Mostly Japanese Mountains

Mts. Maru, Makiyose and that other one with the long name. Dayhike between Uenohara and Hinohara.

S'up, peeps?

I had some business to attend to on a Saturday night in Tokyo. Since I was heading down there and had some free time during the day, I decided to drop by some of my old stomping grounds.

My initial plan for the day was to retrace my footsteps from a hike I made a few years ago up to Mt. Mito. Saihara to Mito, Sept, 2019 Mt. Mito is a very nice mountain. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit it into this day's schedule and turned back two peaks before reaching there.

Nevertheless, it was a bit nostalgic to hike in that area. The weather in the morning was gorgeous. Unfortunately, it got cloudy by the time I reached the ridgeline and I was denied some of the better views. That said, it was still a great day.

Location: Around Mt. Makiyose in Uenohara, Yamanashi and Hinohara, Tokyo

Starting and stopping point: Uenohara-shi, Saihara

Peaks bagged: Maruyama ~ Makiyose ~ Hachizasusawanoto

(First-time) peaks #839 (This was my 8th time to Makiyose. Maruyama is the only new one for this day.)

Getting there/getting around: My car. There are bus stops nearby that can be reached after about a 50 minute ride from Uenohara Station on the Chuo Line. That bus only runs a few times a day.

The most popular route from Uenohara is probably the one from the Tsuru Pass (鶴峠). This trailhead is to the west of Mt. Mito is much shorter than the route I took. The rise in elevation is also only about half of what my plan was. The Tsuru Pass can be reached by bus from Uenohara. That takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I passed that trailhead/bus stop on my way to my trailhead. I was really surprised how many people were there! The one time I took that bus, I was the only passenger.

Map: 山と高原地図奥多摩御岳山・大岳山 24 Okutama Area Yamatokogen Map

Weather Information: Weather for Mt. Makiyose (Japanese)

Total Time: 3:30 Break time: :16 Distance: 9.6km

Elevation: Lowest: 549m Highest: 1,371m Total Ascent: 1,028m Total Descent: 1,028m

Technical considerations/difficulty: No ropes, chains or ladders. Steep. If you aren't good at finding the trail, you could get lost.

Facilities: Nothing on the trail.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations: The Sasa One (Sasa Ridge) runs from Mt. Jinba to Mt. Mito. I have climbed up to it and along it more times than I can count. 😄 Hiking up to this ridgeline from the Yamanashi side is quite secluded. The routes to this ridge and these mountains from the Tokyo side are more crowded because of their accessibility.

Today's listening: Bible in a Year

Here are some pictures.

Coming from Nagano down into Yamanashi, I got some nice views on the way.

This is from "Mt." Maru. It's not very high but is still called a mountain by my app.

I love the variety of flora you can see in Japan. On the same day you can see fall foliage, you can see flowers blooming. In the winter, you can still see vegetables being grown under snow cover.

The top of Mt. Makiyose (槇寄山)

This is as far as I went this day. I always forget the name of this peak. It's Hachizasusawanoto. "Bee-Aim-Stream-Head"

I dropped by the Seoto no Yu Onsen on my way through Akiruno. I was amazed at how crowded it was. This line was to get into the baths.

Look carefully at the sign on the left. Tattoos are taboo here.

That's all for today. Have a good one! Hit the subscribe button if you have not done that yet.

Caveman, out.

Pat B

I'm the caveman. My mancave is the mountains. Google dislikes me so nobody can find my blog. I keep doing it though, because I want to remember all the great places I've been able to see and I have a bad memory.

HeARTworks: Share the Joy!

This is from my very talented cavesister, Patsy!

HeARTworks: Share the Joy!: ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since ...

Large thanks

A big shout out and thank you Mrs. Caveman's sisters, Patsty and Meldy, for stepping up and buying me some equipment for the winter hiking season! That's pretty nice of them, considering I did club their sister over the head and drag her back to my cave all those years ago.

I like this jacket so much that when I went hiking yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to actually put it on. Even though it was getting a bit windy and cold, I didn't want to put it on because I was all sweaty.

I'm not one for using poles most of the time--but I think when snowshoeing the poles they bought me will come in handy!

At this point of the post, I was planning on berating the rest of you readers as deadbeats for not supporting the cause like Patsy and Meldy did. (They really are awesome. We should all strive to be so awesome. I mean, really strive.)

Then I realized that the button I used to have for "Buying me a coffee" went missing!

As a great philosopher once said, "d'oh!"

Don't I feel dumb. I thought nobody cared about me because I hadn't had a donation in two years but I was wrong!

It's not that you all don't love me. It's just that I'm incompetent!

