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.
