This Caveman has not blogged in a while. I've been hiking, just not anywhere worth telling you about. I've been spending a lot of time hiking places that have been on the blog before.
This past weekend, though, I got to a trail I've had my eye on all winter as I waited for the road to open up.
I hiked the portion of the Mt. Kirigamine/Utsukushigahara Central Divide Trail (霧ヶ峰/美ヶ原中央分水嶺トレイル) between Mt. Mitsumine and Mt. Chausu.
. . . about the Mt. Kirigamine/Utsukushigahara Central Divide Trail (霧ヶ峰/美ヶ原中央分水嶺トレイル)
This trail is 38 km long. I guess it's like North America's Continental Divide because any raindrop that falls on the north side of the trail will drain into the Sea of Japan, and any raindrop that falls to the south will drain into the Pacific.
All of the trail is great! It doesn't have that much change in elevation, so much of the trail is snowshoeable in winter. It has two of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains along it and the trail offers views of Yatsugatake, Mt. Fuji, the Southern, Central and Northern Alps, Mt. Asama, and some of the mountains of Tochigi, Gunma and Saitama.
Area:
Between Nagawacho and Matsumoto City in Nagano Prefecture.
Location:
Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map centered of the Tobira Pass.
n.b. The road here is closed from November to April.
Peaks bagged: Mt. Mitsumine (三峰山)* Not sure why it got this name, but it literally means "Three Peak Mountain." ~ Mt. Chausu (茶臼山)* "Chausu" seems to refer to a sort of mill or grinder used for making matcha tea. The mountain's shape resembles one of these. It's a very common mountain name. There are supposedly 200 peaks with this name in Japan.
(First-time) peaks # ---
Getting there/getting around:I parked at the Tobira Pass Parking Lot on the Venus Skyline. This road is not open in winter.
The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 4:53 Break time: :54 Distance: 11.8 km
Elevation:Lowest: 1,601m Highest: 2,006 m Total Ascent: 1,033 m Total Descent: 1,033 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Nothing especially difficult or dangerous. The trail is well-marked. There are no ropes, chains, or ladders. The hike from the parking lot up to Chausu is a bit steep, but not too bad.
Facilities:
The parking lot has portapoddies. The restaurant there is out of business. I snuck behind it to catch the view. (It was 👌 nice.) 😊 Be careful if you go back there, though. I managed to fall into a drain pipe back there. I stepped on its cap and it shattered. It must brittle be because it's so old. If you hike in winter, you can probably understand when I say it was the same sensation as when one foot breaks through the top crust of snow and you sink in up to your crotch. There's a picture below.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
I'm glad I did this. These are lovely mountains and the hike allows for some really great views. I have been on both mountains I summited before but this enabled me to connect the dots with past hikes. Now I can trace my footsteps in an unbroken line to the far side of the Utsukushigahara Plateau.
(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:
to watch your step always.
Let's look at some pictures.
The reason I chose this particular route is that I needed to connect the dots of past hikes. Several months ago, I took this picture after I'd passed Mt. Mitsumine from Mt. Futatsu.
I had been to both mountains, but wanted to walk the trail between them or I would never feel complete in life.
The red circle represents the area between the two mountains.
I had to wait all winter before I could make this hike because the road is closed from November to April.
By the way, the mountains to the north of Chausu are the Utsukushigahara ("Beautiful Plateau"). They really are beautiful.
This is what my map looks like now after the hike.
Now I can sleep at night.
This is what the hike looked like.
I started near the midpoint between the two mountains at the Tobira Pass Parking Lot where this defunct restaurant stands. Even though it is closed, I couldn't help but sneak around the back to take advantage of the viewing point it boasted of.
That's how I almost injured myself before the day even began!
Some of the Northern Alps
That is Mitsumine ahead.
Oila, the top!
Same place, in fall.
From Mitsumine, you can see Mt. Kuruma (or Kirigamine). There is a big, round antenna on top.
This is what the antenna looks like up close.
And this is what the mountains I hiked on this particular day look like from that antenna's location.
