Make sure you keep reading the post to find out just how wild it was.

Area:

Location:

Mt. Kumotori Saitama, Yamanashi, Tokyo

Map:  

Online interactive topo map

***The Caveman gave up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps.  They are great maps but the publisher updates them almost annually and the links die.  Comment if you want me to get you a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map.

Starting and stopping points: Kamosawa Bus Stop  Okutama Station

Peaks bagged: many

Getting there/getting around:  

Get a bus from Okutama Station to Higashi Nippara Bus Stop.  (27 minutes.)  Okutama Station is the terminus of the Okutama Train Line.  That is about 2 hours from Shinjuku.

There is parking at the Nippara Limestone Caves Temp. Parking Lot

Helpful Info

Weather Information: 

Tenki to Kurasu site (Japanese forecast)

Mountain-forecast.com (English Site)

Time and distance

Total Time:  12:35 (over 2 days) Break time: :36  Distance:  31.5km

Elevation:  Lowest: 590 m Highest: 2,017m Total Ascent: 3,143m  Total Descent: 3,134m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

It's a taxing hike.  This route is a bit less used than the first one I used.  It's a bit more remote and there is more climbing to do.

Facilities:  

Kumotori Evacuation Hut:  Right next to the peak.  There is a public restroom up there, too.

Kumotori Lodge  is on the far side of the peak.  You can stay and eat there, too.

There is water on the trail only for the first few miles.  Make sure you have enough to make it through the night and the next day.  

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

That was awesome!

Pics from day 1

The top of Kumotori

Kumotori's evacuation hut

After going over the top of Kumotori, I kept going straight towards Taba Village in Yamanashi.  I had no idea where I was going to pitch my tent.  I came across this lovely (so I thought) spot called Okamidaira.

As I was pitching my tent, I heard a high squealing/squeaking noise.  I had no idea what it was.  A bird?  A monkey?  I kept looking around while I was setting up.

I had to hurry in getting my tent up.  Daylight was burning.

Then I saw this guy.

That was the first time I identified the sound.  It was this deer barking.  I'd never heard a deer's bark before.

This guy (gal, probably actually) kept circling my tent and coming close to me until about midnight.

Check this video out.  Make sure your sound is on.

So, that was my wild camping experience.  I haven't pitched a tent wild much since then.  If I can get into an evacuation hut, I go there.

Day 2 Pictures:

It snowed overnight.  What a beautiful morning it was!

Mrs. Caveman calls snow magic.  I think she's right (sometimes.  Sometimes it's a nuisance.😜)

My footsteps had a satisfying crunching sound as I walked over the frosty leaves of the bamboo grass.

Well, that's all for now.  Check out the other trips to Kumotori here.

First trip to Kumotori

Mitsumine to Kumotori in March

Caveman out.

Back to the Future. Caveman's first hike on Mt. Kumotori. Kumotori roundup, part I.

 

Greetings, cave ladies and gentlemen and cave kids of all ages, shapes and sizes.

I've been doing this blog for a few years now but some of the mountains I cut my teeth on before starting blogging never got a mention.  Several experiences are worth noting.  I think I can share a lot of information useful to people who live in or near Tokyo since I did so much hiking there.

The first mountain I will share is the highest one in Tokyo.  It's Mount Kumotori in western Tokyo.  Kumotori is actually the meeting point of Tokyo and the prefectures of Saitama and Yamanashi.  I've climbed this mountain 6 times.  I think I'll make blogposts for 3 or 4 of those hikes.

Kumotori is one of the 100 Famous Mountains from Kyuya Fukada's book.   The kanji for it is 雲取山.  It means something like "Cloud gather." 

Area:

Location:

Mt. Kumotori Saitama, Yamanashi, Tokyo

Map:  

Online interactive topo map

***The Caveman gave up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps.  They are great maps but the publisher updates them almost annually and the links die.  Comment if you want me to get you a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map.

Starting and stopping points: Kamosawa Bus Stop  Okutama Station

Peaks bagged: many

Getting there/getting around:  

Get a bus from Okutama Station to Kamosawa Bus Stop.  (About an hour.)  Okutama Station is the terminus of the Okutama Train Line.  That is about 2 hours from Shinjuku.

There is also parking at the trailhead if you want to drive.

