Elevation:Lowest: 1,220 m Highest: 2,145 m Total Ascent: 1,229 m Total Descent: 1,229 m
Technical considerations/difficulty: It's fairly straightforward. It would be hard to get lost. There are some steep spots but nothing that necessitates chains or ladders.
Facilities:There is water at the Wada Hut 和田小屋 and at a point on the trail by the name of 雷清水. There is a lodge at the top that also has some food, a pay toilet and some stuff for sale. I bought a pin badge there.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: I'll have to go back on a clear day. It was so cloudy all day that I have no idea what this place looks like!
Today's listening:
Bible in a YearI had several episodes to catch up on and it was great. I started with the Messianic checkpoint overview podcast. That's an introduction to Matthew. That was cool. Ever wonder what the deal is with all those begats? Listen to that episode to get a clue. That was posted around September 14, 2023. Episode 259 is worth listening to also. It's about the Sermon on the Mount.
Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Before Dragnet, the TV series, Jack Webb appeared in Dragnet the radio series. Even before that, he acted in the radio in a few roles as various hard-boiled characters trying to scrape by on the mean streets. On this trip I listened to one of his performances as Jeff Regan, a private investigator show. I love the hokiness of these old programs and the dialogue is really funny. Think Phil Hartmann or Leslie Nielsen talking very seriously. One of my favorite lines from yesterday was something like this; "She was pushing fifty and it showed. She looked tired."
This is what the lay of the land was.
As I glance out the window at a beautiful blue sky while writing this blogpost, I can't help but reflect, "Why wasn't it this nice yesterday?"
The other thing on my mind is, "Why are you such an idiot? Why did you trust googlemaps again?"
Why is it that I forgot so quickly that google's motto no longer is "Don't Be Evil."
I really should know better, but this is the second time that I trusted googlemaps to get me to the mountains and it took me somewhere I didn't want to go. I would have been better off just committing the route to memory; I would probably have gotten there. Instead, I unthinkingly turned on googlemaps and followed its directions. It wasn't until the gas light turned on that I realized something was amiss. "Gaslight? I should have had more than enough gas. Wait a minute, where am I? . . ." Anyway, I had been shooting for a mountain in Gunma but changed plans when I realized I'd blown by it and ended up in Niigata.
Thank God for the car's gaslight. It made me aware how google was gaslighting me.
At least google didn't send me into a lake so I guess they're not that evil.
Usually on these rants, I merely digress. Today I'm afraid that I've digressed from digression into dissing. It is 'dissing', right? I really wish it was 'dission.' That would sound more clever.
Anyway, here are some pictures from yesterday. I'm sorry to say that I really don't have many good pictures because of the weather. It was still nice to be in the woods, but it just wasn't as visually beautiful as usual.
This parking lot is about 5 km up a very narrow road from Route 17. Small~medium cars are 1,000 yen/day.
I wonder why I took a picture of the restroom instead of the parking lot.
Well, it was the end of a long ride.
Owada Koya/Kagura Ski Area Lift
In the morning (only) the lift operates from here, (I think.) You can take this part of the way up the mountain and cut an hour off your hike. It doesn't go all the way to the top and you must walk down.
Like I said, I think this is where the lift is. There are several chair lifts and gondolas around but I wasn't interested so I didn't look that closely into it.
Much of the trail is like this. It would be hard to get lost.
Lots of bamboo grass on these mountains. Bear and deer both like this stuff.
I kept coming upon these scenic overlooks and was left to wonder what I was missing.
The (木のトレイル) wooden trail is long. Much of the flora is wetland and they are protection.
This is Kaguragamine, Mt. Kagura. If the marker wasn't there on the side of the trail, I wouldn't have thought it is a mountaintop.
Behind that marker on the side of the trail denoting Mt. Kaguragamine is a narrow path through the thick bamboo grass leading a few meters up to the top of a ridge. It seemed like the likely spot for the actual mountain top and I wanted to take a peek and see if there was a nice view, or another marker.
All I encountered was what I stepped in under the bamboo grass.
There are no dogs around here. I think all I found was Yogi Bear's walkway to his restroom.
The final push up to the top is a steep slope with a climb of a few hundred meters. It is rewarded by this view of this plateau wetland as you pop out of the trail.
Naeba Hut.
Lodging, food, pay toilets.
Note the net wrapped around the blue sheet. It makes me nostalgic for my days doing helicopter slingload operations in the army.
I got off the mountain about 3 pm and piled myself into the car.
You have no idea how happy I was to encounter this river on the road. This type of swimming hole is much more to my liking than an onsen.
This swimming hole is bellybutton deep.
Ice cold.
Perfect.
Oh yeah, that's the ticket.
And no, I will not take a picture of anything above my knees. This is a family blog.
As a bit of a coda/epilogue, here's something I encountered on the road somewhere in Gunma. I have no idea what it is or why it's there but it does seem fitting for the caveman's blog, doesn't it?
Well, cavedwellers, that's it for today. Subscribe, tell your friends about me, send me wads of cash, etc. See you later.
