I walked out the door Sunday morning with the idea of going for a trail run on a nearby hill. As often happens, as soon as I walked out the door I got other ideas. It was just so beautiful outside that I wanted to do something a bit more substantive. Looking up at Mt. Asama and its fresh covering of snow gave me the idea to run on its diminutive neighbor, Koasama. (Koasama means "Small Asama.")
It was great. I've already blogged about this run and don't want to repeat myself. If you want details, check out the old post.
Mrs. Caveman combined a little leaf peeping with some lava leering yesterday. We dropped by the Onioshidashi Volcanic Park just below the volcano, Mt. Asama. It was even cooler than I imagined. If you can get there, go. Admission is 700 yen for adults.
A word about the name, Oni Oshi Dashi is a compound of the words for "demon/ogre" 👹, "push" and "out." The name probably is meant to evoke the thoughts of the locals watching eruptions back in the day. It certainly could cause one to think the earth was spewing something evil--kind of like Linda Blair's green vomit scene in the Exorcist.
My only regret is that it was a bit cloudy. It was still impressive but I couldn't help but thinking how amazing this would be on a super clear day.
I'm not going to comment much because I already have something else I'd like to blog about and the pictures say more than I could.
The Lennon family visited in 1977. John loved nearby Karuizawa.
That's Mount Asama
They also call this one Godzilla. I still see King Kong.
Does that mean I fail the Rorrock test?
Can you spot the Karuizawa Toy Kingdom in this picture?
Phosphorescent moss
This one is a dog. I can see that.
Can you spot the face in the next rock?
It made me nostalgic for New Hamphire's Old Man of the Mountain.
These last few are not from the Onioshidashi Park. We dropped by the Asama Otaki (Asama Big Falls) before going home. They are about a 15 minute drive from the volcanic park.
Greetings cave kids and critters. It's one in the afternoon and my eyes are drooping as if it were one in the morning. I forewent some sleep last night in order to get up and go to see the diamond effect of the sun rising behind our local volcano, Mt. Asama.
As is often the case, before embarking on one of these adventures, I was wondering if it was a good idea. The weather forecast wasn't perfect. It was super hot last night and I couldn't sleep.
As is also often the case after one of these adventures, I AM SO GLAD I DID IT! The weather was perfect! We caught the diamond effect really nicely. We had great views of Mt. Fuji, Yatsugatake, the Northern Alps, Mt. Azuma, etc. The temperature was comfortable. What a great morning hike this turned out to be.
Let me give you the stats and then show you some pictures.
Getting there/getting around: Free parking behind the visitor's center. There is a JR bus to the Takamine Hotel bus stop in front of the trailhead. It's 45 minutes to there from Komoro Station or 55 minutes from Sakudaira.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,970 m Highest: 2,404 m Total Ascent: 768 m Total Descent: 768 m
Technical considerations/difficulty: A bit steep at times but there are no chains or ladders, just a few ropes for guidance. The ridgeline from Yarisaya and Nokogiri is not a place I would want to fall.
Facilities: The visitor's center is well-appointed. The Takamine Hotel has a commanding view of the plains below. There is an emergency hut near Mt. Kurumazaka in case the volcano erupts.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: What a great area this is. My recommendation? Go and hike there!
I found out about the diamond effect on Mt. Asama by coming across a flyer for a tour a few months ago. Armed with the date, time and location for viewing this sunrise, I took my friend Michael to see it on our own. In order to not get mixed in with the crowd, we started hiking earlier than the tour group. We got to the viewing point much earlier than they did. It was worth the wait, though. It was a great hike!
Today's listening: My friend Michael talking.
We got to the viewing spot at about 4. Sunrise was 5:12.
Mt. Azumaya, one of the 100 Famous Mountains. I got rained on a lot there earlier this month.
Near here, it started to smell like sulfur. We encountered a sign warning that we were about 2 km from the volcano and that we shouldn't stick around long.
