Went to Yamanashi to hike a lesser-used trail. It was cold on the way out on my scooter.
It was about an 18 km walk. I started at the Daibosatsu Trailhead and hiked up a ridgeline to Hanzenoto. On the return, I descended to Yanagisawa Pass and walked be along Route 411 to where I started. The street gave much better views than hiking through the woods had.
Fuji was quite visible today. I got so many beautiful pictures of it. It is hard to choose just one or two.
There really isn't much snow around this year.
Took this from the フルーツライン ("Fruit Line"--a road lined with vineyards and orchards) on the way home.
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I had some business to attend to on a Saturday night in Tokyo. Since I was heading down there and had some free time during the day, I decided to drop by some of my old stomping grounds.
My initial plan for the day was to retrace my footsteps from a hike I made a few years ago up to Mt. Mito. Saihara to Mito, Sept, 2019 Mt. Mito is a very nice mountain. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit it into this day's schedule and turned back two peaks before reaching there.
Nevertheless, it was a bit nostalgic to hike in that area. The weather in the morning was gorgeous. Unfortunately, it got cloudy by the time I reached the ridgeline and I was denied some of the better views. That said, it was still a great day.
Peaks bagged: Maruyama ~ Makiyose ~ Hachizasusawanoto
(First-time) peaks #839 (This was my 8th time to Makiyose. Maruyama is the only new one for this day.)
Getting there/getting around: My car. There are bus stops nearby that can be reached after about a 50 minute ride from Uenohara Station on the Chuo Line. That bus only runs a few times a day.
The most popular route from Uenohara is probably the one from the Tsuru Pass (鶴峠). This trailhead is to the west of Mt. Mito is much shorter than the route I took. The rise in elevation is also only about half of what my plan was. The Tsuru Pass can be reached by bus from Uenohara. That takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I passed that trailhead/bus stop on my way to my trailhead. I was really surprised how many people were there! The one time I took that bus, I was the only passenger.
Elevation:Lowest: 549m Highest: 1,371m Total Ascent: 1,028m Total Descent: 1,028m
Technical considerations/difficulty: No ropes, chains or ladders. Steep. If you aren't good at finding the trail, you could get lost.
Facilities: Nothing on the trail.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: The Sasa One (Sasa Ridge) runs from Mt. Jinba to Mt. Mito. I have climbed up to it and along it more times than I can count. 😄 Hiking up to this ridgeline from the Yamanashi side is quite secluded. The routes to this ridge and these mountains from the Tokyo side are more crowded because of their accessibility.
Coming from Nagano down into Yamanashi, I got some nice views on the way.
This is from "Mt." Maru. It's not very high but is still called a mountain by my app.
I love the variety of flora you can see in Japan. On the same day you can see fall foliage, you can see flowers blooming. In the winter, you can still see vegetables being grown under snow cover.
The top of Mt. Makiyose (槇寄山)
This is as far as I went this day. I always forget the name of this peak. It's Hachizasusawanoto. "Bee-Aim-Stream-Head"
I dropped by the Seoto no Yu Onsen on my way through Akiruno. I was amazed at how crowded it was. This line was to get into the baths.
Look carefully at the sign on the left. Tattoos are taboo here.
That's all for today. Have a good one! Hit the subscribe button if you have not done that yet.
I tend to spend a lot of time in an area once I start. Maria von Trapp may have wanted to climb every mountain but I want to climb every trail up every mountain.
In the winter and early spring, I spent a fair amount of time in the corner of Yamanashi north of Mt. Daibosatsu around Mt. Kasatori. There are some wonderful trails there.
Imagine my surprise when I came upon this!
I thought it was so cool that I returned a week later with this knife . . .
Those antlers are now on my wall. They are one of my coolest possessions.
Up in Saitama a few days later
Back in Tokyo, near the Okutama Line in Ome.
This is a カモシカ(kamoshika). That translates as serow. I've only seen 3 or 4 them in all the times I've been in the woods. Probably because they tend to not be found in areas where deer are present--and there are a lot of deer in Tokyo and Yamanashi.
