Mostly Japanese Mountains: winter

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Just . . . Lake Shoji area dayhike #Skywatch Friday

Greetings cave dwellers.

For the emperor's birthday holiday this week, I went to Lake Shoji, the smallest of the Fuji Five Lakes. This is one more leg in a long project of hiking the mountains on the shores of all five lakes in an unbroken line. I've completed most of the western four lakes. I have more work to do on Lake Ashi to the east.

Location: Panoramadai

Starting and stopping point: Bus Stop below Panoramadai パノラマ台下バス停

Mountains climbed: Panoramadai (パノラマ台) Shoji (精進山) Sanpobun (三方分山) Goko (五湖山) Yokosawanoto (横沢の頭) Seiya (西精山)

Getting there/getting around: This is accessible by bus on the blue line from Kawaguchiko Station or Fujisan Station. There are very few buses and it's a long ride. There is a free parking spot right next to the trailhead where I parked my scooter.

Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu 32 FUJI-SAN MISAKA・ASHITAKA-YAMA 富士山　御坂・愛鷹山

Weather Information: Mt. Sanpobun weather

Total Time: 6 hours 44 minutes Break time: 36 minutes

Distance: 15.4km

Elevation: Lowest: 900m Highest: 1,465m Total Ascent: 1,345m Total Descent: 1,345m

Technical considerations/difficulty: Not a terribly technical hike. Not much exposure. It's all well below the treeline. There is little in the way of chains or ropes. There are steep parts and there are some parts of the trail that have been washed away in landslides. There hasn't been much snow this season and I didn't even bother to put on my crampons.

Facilities: Nothing on the trail to speak of except for a sheltered picnic bench at the panoramadai.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

I've said it before. There is a certain world-famous brand name that I don't patronize because--well I won't go into their myriad of offenses here. I won't buy their products but I do begrudgingly agree that their slogan is great. Just Do It. Yesterday was another day when Just Doing It paid off for me. I had the day off and wanted to get a day of hiking in but the weather didn't look great and the futon was mighty warm and cozy at 5:00 am. And . . . the plan for the day entailed riding my scooter 3 bone-chilling hours before even starting a long day. The prospect of a long, cold grey day with no worthwhile views made me wonder if the risks didn't outweigh the possible rewards.

The sky matched my grey mindset for the entire 3 hours I spent on the road out to the foothills of Mt. Fuji. I usually make the ride non-stop. On this trip, I stopped 3 times to warm up.

Then, just as I reached my destination, the sky cleared up and the temperature rose a few degrees. Once again I was glad that I was Just Doing It.

I never regret Just Doing It. Sometimes I stop doing it when something is stupid or dangerous--but that is something different.

The place: As Lake Shoji is the smallest and least developed of the Fuji Five Lakes it is a sweet spot to visit. It's not really easy to get to for a day trip so there are fewer tourists than on the other lakes. There are only a few hotels and restaurants. One hotel has campsites on the lakeside. The panoramadai and the lakeshore have the best views. I did see on one of the billboards for a hotel that they have a rotenburo (露天風呂--outside bath) with a view of Mt. Fuji. That would be cool! If I weren't such a cheapskate, I would try it. For my purpose of tying up the loose threads between this lake and Lake Sai to the east, I hiked far to the east to Mt. Yokosawanoto. If your purpose is a pleasure hike with nice views, I think you should skip about half of my plan. I would recommend going to the Paroramadai before heading northeast to Mt. Sanpobun and finally descending down to the lake from there. That portion of my hike was where all the best views were. The last several hours of my hike were not the most photogenic.

This is what the map looks like:

Let me show you some pictures.

Remember what I said about access to this place being difficult? Check out the bus schedule. It's a long wait if you miss a bus!

The trailhead to the Panoramadai

Fuji sometimes forms lenticular (lense-shaped) clouds. When they are directly over the mountain, they are called kasagumo--"bamboo umbrella-cloud". When they form to the leeward side of the mountain, they are called tsurushigumo--"roll clouds". I think these must be tsurushigumo.

Looking west from the Panoramadai. That is Lake Motosu--the western-most of the five lakes--down below. My last trek on this side of the lake region will be to circumambulate that lake. Lake Motosu has a massive tranquil campground.

Mt. Omuro is directly in front of Fuji in the next picture. I climbed that from the south side of this lake in August. That is in the Aokigahara Forest. That has a sad reputation for being a suicide destination.

Ryugatake and Omuro hike

This is where I exited the woods at the end of my trek. The trail I used from Mt. Goko down to the lake is a secondary trail and doesn't appear on all maps. You can get an idea of the condition of the trail by the condition of its entrance. That rickety wooden thing in the middle of the picture is a stair/ladder.

What a sight to be presented with when walking out of the woods.

I got a kick out of being able to spot the buildings of the 5th Station from 10 miles away.

I couldn't get enough of this view.

On the way home . . .

From the Narusawa area

3 lakes later . . .

That's all for now. Have a great day. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. The button for that is in the pop-out menu on the right.

🎉🎊Happy New Year times two! ✌️ ⛰ Oyama for the first sunrise of 2023. 🌅

あけましたおめでとうございます！

Happy New Year!

🎉🥳

Greetings cave dwellers. Welcome back to my mancave for another year.

Have you decided on any resolutions? I'm thinking of taking up hiking myself.