Caveman out.
ps A commenter wanted a picture of the badge I bought on top of Naeba. I'm posting here a pic of my banner listing the 100 Famous Mountains. I pin on a badge each time I cross one of them off. I've climbed 27 of them by now. I'd love to do them all, but I'm not made of money and a lot of them are too far for day trips.
Still waiting for those barrels of cash for being an influencer. How do the Kardashians do it?
Mt. Makihata is on the border of Gunma and Niigata Prefectures. It's about 50km from the Sea of Japan. Niigata is one of the snowier of Japan's prefectures.
Getting there/getting around: I drove. Parking at the Sakurazaka Parking Lot is 500 yen. The attendant wasn't there when I arrived or when I left. Since I didn't have exact change, I gave what change I had and an IOU for the rest.
Coming by train, it's 40 minutes by bus from Muikamachi Station on the Joetsu Line. About 2 hours to that station from Tokyo Station by shinkansen. There is a bus stop not far from the trailhead. See David Lowe's post for info about taking a trip here from Tokyo https://ridgelineimages.com/hiking/mt-makihata/ Tell him the Caveman sent you.😎
Total Time: 8:20 Break time: 1:04 Distance: 13.29km
Elevation:Lowest: 700m (ish) Highest: 1,967m Total Ascent: 1,545m Total Descent: 1,545m
Technical considerations/difficulty: There are two routes I'll address. Both start at the Sakurazaka Parking Lot (桜坂駐車場).
First, the easy one. This is the one on the right. It follows the Ido Ridge up to Makihata and the adjacent peaks. It's fairly steep but well-maintained. No problems there.
The other route, to the left follows the Nukubi Stream (ヌクビ沢) , passing underneath Tengu Iwa (Tengu Boulder) up to the ridge connecting Mt. Waremeki and Mt. Makihata. This trail should be approached with caution. (Or not at all.) It is only used for ascending. Descending is probably just too dangerous. I chose to go up this trail in order to bag Mt. Waremeki along with the other peaks in the area because Niigata is a long trip for me and I wanted to get all the bang I could out of the day. I should have done some more map recon because I missed two items worth noting. One, was that this trail is climbing up a stream. Since the blue line on the map disappeared at a certain elevation, I had assumed that the stream started there and I would be just hiking up a draw (valley). That was not the case. Climbing up streams--called sawa nobori (沢登り)--is not really hiking. It's something I avoid because you can find yourself in all sorts of predicaments unless you have ropes and such. Two, I had only really looked at my Yama to Kogen map about this trail. If I had also looked at my YAMAP app, I would have seen the note that said this trail is for experts.
Hiking up this trail was, at points, really fun. There are beautiful falls and pools just one after the other. The stream was quite wide and there were a lot of large, dry boulders next to the water to bounce up in the lower portions. At other points, it took a lot of concentration and energy. The trail is not well-marked at all and I often had to probe my way to find the safest route up. Often, when the stream would become impassable, a parallel trail above the bank would be necessary. That trail was often steep and overgrown with grass/ferns. The overgrowth not only hid the trail markings but also made it hard to discern what the surface of the ground was. Was it solid rock? Sand? A hole? The pucker factor was high.
Other high points of this part of the trail were the snow bridges over the stream. I have never made a snowball in July before!
Facilities: The parking lot has a public restroom and water stations for cleaning your boots at the end of the day. He also sells badges and t-shirts--but I didn't see the attendant so I got no swag.
There is a 2-story emergency hut below Makihata. It's quite well-appointed. The biotoilet is a bit nasty but there is a new portapotty soon to be installed.
There is a waterhole near the emergency hut.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This was a long day. Niigata is a 4-hour drive for me and the hike was more taxing than expected. If I had known ahead of time what I learned about the Nukubi Sawa portion, I wouldn't have done it. That said, I'm glad I did. 😉 Fall would be a nice time to visit Mt. Makihata.
Remember what I said about not doing enough map recon? If I read this sign at the beginning of my hike, I probably would have changed my plan.
Snow!
This is about the point where my trail met up with the Nukubi Sawa. I really love running mountain water and couldn't stop taking pictures.
The snow bridges were cool. Looking up from below, I thought there were only one or two. There were actually 4 or 5.
It's like something out of Fantasy Island.
Except that it's freshwater.
And there are no tuxedo-clad dwarves pointing at an airplane.
Yeah, other than those things, it's just like Fantasy Island.
Since I've spent no time in Niigata, I have no idea what mountains those are.
Snow Bridges
I hurried my way through them. For one thing, they are melting and there are cold drops of water falling. For another--even though this probably wasn't likely--if one of them chose that moment to collapse, anyone inside would be a goner.
I think this is the first time I've ever made a snowball in July.
I made it past the snow bridges up to the ridge between Mts. Waremeki and Makihata.
There are a lot of these little pools up on the ridge. Very cool.
More snow off the side of Makihata
Inside the emergency hut
A view of the Nukubi Sawa and the Tengu Iwa on my way down. Tengu Iwa is the pointy thing.
That's all for now. Have a good one. Don't forget to subscribe, etc.
