Mostly Japanese Mountains: Yamanashi 山梨県

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Yanagisawanoto, a nice side hike beside Daibosatsurei

S'up?

. . . about Mt. Yanagisawanoto

This is a small peak beside Mt. Daibosatsurei overlooking Koshu City.

Area:

Route 411 here is called the Daibosatsurei Line because it winds its way past the 100 Famous Mountain Daibosatsurei. Heading south on the Daibosatsurei Line, you drive downhill toward Mt. Fuji and there are several overlook points to stop at for photo opps. There are also some restaurants and onsens that make for a nice driving experience. One of those restaurants is right at the Yanagisawa Pass.

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 Yanagisawanoto. (The name isn't on the map, but the elevation is. 1,671 m.

Starting and stopping point:

Yanagisawa Pass

Peaks bagged: Yanagisawanoto 柳沢の頭

(First-time) peaks # ---

Getting there/getting around: Car. There is a free parking lot on Route 411 at the Yanagisawa Pass

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Yanagisawa Pass

Time and distance

Total Time: :49 Break time: :00 Distance: 2.2 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,477 m Highest: 1,671 m Total Ascent: 193 m Total Descent: 193 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Easy walk in the woods.

Facilities:

The parking lot has a public restroom and there is a restaurant there.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

This is a nice little hike. I had done this years ago as part of a longer trek but on this day I was returning to Nagano from a hike in Okutama and wanted to experience this area a bit more while I could. This mountain, and nearby Hanzenoto, offer some nice views of Koshu and Yamanashi Cities as well as the Southern Alps.

I spent years picking my way through all the trails around here and it was nice to drop in again. Mt. Daibosatsurei never made it onto the blog because I had not started blogging when I hiked it. I heartily recommend doing it. I think I climbed it 5 or 6 times and every time, from whichever trail I took, was great. If you are into mountain flowers, I recommend attacking it from the south.

Here are some pics

I'll start with some pictures from the past. Looking over my records from the fall of 2020, I was really crazy about this area. In the space of three weeks, I made 4 trips out there and logged 90 km hiking. That's a lot considering I was riding a little 50 cc scooter about 3-4 hours each way just to get there!

I took this picture in November, 2020.

At the Yanagisawa Pass Parking Lot

The top

Taken from Route 411

This is the Daibosatsunoyu Onsen.

It's about 15 minutes down the road.

It's run by the municipality.

This is the vending machine for tickets to the onsen.

Residents of Koshu City use the blue buttons.

Non-residents pay more and use the red buttons.

Assuming you are an adult from outside koshu, use one of the buttons at the top left. A whole day costs ¥1,240. 3 hours is ¥700.

You can rent bath towels, etc. from buttons at the bottom.

I didn't realize it until I was leaving, but there is a ¥100 discount for members of mont-bell.

Taken in November, 2020.

Hazeno is next to Yanagisawanoto

This hike was just a short one to cap off the day after a longer hike on Mt. Kumotori.

Check out that hike on Mt. Kumotori here.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Caveman out

Hiking Yukimidake ~ Kumamoriyama ~ Tengudake ~ Chojagatake ~ Tenshigatake. There was a bear!

Pic courtesy of Freepik.com

Area:

Just west of on the border of Yamanashi and .

The mountains I hiked the other day are part of a collection of mountains which straddle the prefectural border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka and run roughly north to south from near to Mt. Shinshin and beyond. I'm told they are part of the . That seems far away to me, but whatever. I'm also told that they are part of the --. There is nothing between this ridge and Mt. Fuji so the views are great--when the weather cooperates.

A lot of paragliding is done here so that gives you something else to look at.

is one of . Cool.

is not as built up as the lakes of the , but it is very pretty and has nice campgrounds.

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 the area between Yukimidake and Tenshidake.

Starting and stopping point: (First starting point and finish) Jinba Falls Parking Lot (Where I re-started after escaping from the wildlife.) Yamanashi side of the Yunooku Inogashira Tunnel.

Peaks bagged: Yukimidake (雪見岳) ~ Kumamori (熊森山) ~ Tengu (天狗岳)~ Chojagatake (長者ヶ岳) ~ Tenshidake (天子ヶ岳)

(First-time) peaks # 1,064 ~ 1,067 (2nd time on Yukimidake)

Getting there/getting around:

I drove. There is a bus from to the falls. It takes about an hour. You can get to Fujinomiya by local train from , which is a short walk from Fuji Station on the .

If I were coming here from , I think I'd recommend going camping at Lake . It's a long trip from Tokyo, so it would make more sense to do an overnight.

Helpful Info

Weather Information:

Weather on Tenshigatake

Weather on Chojagatake

Time and distance

YAMAP's Estimate Time*: 11:56 Distance: 24.4 km

The Caveman did it in Total Time: 8:17 Break time: :28 Distance: 23.8 km

Elevation: Lowest: 660 m Highest: 1,605 m Total Ascent: 1,763 m Total Descent: 1,808 m

*I had to modify the plan a bit because of a bear encounter.

Here's what the map looked like:

Technical considerations/difficulty:

This isn't a terribly difficult hike. It would be strenuous for a beginner because of the distance and change in elevation but there are not to many ropes. There are no chains. None of this is .

Facilities:

Nothing on the trail. There is a public restroom near the Jinba Falls Parking Lot and at Lake Tanuki. There is also a water fountain at the lake.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

To be honest, I am not sure if I can make the recommendation I planned on when I was at the beginning of this hike. I was so pleasantly surprised with the paved road that my trail started out on that I was already looking forward to mentioning it in this part of my blogpost. I have hiked up to and back down from this ridge several times and have disliked most of those ascents and descents. It's quite steep and many of the trails are strewn with loose rocks. Not fun. Especially un-fun when you're tired and your ankles are already wobbly.

Not just the fact that the trail was paved was a nice surprise but I was also kind of excited to find that the launch from a spot next to that road. That was cool to watch! I'd seen paragliders in the air the last time I was on Yukimidake, but it was neat to see them taking off.

So, I liked that road a lot.

Then I saw the from that road. Hmmmmm.

Life's full of trade-offs, I guess.

More on the bear later. Look through the pictures.

Jinba Falls is 2 minutes from the parking lot.

Unfortunately, it clouded up as the morning went on and I only saw Fuji in the morning.

There is a paragliding launching pad just off the road up to the ridge.

This was cool to watch.

In so many years I miss the fall foliage or the in the spring because of weather and work schedules. I have been spoiled this year with the amount of leaf-peeping I've been able to do.

Not too far from this spot, I saw the bear.

I heard him crashing through the brush on that hill and looked up to see him running away.

He was just a black blur. I am really glad he wasn't running toward me because he was fast.

Since he was running uphill, in the same direction I was going, I thought prudence was the better part of valor and I should just turn around and go home. I wasn't happy about that, but it seemed like the right decision.

Bummer.

Just after I'd made up my mind and started retracing my steps, a little truck (, for you that understand) came up the hill. I flagged him down to warn him about the bear. We chatted a minute and he offered to give me a ride. I took him up on the idea and he drove me up the road 500 meters or so and I got out and started hiking again.

I should have asked him if it would be ok to show his face on the blog! He probably would have said yes because the picture was his idea.