"Hikeling" Hinode by bicycle

This week I did some hikeling.  Hikeling is the term I coined for riding into the mountains and then hiking when I run out of road.  This activity is something I stumbled on a few years ago and doing that was one of the serendipitous little events that hooked me on the mountains so much.  

At the time, I would go for bike rides occasionally to the edge of the mountains.  5 or 10 miles on the bike seemed like a really long ride then.  One day I decided on a whim to turn onto a side street.  I rode on that a bit and encountered the chained-off entrance to a gravel road next to a stream.  I decided to try that road too and the adventure began!  

The birds were singing, the water was bubbling.  It was beautiful.  After following this gravel road for a bit, the terrain got more rugged and I had to cross the stream a few times.  Eventually, the road gave way to being just a path.  Even though I didn't really know where I was and had no map, I parked the bike and started to follow the trail.  Soon, the trail became quite rough, I had to use my arms as well as legs to climb.  

Not long after that, I popped out on top of a mountain!  And it was a mountain that I had climbed before but had no idea how close I was to it that day.

That was my first encounter with a 林道 "rindo"; a forest or logging road.  There are rindo criss-crossing all over the mountains.  It was my first acquaintance with how the rindo intersect with hiking trails and it opened up entirely new opportunities for hiking and learning about the topography.  I love maps and drawing connections between the locations of places on the ground and the rindo have made it possible to interact with the terrain in many ways  that weren't possible before.

I haven't been hikeling much this year but went on two trips this week.  The first was up to Mt. Hinode.  Although this is one of the most trafficked mountains in Japan because of its proximity to Tokyo, using the rindo enables me to get near the top without seeing one other person until I get off the bicycle.

Here is my route.  If you're interested, the entrance to this rindo is off Yoshino Kaido at Yugimachi.

The hike

Almost all downhill on the way home.  Weeee!

This is on the trail, not the rindo.  There are quite a few areas around here where it's possible to ride on the hiking trails.  Some places don't allow bikes, though.  And, it's best not to take your bike on a trail unless you know beforehand whether it's ridable.  I've learned that the hard way.

The weather hasn't cooperated this month for pictures.  :-(

This gate at the bottom is always closed.  They must really mean it now.  If you look closely at the sides of the gate, they've tried to seal the gaps.  I had to climb over.

Yesterday I went for a much longer hikeling trip.  I went to Okutama and up and over the pass between Mt. Gozen and Mt. Nokogiri before descending on the other side into Hinohara Village.

Here is the route I took:

This picture is on the way.  I think this was on the side street behind Futamatao Station if I recall.

There are freaky-good scarecrows in Japan.  This is right beside Route 411.

The entrance to the rindo (林道) is maybe 1km past Okutama Station.  It's between the fire station and the hospital. 

Looking down toward Okutama

This forest road is mostly paved.

The road took me near the top of Mt. Nokogiri.  I couldn't pass by a peak without taking a peek.  (It's a boring mountaintop as they go, though.  No view.)

Then back to the bike for the descent.

The sign: "None shall pass."  "Go back, fool."  "Abandon hope all ye who enter here."

Me:  "Hold my beer."

(Seriously.  I don't drink.  You can hold my beer forever.)

The treat on the way down is Kanato Iwa.  It's really out of the way and I would never have discovered it without hikeling--but it is a really neat gorge.  (I entered Kanatoiwa as the location for this post if you are interested in going there.  It's in the general vicinity of Hossawa Falls if you know where they are.)

The iwa (boulder).

The gorge

Between Kanatoiwa and the next big street, Route 205, there is a campground and some cabins along the river.  The cabins are called Kanatoiwa Lodge.  When my kids were little, we went there for a Sunday School camp with our parish one weekend.  It was a great place for a group outing like that.  I highly recommend it if you have a group event like that. 

That's all for now.  Drop by the cave again sometime.

 

It stopped raining! Long hike around Otaki in Chichibu City.

Greetings cave cretins, I mean creatures.

It finally stopped raining.  I'd been chomping at the bit to get into the mountains for about a week so I planned a longish day hike for when I could finally get out.

Much like the original D Day, my plan was pushed back a day for weather.  When the, seemingly clear, day for my hike arrived, this is what greeted me when I walked out the door.

Not too shabby!

About 3 hours later, nearing my destination in Otaki in Saitama, this is what I saw at the Futase Dam.

Signs and wonders . . . 

This picture is taken upstream from the dam.  This is the Arakawa River, by the way.  It starts at Mt. Kobushi at the intersection of Saitama, Yamanashi and Nagano and eventually dumps into Tokyo Bay.

Unfortunately, the beautiful blue skies didn't last beyond the morning.  I did get these pics before it got too cloudy, but the rest of the day was not one for taking in distant sights.

The rest of the day was like this.

(That picture is Karisaka Pass.)

OK, I actually do like that kind of picture.  I often feel like I'm in Middle Earth when I'm in the mountains.  Sometimes it's like the Shire.  Sometimes it's like the Misty Mountains.  (I wonder how many of you just started hearing "Walking in the park just the other day baby . . ."?)

One thing that was cool was all the water.  We have had so much rain lately.  The falls, streams and rivers gushing off the mountains were truly awesome.

In case you're curious, this is the route I took yesterday.  It was a long one with an elevation change of over 2,300 meters up and then over 2,300 meters back down.  Adding onto the hike driving about 3 hours each way made me one tired puppy when I got home.     