The first hike of 2023 ended up being a two-fer for me! I climbed Mt. Oyama twice. I was up to the top of Mt. Oyama and back down to my bike by 9 and ready to go home when I realized my keys were missing. Yikes. Nowhere to be found. Although I climbed the mountain again (bonus hike!) in my search for them, they never appeared.

Here are the details for both hikes. I'll add commentary after that.

Location: Mt. Oyama, Kanagawa

Starting and stopping points for both hikes: First Isehara Daiichi Parking Lot Second Oyama Cable Station

Mountains climbed: Mt. Oyama

Getting there/getting around: There is bus service from Isehara Station on the Odakyu Line. Public transportation doesn't run early enough for sunrise, though. There are many parking lots along Route 611. A shuttle bus runs up and down between the parking lots and Koma Sando.

Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu #29 山と高原地図・２９・丹沢

Weather Information: Mt. Oyama Weather

Time: (First time) about 3 hours, 20 minutes. (Second time) 2 hours 48 minutes

Distance: (First time) 9.5km (Second time) 6.2km

Elevation: (First time) Lowest: 254m Highest: 1,252m Total Ascent: 1,110m Total Descent: 1,110m (Second time) Lowest: 659m Highest: 1,252m Total Ascent: 718m Total Descent: 729m

Technical considerations/difficulty: The trails here are rugged but extremely well-maintained and sturdy. There are a lot of steep natural rock stairs but very few loose rocks. Dirt parts of the trail that are prone to turning to mud are often traversed with wooden walkways. It offers a good climbing workout without any danger. There are only one or two spots that have chains. Oyama is climbed by people of all ages. I even saw a few parents with newborns strapped to their chests yesterday. If you're out of shape, you can take the cable car to shave a half hour or so of climbing off. If you're really out of shape, you can just take the cable car to the shrine and stop there. There are lots of restaurants and a great view there.

Facilities: Since Mt. Oyama is so popular, there are myriads of souvenir shops and restaurants. Many of these shops line Route 611 where the parking lots are. Route 611 is connected to the cable car station by a quaint shopping street called Koma Sando. Koma Sando has a large concentration of restaurants and gift shops and many little "chokubai" spots selling mountain vegetables, roots and citrus fruits. "Chokubai" means direct selling. Most commonly it means un-manned stands selling produce on the side of the street. Koma is the word for spinning top and this is the place to buy a top if you're into that kind of thing. Evidently, the wood in the area is famous and that's why they make tops here. Just below Afurijinja (Afuri Shrine), near the top of the cable car, there are a few restaurants selling Japanese food, ice cream and hot dogs. T-shirts, etc. are on sale there. At the top of Mt. Oyama, there is another mountain restaurant serving things like ramen and oden. There are public restrooms on the top--but they seem to be closed on weekdays now.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations: First, don't ever lose the 🔑 to your 🛵 on a 🏔. 😭

Yesterday was a great day to welcome the first sunrise of the year and Mt. Oyama is a swell place to do this. No wonder it's popular for the first sunrise. If you go for sunrise on January 1 though, be early. I was really surprised at how all of the parking lots were already full when I got there around 4:30. It took me 15 minutes to find a parking lot with a space for me. I was able to park only because I was on a bike. I don't think there was any car parking left. Indeed, there were cars waiting in the street for people to leave the parking lots all day to open up spaces.

Here are what my hikes looked like yesterday.

First time up. I went basically clockwise.

Second time up

Here's how the day went from the beginning.

1km up the street from the parking lot I got to Koma Sando.

I didn't take this in the morning. The caveman is a cheapskate and also feels that ropeways, gondolas and cablecars are cheating.

Just beyond the cable car, there is a fork in the trail. The　女の道 (Woman's Trail) goes to the left and the 男の道 (Men's Trail) goes to the right. They meet up again later.

I made great time on both of my hikes today. I usually do go a little faster than the estimates on maps because those are based on how long it would take an average group of four 40-y.o. women to hike. Despite all the voices in my head, none of them are 40 and none of them are women, so those estimates never apply to me.

One factor that always increases my speed is the number other people who are on the trail. It always makes me go faster when I encounter someone. It becomes a race and I won't be happy until they are eating my dust. I guess I drive the same way. Anyway, in the early morning, it was like a traffic jam or a line at Disney with everyone heading up for sunrise so I never slowed down from passing speed. On my second trip up, I moved fast just because I was hoping to find my keys before it got too late.

"90 minutes". Ha! I sneer at their estimate. 🐌 I did it in 43. 🏃

After catching the sunrise from the east side of the peak, I headed over to the west side to catch another iconic Japanese view; Mt. Fuji.

And back to the east side for a picture of Tokyo before heading down.

Some place names make me laugh.

When I came down, I used the Women's Trail. It passes this temple.

Can you spot the lost article in the picture? (Hint: it's right in front of your eye.)

Satoji Shrine by the Suzu River

It was soon after this that I got to my scooter and realized I lost my keys. Then I turned around and headed back up the mountain. I stopped into every store I'd been to, I called the cops and I talked to everyone coming down the trail. I even took the cable car 🚠 on the second trip. Buying a ticket was the only way I could get inside to ask about their lost and found.

See the trip back to get the scooter here:

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2023/01/what-is-purpose-of-keychain-oyama-area.html

Here's a report I made on a hike to Oyama in 2022, if you're interested:

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-last-mountain-on-left-aka-big.html

This was my second view of Fuji. 🏔

Last week I was on Mt. Furo which is in line between this point and Mt. Fuji. Despite knowing this, I still can't quite put my finger on which Mountain it is in this picture.