Getting there/getting around: I drove. There are many free places to park and many trailheads along Route 94. There is no public transportation to get there. The Yunomaru Ski Resort up the hill from where I started provides a bus for people staying in their lodgings. You can get a taxi there or to the Kanzawa Onsen from a Shigeno, Komoro or Sakudaira train stations. The cheapest taxi to the Yunomaru resort is ¥6,750 from Shigeno for a regular 4-passenger taxi or ¥9,230 for a 9-passenger jumbo. From Komoro, a regular taxi will run you ¥8,140 and a jumbo is ¥13,190. Taxis from Sakudaira are the real bank busters at ¥10,840 and ¥17,750 respectively. Ouch.
Total Time: 7:00 Break time: 1:25Distance: 16.2km/10mi
Elevation:Lowest: 1,302m Highest: 2,100 Total Ascent: 1,223m Total Descent: 1,225m
Technical considerations/difficulty: Not terribly difficult or dangerous. Just steep.
Facilities: Nothing on the trail except a few rest spots.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: What a great mountain. Despite it being a bit lower than its siblings on the Takamine Kogen, this one has even better panoramic views. I took a longer, less-trafficked route than most people and was rewarded with plenty of solitude. The great views can be achieved with a lot less work by starting at the Yunomaru Pass.
I was actually stunned when I got to the top and saw the panorama.
I think the last time I was struck with a beautiful view was the first time I saw Mt. Fuji from
Tonodake in the Tanzawa area. The views from both places are totally unexpected and made me catch
my breath.
Azuma is one of the 100 Famous Mountains. I climbed it on a cloudy day and had never gotten a good
view of it before this hike.
If you're interested in the names of the mountains, I have labeled pictures at the end of the post.
I think this was the top of Kakuma. I can't remember.
That's the back of the Kazawa Onsen. I don't know what's with that hunk of ice.
There is a story about a group of college kids that were snowbound once and took the melody of "My Darling Clementine" and wrote a new Japanese song about snowy mountains. This sign tells the story.
It became the theme song for a tv show decades ago and is used in various municipal settings--disaster warnings, chimes on train platforms.
It's also used on Route 94. The pavement is serrated in patterns so that cars will create the song as they pass over the rough portions of road.
I didn't realize all of this until I saw this sign -- and then looked it up on the internet after the fact.
All I thought yesterday as the cars were driving by me was, "Wow. They all have loud stereo systems!" and "Man, those Japanese really must like old western soundtracks!"😆
Put this page into google translate to get an idea . . .
Getting there/getting around: I drove. It's a narrow, winding road off of the Cosmos Road. If my name were Paul, I might say it's a Long and Winding Road.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,037m Highest: 1,350m Total Ascent: 453m Total Descent: 453m
Technical considerations/difficulty: These hills are not really high but demand your full attention. The ridgeline is as sharp as a knife in places and the ridge falls away steeply on both sides. There are a few spots with chains or ropes. I was hiking after most of the snow had melted so there was quite a bit of mud. That made for slipperier conditions than if it were snow-covered because I couldn't make use of crampons. If conditions were better, I probably would have gone just a bit farther to be able to see the Rosoku Iwa from all sides but decided it wasn't worth it. At that point, the trail was in the shade and covered with snow. The trail there was quite narrow and just hugged the side of a really steep hill.
The Rosoku Iwa(s) themselves are not really for hiking. The trail passes around them but getting to the top of two of them entails actual rock climbing and necessitates all the equipment incumbent on that kind of adventure.
Facilities: Nothing. You may be able to get some water from the stream, but there's nothing up there.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations: Like I said, I'm glad I ignored the weatherman. If I had slept in today and then walked out into the sunny morning that it turned out to be, I would have been bummed out.
This was my 3rd or 4th time to this area. Sometime soon I will have to get to the nearby 立岩(Tateiwa) "Standing"--"Boulder".
I'm so bummed out the snow is melting so quickly around here. I'm going to have to drive a bit far to get to snow.
Here are some pictures:
This is just before the peak of Mt. Ontake. I'm sure many people mistake it for the peak.
Mt. Asama is in the distance in the middle of the picture.
Rosoku Iwa is actually 3 places named P1, P2 and P3.
P stands for peak. h/t to Naresh Deora.
This is P1.
This is P1.
I could climb to the top of this one.
I didn't even realize that I had climbed P1 until I saw a picture of it on another blog.
It was a bit dizzying and climbing off
of it was a little unnerving.
I was on that one on the left, Kabuto no Iwa, a few weeks ago.
I got as far as just beneath P3 and turned back.
The trail was pretty slippery--(and I was already in
danger of being late for work. Shhhh.)
I'm grateful for the chain.
Pictures can't quite capture how narrow and how high this ridge is.
Saitama's Mt. Ryokami is in the distance.
Well, that's it for today. The last pictures are pics with mountain names labeled on them in case
any of you are geeks like me with an interest in knowing the names of mountains.
If not, you can stop reading now.
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Or not.
You do you and the caveman will do the caveman. (Hey, I think
I just came up with the name of the next new dance--The Caveman! It'll be bigger than the