Anyway, I'm sure you're all relieved at this chance to make up for lost time by dropping some coppers into my coffer. While you're at it, tell your friends about this blog . . . and the button.

(Just kidding. You really don't have to put anything in, but in case you want to, here's the button.)

Have a good one. It's Thanksgiving in the US this week. I hope and pray you are all able to identify many things to be grateful for--and that you all know Who is really the source of all these things.

Caveman hikes the 💯 Famous Mountain, Mt. Takatsuma (高妻山), Nagano/Niigata.

Konnichiwa Cave Critters and Cave Curious.

Caveman here.

Astute perusers of this space will recall that--despite twice driving to and spending the night at the base of Mt. Takatsuma--the Caveman was denied ascension of Mt. Takatsuma both times. The first time by rain, the second time by illness.

Takatsu--高妻山--means "Tall Wife" in English. Mrs. Caveman, while being very high in my estimation, is, shall we say, vertically challenged? This situation has made me wonder if the "Tall Wife" might be jealous of my short wife and of how my affections run toward her rather than toward one as monumentous as herself. Maybe that is the reason Mt. Takatsu had played so hard to get.

No matter. The Tall Wife is vanquished. Long live the short wife.

The queen is dead. Long live the queen.

Take that you, you mountain you.

Yesterday I drove up to Takatsu to do the hike on a day trip. I was a bit iffy about doing this trip on that day because the weather was questionable.

I really was on the fence about going there until the very last minute. The weather reports varied widely and I was tempted to stay local and hike something less noteworthy since it was possible there wasn't going to be anything to see anyway. On the other hand, I didn't want to put this one off too long or it might have ended up out of reach until the snow's melted in around June of next year. Even on the trail I was tempted to turn back. By the time I got to the first peak, the snow had picked up and it was white as a sheet up ahead. With another 400 meters to climb in elevation, I imagine that the weather might turn nasty. I had just made my mind up to turn back when the sun came out--for about 1.5 seconds. That was enough to spur me on.

I'm glad I did.

Here are the details.

Location:

高妻山　Mt. Takatsuma Togakushi, Nagano

Starting and stopping point:

戸隠キャンプ場 Togakushi Campground

Peaks bagged:

Mt. Gojizo 五地蔵山 and Mt. Takatsuma 高妻山

(First-time) peaks

#835 and #836

(100 Famous Mountains) peak

#29

Getting there/getting around:

I drove. There is free parking near the trailhead. The trailhead is inside the Togakushi Campsite. The campsite just closed for the season but you can walk through to the trailhead.

It is possible to get there by public transportation. From Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano Station. (Or you could take the bus from Shinjuku to Nagano Station.) Change to the Nagano Togakushi Bus Line for the Togakushi Camp Ground. Depending on your choice of routes, it should take between 4 and 6 hours and cost between 6,900 yen and 10,000 yen each way.

Map:

Search for 山と高原地図妙高・戸隠・雨飾火打山・高妻山・信越トレイル on the Mapple web site to get the latest Yama to Kogen Map.

Weather Information:

Japanese weather forecast

Time

Total Time: 7:28 Break time: 1:02 Distance: 13.1km

Elevation

Lowest: 1,173m Highest: 2,352m Total Ascent: 1,498m Total Descent: 1,498

Technical considerations/difficulty:

As you can see from the picture, there was snow. It was fresh and wasn't deep yet. I was glad I had my crampons. Snow remains on Mt. Takatsuma into May, so keep that in mind if you want to bag this one.

The hike is fairly steep and the level of ascent is noteworthy. This hike is comparable in distance and change in elevation to climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji from one of the usual routes.

I climbed up to Takatsuma on the east side and that section was fairly straightforward. There are some spots with chains, but not too many. It is just steep and rocky. I came down to the west, passing by Mt. Jizo and the Ichifudo Refuge Hut (一不動避難小屋) on the way. From the refuge hut to the bottom has a few more exciting spots--nothing too challenging physically but a wrong step could really ruin your day. Also, that trail crosses over and through a stream several times. I was glad that I was doing this at the end of the hike and not at the beginning. My feet were absolutely soaked from the stream and it wouldn't have been pleasant to go tramping around in the snow with my boots and feet in that condition.

Facilities:

Togakushi Campground (This closed at the beginning of November.)

Inside the campground, there are few restaurants. This soba restaurant seems to be open year-round.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

This is another in a long list of mountains I've climbed which I wouldn't be able to pick out in a line-up if my life depended on it. Visibility was pretty poor all day, so I have no idea what this mountain or the ones around it look like. That isn't to say that the views weren't cool. The snowscape was great to see. I would like to get back some clear day, though. Maybe in summer.