I'm happy whenever I can get into the mountains but do feel a bit bummed out when I can't see anything.  I'll have to go back here if I want to know what it's really all about.  I've already planned 2 more hikes adjacent to this route.

As Abu says, "Thank you.  Come again."

 

Caveman climbs another of the 100 Famous Mountains. Lake Miyagase to Mt. Tanzawa.

If there's anything in the world I hate, it's leeches.  Filthy little devils.  Charlie Allnut

I'm with Mr. Bogart on this one.

Greeting cave critters.

I went to Kanagawa yesterday to take a different trail up to Mt. Tanzawa.  It was a really great day--except for the leeches.

That was the least gross picture I got of leeches yesterday.  If you want to see some more gruesome ones, let me know.  I try to concentrate on beautiful stuff on this blog so I thought it better to spare you the icky stuff.

One of the irritating things about leeches is that they inject an anticoagulant into the wound so that the blood will just keep pouring out for hours if you don't stop it.

I've been up Mt. Tanzawa 3 or 4 times.  It's a nice area to hike in.  The views from the top are ok, but the views on the way up tend to be even better.  Although it was a beautiful day yesterday, the top was surrounded by mist and clouds and I didn't take any pictures up there.

On this trek, I assaulted the mountain from the east, a trail I'd yet to tread.  It was a fairly steady climb.  I started at an elevation of around 300 meters and Tanzawa is 1,567.  I realized later that the distance of this hike was greater than the hike I did up Fuji last week.  And, taking into consideration the up and down nature of this hike, the change in elevation also was greater on this hike.  

Shrooms!

This little guy was no bigger than a quarter.

I started by Lake Miyagase, a sight I'd yet to see.  It's a nice-looking lake.  It seems quite popular with bicycles and motorcycles.  It turns out that that was the most photogenic part of the journey.

Time to soak the barking, and bleeding, dogs.

Drop by the cave again sometime.  I'm happy you came by.

Want to see another of the 100 Famous Mountains?  Kobushigatake Or more of the Tanzawa area?  Tanzawa Area

Subscribe, comment, etc.  Thanks

Caveman out

 

Revenge on Ryokami

 Yesterday was revenge day.  

One of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan is Mt Ryokami (両神), in Saitama.  I climbed it once a year or two ago but I promised myself I would try to go again even though it's quite far from me for two reasons.  First, it was cloudy and I didn't see anything the first time.  Second, I wasn't able to buy a memorial badge.  I try to buy one of these mementos whenever I climb one of the 100 Famous Mountains.  

This is the badge for Ryokami.  I received it yesterday.

I tried climbing Ryokami once more from a different trail last year but turned back before even getting near the mountain.  My map recon was insufficient and I found my chosen path more resembled a rock-climbing expedition than a hike.  That trail was littered with chain-less, ladder-less vertical rock faces and was not marked.  At more than a few spots you had no idea what was waiting on the other side of the corner that you were going around. The trail might be there or it might be a 1,000 foot drop.  No way of knowing without going ahead.  Not having a sherpa or even any ropes, I decided to, as the Japanese say, "Have the courage to go back."  ("Courage" my butt.  Let's call it prudence or common sense but let's not call turning back courage.)

D"#$ you, Ryokami.  I had to have my revenge.

This time I chose to start at a parking lot called Shiroizasu (白井差).  My map recon was insufficient this time, too.  When I got to the parking lot, I found out you are supposed to call ahead and make a reservation.  The trail is on private land.  This information is printed on paper maps but I had done my planning online and that information isn't online.  Anyway, when I got to the parking lot, I was confronted with a sign saying it's private property, you need to make a reservation by phone in advance, parking and use of the trail costs ¥1,000, etc.  The owner turns out to be the guy who actually built and still maintains the trail that starts at the parking lot.  He was an interesting character.  He gave me a laminated map and very detailed instructions about every inch of the trail.  I asked him if he knew where I could get a badge.  He said he would happily give me one--when I came back.  I asked him where to pay the ¥1,000.  He told me to pay him--when I came back safely.  If I didn't make it down safely, parking and use of the trail would be free. 

What a bargain!   

He was an interesting guy.  Along the trail, he had left tools and equipment here and there; chain saws, gasoline, rakes, bug spray, that he must use for trail maintenance.  When I came down, I told him how impressed I was with all of the ladders, chains, and even concrete on the trail.  "How'd you get all that stuff up there?  Helicopter?"  He said that now they would use helicopters but when he put all that stuff up there 25 years ago, he packed it all on his back.  "Your back gets used to it."  Very impressive.

The trail from Shiroizasu is shorter than either trail I tried before.  The first quarter of this trail crisscrosses a stream and passes some falls.  I like that. 

Here are some random pics of the day.  It wasn't a perfectly clear day but it was better than last time.  And I got the badge.

In this area, there are a lot of spots with chains like this.  I was going to go to the third peak after Mt Ryokami but the old guy at Shiroizasu told me there are about 20 spots like this between the 2nd and 3rd peaks.  I decided to stop at the second peak.  One set of chains is exhilarating.  Two is worrying.  Three is tiring.  Twenty is something I don't want to contemplate.

This sign appears after the second peak.

"CAUTION Hachou Pass Course

This course has a lot of chains, boulders, etc.

NOT FOR BEGINNERS..."

They aren't kidding.

When I left the mountain, I dropped by the Marukami Falls (丸神ノ滝), a 20 minute walk off the road.

And of course, I found a swimming hole to give my barking dogs a break.

Want to see another of the 100 Famous Mountains?  Check out Daibosatsurei or Kobushigatake

More next week.

Caveman out