Helpful Info

Weather Information: 

Tenki to Kurasu site (Japanese forecast)

Mountain-forecast.com (English Site)

Time and distance

Total Time:  12:31 (over 2 days) Break time: :45  Distance:  34.8km

Elevation:  Lowest: 331 m Highest: 2,017m Total Ascent: 2,837m  Total Descent: 3,035m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

It's a taxing hike.  There are not many places with ladders or chains but much of it is steep and much of it is exposed to the weather.  I recall seeing a youtube documentary of a hike up Mt. Kumotori.  The documentarian said, "This is the hardest mountain I've ever climbed."

Although it is in Tokyo, the weather can be much colder than you'd expect and it does start snowing around October or November.  

Facilities:  

Nanatsuiishi Mountain Lodge  You can stay there.  There's food and water.

Kumotori Helipad  Nice to know in case there is an emergency.  Do not pitch a tent on the helipad, though!

Kumotori Evacuation Hut:  Right next to the peak.  There is a public restroom up there, too.

Kumotori Lodge  is on the far side of the peak.  You can stay and eat there, too.

I heard through the grapevine that they are building campsites near the Kumotori Helipad.  I can't confirm it, though.

I do recall two waterholes on the trail.  

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

If you live in Tokyo and haven't tackled this mountain, do it!  I recommend prepping for it with some smaller mountains first, though.  In order, I would suggest Mt. Otake, then Mt. Kawanori, Mt. Mito and then Mt. Takanosu before trying this one.  

OK.  Let's look at some pictures.

At the trailhead:

This one gave me pause for thought . . .

This is the evacuation hut.  I've stayed here 3 times.  Now that I've looked into things more closely, I don't think you're supposed to use these except in emergencies.  I've never been the only person though.  Since there are Japanese hikers staying there, I've assumed it's ok.

I took this on my way down.  The guy in that tent looked absolutely miserable.  He must have been soaking wet.

After passing Mt. Nanatsuishi, I turned left to take the long trail along the Ishi One (Rock Ridge) to Okutama Station.  It has spectacular views.  It's a loooooong walk, though.

I think I took this at Mt. Takanosu.  That's one of my favorite mountains.

Looking at some of my familiar stomping grounds.

That's all for this one.  I'll put up a few more posts on Mt. Kumotori soon.

Bullied by Bambi

Mitsumine to Kumotori in March

Bike to Sanjo no Yu

Caveman out.

(May 2022 repost) Quick trail run on Takao

 To my dear cavedwellers, I'm sorry if you feel flooded by a bunch of posts today.

Many of my posts on the blog seem to be hidden from public view and I've decided to repost them.

I think this is the last one!

With about 2 million visitors a year, Mt. Takao in Tokyo must be one of the most visited mountains in the world.  There is a monkey park on the top, tons of souvenir shops, a beer garden, more shrines than you can shake a stick at . . .

All that being said, visiting it in the off-season or in poor weather, you can actually experience something like nature and seclusion.

Since I knew I wouldn't be able to get a whole day in the woods this week, I opted for a quick run on Takao after work one day.

The overwhelming majority of visitors arrive at Takao via the Takaosanguchi Station on the Keio Train Line.  That is in a quaint neighborhood with restaurants, souvenir shops, a trick art museum, etc.  From there, many people get on the cablecar that brings you near the top.  You can climb from there if you are a cheapskate like me.

Takaosanguchi is not the only approach though.  Uratakao ("behind" "Takao") has a few trailheads that will access the mountain.  Those trails are always less populated even if the top is busy.

I ran to the top from the Takao Umenosato Machi no Hiroba near the  Jatakiguchi (蛇滝口) Bus Stop in the Uratakao area the other day.  

It was great.  The weather was threatening rain and I didn't start until after 4 so everything was closed and I saw only two people on my run.  Much of the trail is concrete so I wasn't that worried about twisting an ankle.  It was about 6km (just shy of 4 miles) to get to the top and back with a rise and then drop in elevation of 525 meters.   Here are some pictures.

Starting out, the concrete trail parallels a river.  Nice.

The top.  Sometimes this place is absolutely packed.

There are great views of downtown Tokyo and of Mt. Fuji from here.

If you live in Tokyo and have not visited Takao yet, shame on you.

Fuji is pretty from here on a clear day.

Those mountains in the foreground are the Tanzawa Range in Kanagawa Prefecture.  There're some wonderful trails there.  Beware of leeches during summer, though!  The mountain in the middle of the picture, the biggest one in the area, is named Hirugatake.  Hirugatake literally means leech mountain.

I deposited my scooter behind that visitor's center under the highway during my run.  Don't tell anyone.  They were closed.  The small building on the right is a public restroom.

Drop by the cave again sometime!

Caveman out.