(May 2022 repost) Quick trail run on Takao

 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.

Starting out, the concrete trail parallels a river.  Nice.

The top.  Sometimes this place is absolutely packed.

There are great views of downtown Tokyo and of Mt. Fuji from here.

If you live in Tokyo and have not visited Takao yet, shame on you.

Fuji is pretty from here on a clear day.

Those mountains in the foreground are the Tanzawa Range in Kanagawa Prefecture.  There're some wonderful trails there.  Beware of leeches during summer, though!  The mountain in the middle of the picture, the biggest one in the area, is named Hirugatake.  Hirugatake literally means leech mountain.

I deposited my scooter behind that visitor's center under the highway during my run.  Don't tell anyone.  They were closed.  The small building on the right is a public restroom.

Drop by the cave again sometime!

Caveman out.

Sunday am in Karuizawa. Koasama Trail Run

S'up, cave people?

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.  

The old post

This was blown over.

That area just below and to the right of the center of the picture is the Onioshidashi Volcanic Park.  It's a very cool place to visit.

 

Trail run (?). Hirao Fuji. Saku City. Nice fallviews.

 

This morning I took a run up Mt. Hirao.  Hirao is one of my go-to places if I have time for a run before the sun sets after work.  It's located in the northeast of Saku City, just above the highway.  It's visible from most of the city--and it has great views.

Location:  Mt. Fuji Hirao/Hirao Castle Ruins

Starting and stopping point:  Sakudaira IC Parking Lot

Peaks bagged: Hirao

(First-time) peaks #xx (Not my first time here)

Getting there/getting around:  I drove.  There is plenty of parking.  The parking lots at the onsen don't open until 8 but I was able to park at the highway parking lot.

Map:  Yama to Kogen Chizu #21 西上州　妙義山・荒船山

Weather Information: Mt. Arafune's weather (not too far away)

Total Time:  2:09 Break time: :00  Distance:  12.1km

Elevation:  Lowest:  788 m Highest: 1,155 m Total Ascent:  727 m Total Descent: 727 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

There are a variety of trails that I used on this run.  There are hiking trails, ski trails and some forestry roads.  

I lost a lot of time by trying to run under one particular ski lift.  There are two lifts I ran under.  The one on the lower half of the mountain is easy to proceed up.  The entrance to the hiking trail is near the top of that lift.  Until today, I'd always left the ski trail there and entered the hiking trail.  This morning, I tried to continue toward the top following under the upper ski lift.  This turned into a slow exercise in bushwhacking up a very steep, prickly, wet, slippery slope.  I lost a lot of time there but got to burn a few calories--and collect a few scrapes and scratches to the delight of my inner-9-year-old. 

Most of the trails and some of the roads up here aren't on maps.  It's quite easy to get twisted around.  I would stick to the marked trails if you don't have some kind of gps device.

Facilities:  Nothing on the trail.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  Do it if you can.

Today's listening:  Bible in a Year

Winter's coming.  Brace yourself.

Yatsugatake

Alps

Mt. Asama

This escalator from the onsen down to the Sakudaira Toll booth and parking lot really sticks out.  You can see it for miles around.

That's all for now.

Subscribe.  Tell your friends, etc. 

Or not.

Caveman out.

Mt. Monomi around sunset. 夕焼け小焼けの物見

Greetings cavedwellers.

Yesterday I got to go for a run after work.  That was great.  It was so beautiful that I lost time because I kept stopping to take pictures.

Location:  Mt. Monomi by the Uchiyama Bokujo Campground

Starting and stopping point:  初谷分岐　(Shotani? Fork on Rt 44)

Peaks bagged: Monomi (物見)

(First-time) peaks　#832

Getting there/getting around:  My trusted car

Map:  Yama to Kogen Chizu #21 西上州　妙義山・荒船山

Weather Information: Mt. Arafune's weather (not too far away)

Total Time:  1:13 Break time: 3  Distance:  6.8km (4.25m)

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,113m  Highest: 1,373m Total Ascent: 373m   Total Descent: 373m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  A lot of this is runnable.

Facilities:  My run brought me past a campground twice.  I suppose there maybe water there.  There is a public restroom.  I'm not sure if they close in the winter.  I just checked and they are taking reservations until December 31.  I'm not sure if they close then or if they just aren't taking reservations that far out.  Arafune Panorama Campfield

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  This was a great run.  It enabled me to connect the dots of my footprints a bit.  Even though it was just a short time, running at the golden hour under clear skies gave me better views than I've had on several long excursions lately.

Today's listening:  Bible in a Year

I won't write too much.  I've already spent more time on this blog post than I spent in the woods!

Like I said, much of this is runnable.

One of the many great views of Mt. Arafune.

There is a pasture full of cows.  I wondered how they kept the cows safe from bears.  I did notice that the pasture is surrounded with barbed wire.

Coming down off Monomi, I ran on pavement for a while.  Deer love these type of roads, especially at this time of day.

Mrs. Caveman and I first came to this area to look at the field of cosmos a few weeks ago.  They're all gone now.

I love this sign!  It is actually oriented to what it overlooks.  

One of my pet peeves is that signs like this in Japan are often not oriented to the direction they are pointing.  You have to twist your head around and try to do geometry in your imagination to reconcile the map with what you are seeing on the ground.

Well done Saku City for this sign!

This song is played in this town over loudspeakers at 5:00 pm every day.  I think every town in Japan plays something near the end of the day to signify the time.  It's not at 5 everywhere and some municipalities play different songs.

This song is called Yuyake Koyake 夕焼け小焼け.  Yuyake expresses the idea of the last bright sunlight before the sun goes down and koyake is the light that remains just after sunset.  It's quite nostalgic for me.  The first town I lived in in Japan played this song at the end of the day.  Doing some research for this blog post revealed that the lyricist was from Hachioji.  Not only that, but I also realized that a place I hiked through before (on a long hike from Musashi Itsukaichi to Takao, 26 km) was named Yuyake Koyake Fureai no Sato in his honor because it's near his birthplace.  

I really love this song and it was poignant to hear this here at this time of day. 

Well, that's enough for now.

Caveman out.