After a bit of a walk back, I passed through the area where I'd parked and then headed up to Chausu.
The trailhead is right across the street from the parking lot.
The top of Chausu.
Oila!
Straight ahead is Ogato--one of the peaks on Utsukushigahara. You might see the antennae on it.
To the right, you might see a red thing and a white thing. Those are art installations of the Utsukushigahara Open Air Museum. It's really cool.
I got to put on my snowshoes and hiked Mt. Morai the other day. I was quite happy about this. We have had a cold snap, and there were a few snowstorms recently, so the scenery was nice.
. . . about Mt. Morai 茂来山
This is one of the Shinshu 100 Famous Mountains. It's 1,717 meters high and is located in Sakuho. The emperor climbed it back when he was a single prince and there is a monument on top commemorating that. This mountain isn't that difficult and is popular with novice climbers. I'm told this mountain is famous for matchmaking and people come here in hopes of finding a bride or groom. That puzzles me. I've been there twice and haven't seen anyone there, never mind someone attractive enough to marry.
There are two main trails, the Makizawa and the Kirikubozawa. They are both quite close to each other and about the same length but the Kirikubozawa has waterholes and one or two more spots with good views. The Makizawa trail is a little bit harder--it's one of those dotted-line trails on the map--and there really are no views until you get to the top.
Area:
This is in Sakuhomachi on the eastern side of Nagano. To the north, Saku-shi, Mt. Asama and Karuizawa are visible. So is Arfune. To the south is Mt. Ogura and Mt. Kinpo, or Kinpu as it is called on the Yamanashi side. Mt. Kita and the Southern Alps are visible and Yatsugatake is prominently laid out to the west of Mt. Morai.
Location:
Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map of this area.
A taxi from Yachiho Station would take about 20 minutes. Alternatively, you could walk to the trailhead from Kaize Station in about an hour and a half.
The Caveman did it in: Total Time: 3:13 Break time: :31 Distance: 4.4 km
Elevation:Lowest: 1,111 m Highest: 1,718 m Total Ascent: 601 m Total Descent: 601 m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Parts of it are steep, and there are a few narrow ridges with steep slopes but this hike is all beneath the tree line and there aren't any ropes, chains or ladders. Actually, maybe there could be some hidden under the snow, but I didn't see any. Near the top, I had to crawl on hands and knees at some points. I wished I had an ice axe on this hike. Not for ice climbing per se, just to give myself a better handhold on the slope.
Facilities:
Nothing.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
This is a nice mountain. It's not that high but has a bit of prominence being the first big peak south of Saku. I do think it would be a nice spot to try some wild camping. Shhh. Don't tell anyone I said that.
Don't lose anything. Use dummy cords for important stuff. Back when I was private in army basic training, they made me tie my rifle to my body so that I wouldn't lose it. That string was called a dummy cord. At the time, it seemed humiliating, but it was wise instruction. I apply the same principle in my life now. I try to make sure my gloves are attached to my jacket sleeves because it would really suck to lose a glove in an arctic environment. I try to dummy cord anything really important. Car keys and my wallet always get stashed inside my ruck sack. I try to remember to zip up any pockets so that nothing (think smartphone) can fall out and so that no snow will get into the pocket in case of a fall.
Think about water. I'm a cheapskate and have never purchased a camelback or anything like that for water. I just recycle whatever plastic bottles I have around. I typically have one big one in my pack and a smaller one in the outside pocket of my backpack. The other day, the smaller one froze solid. The one inside had enough insulation that it never froze. I don't typically bring a stove for dayhikes. In the case of overnights, I bring a stove and melt snow to get water so I don't worry about freezing.
(Along with all the regular stuff such as maps, headlamps, boots, feet, and brains, . . .) don't forget:
I'm a fan of bringing extra gloves, a hat and socks in case I do lose one or in case I get wet feet somehow.
Let's look at some pictures.
For this hike, I opted for my wakan. There was a fair amount of snow, but I knew it would be steep and that I would have to navigate some gnarly spots. Regular snowshoes would have been tough to get around in.
