Golden Week 2024 Saku Balloon Festival

(That balloon is Koitaro.  Koitaro is the mascot of Saku City.  Why?  Because Saku is one of the few places where people eat koi--carp.)

Mrs. Caveman and I attended the balloon festival this past weekend.  It was great.  Check out the video.

Caveman Out

 

Sunrise from Mt. Monomi. 物見山の日の出

Location:  Mt. Monomi 物見山

Starting and stopping point:  Uchiyama Bokujo Campground

Peaks bagged: Mt. Monomi (物見山)

(First-time) peaks　XX

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. Monomi's weather

Total Time:  1:49 Break time: :42  Distance:  5.81km 

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,228m  Highest: 1,373m Total Ascent: 355m   Total Descent: 355m

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

Facilities:  There is a public restroom and a free parking lot by the campground.   Arafune Panorama Campfield

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  There are a lot of deer in this area.  The trail runs beside a cow pasture.  I've never seen cows there myself, but have seen pictures.

Here are links to a few other trips I've made to Monomi.  

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-year-of-dragon-is-upon-us-monomi.html

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2023/10/mt-monomi-around-sunset.html

No comments today.  Just look at the videos.

Caveman out

Kanadake and Yotsumatayama

What's up, cavepeeps?  Allow me to show you some pics of a hike in the Shimonita and Nanmoku area of Gunma.

Starting and stopping point: Road Station Oasis Nanmoku, Gunma

Peaks bagged: Kanadake ichinodake (鹿岳一ノ岳) ~ Kanadake ninodake(鹿岳二ノ岳) ~ Yotsumata (四ツ又山)

(First-time) peaks # 883, 884 and 885

Getting there/getting around:  I drove.  I parked at the Road Station Oasis.  I'm not sure if that's 100% kosher but I got there before it was opened and nobody complained when I left.  There some free parking spaces near most of the different trailheads.  There are some buses running in the area.  I can't find any information other than what's on the map--that there are between 4 and 9 buses running daily from Shimonita Station to 小沢 Ozawa.

Map: 西上州　２１　妙義山・荒船山

Weather Information: Kanadake's weather forecast

Total Time: 5:24  Break time: :39  Distance:  12.4 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 303 m Highest: 1,015 m Total Ascent: 1,062 m  Total Descent: 1,062 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  There are a lot of ropes, ladders and chains.  Upper-body strength is a must.  There are more than a few points where you need to walk on top of a very narrow, steep ridge.  The assaults on the two Kanadake peaks are a bit dizzying.  

Facilities:  There are a few waterholes on the trail.  There are public restrooms near one or two of the parking lots.  None on the trail.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  These mountains proved to me again that mountains don't need to be that high to demand or to wear you out.  I've noticed that some of the most rugged mountains I've been on are in Gunma and Saitama at elevations that aren't so high.  The highest point I reached yesterday was only about 300 meters higher than the elevation where my house is but my ankles feel today similar to how they do after climbing Mt. Fuji.  It's not a surprise.  Climbing Fuji from the 5th Station on the Fujinomiya route means ascending about 1,600 meters.  Yesterday, with all the ups and downs, I ascended about 1,000 meters.

The dizzying stuff was on Kanadake.  Most hikers seem to opt only for hiking to Mt. Yotsumata; a shorter and less fear-inducing voyage.

Without further ado . . .

The Sumiyoshi no Taki (Sumiyoshi Falls) are just beside Route 202, about 20 minutes or so from my starting point.

This shows the way to Kurotakiyama.  I'll have to check that one out someday.

When I was walking up the street, one of the locals stopped me and asked which mountain I was heading toward.  Then he offered me a ride.  I said, "No, thanks." because my purpose was to walk.  He said I was welcome to drop into his house for tea if I had time on my way.  He said his house was easy to spot because there is a deer head out front.  I guess this is it. 

I didn't drop in, but thought the invitation was nice.  Unless you live in Japan, you might not have a sense for how unusual this interaction was.  Japanese really pride themselves on being hospitable but it is rare for them to approach strangers.  It's really unusual to invite someone into the home, too.

(Then again, maybe he was trying to pick the caveman up.  I choose not to entertain that possibility.  I'll just assume he's a nice old guy and not a dirty old man.)

Oshiozawa River

This sign is at the Kanadake Trailhead Parking Lot.  It gives you the chance to upload a hiking plan online.  If you want to do one on paper, you have to submit it down at the Michi no Eki.

There are quite a few caves.

I must have sweated quite a bit.  Too bad.  This was a good shot of just how narrow the ridge is.  It's only about 3' (1 meter) across and it drops off really steeply.

The lense was still dirty.

This ladder is sturdy . . . but did give me pause at first.

I dropped my backpack here before heading for the first peak.  I'm glad I did.  I needed to be nimble.

For 5 or 10 minutes from the ladder to the top there are chains on the side of the hill.  

It was spicy.

That's Ichinodake taken from Ninodake.  

I knew that was supposed to be my next peak but looking from here I was tempted to give it a pass.

After what it took to get up Ichinodake--and looking at how steep the sides of that thing were--I was imagining it was probably dangerous.  (Surprisingly, it wasn't actually that steep going up it!  It was a lot less adrenaline-pumping than the first peak.)

Mt. Myogi

Mt. Arafune

Looking down that ladder.  Note the backpack.

The assault on the next peak starts with a ladder, too.  I un-rucked here for the final assault on the objective.  

🫡

More ropes--but not as much exposure as the last peak.

The top of Ichinodake

Mt. Yotsumata ("Mt. Four Crotch")

Kanadake taken from Mt. Yotsumata

The top of Yotsumata

A last glance back from the street

Oh, yeah.  That's the ticket.

This isn't part of the hike, per se, but something I spotted on the way home.  I don't know if it's a marten, a stoat, a weasel, a ferret or what.  One of my students said it's a オコジョ, a weasel or a stoat.

I guess that's it for today.  

To be honest, I was depressed thinking of writing this post.  David Lowe over at Ridgeline Images clued me in that my blogposts don't show up on google.  I've been banging my head trying to figure what the deal is.  Watching tutorials, changing settings, etc. haven't brought things around yet.  I haven't been able to make any headway on the issues.  So, today, when I was thinking of writing this up, I was like, "Why bother?"  

Then I remembered why I'm doing this.  It's primarily because I have a bad memory and I want to remember the places I've been and things I've seen.

That said, the caveman would like to share worthwhile stuff with the world.  If any of you have any technical expertise/advice on SEO stuff (for free!), I'd appreciate it.

I think if any of you kind people could share this blog with others and/or link to it on your sites, that might help. 

Caveman out.

Of frigid wives, faithful husbands and virgins of various types. Karuizawa's Mt. Hanamagari.

Location: Mt. Hanamagari on the line between Gunma and Nagano

Starting and stopping point:  Parking spot near the Miharaishidai Public Restroom

Peaks bagged:  Mt. Hanamagari (鼻曲山)

(First-time) peaks # 881 and 882

Getting there/getting around:  Car.  There are 5 free spaces near the Miharashidai.  There are a few paid parking lots also.  Many people go to the area by taxi.

Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu 19 浅間山軽井沢・長野原の山々ASAMA-YAMA KARUIZAWA-NAGANOHARA-MOUNTAINS

Weather Information:  Mt. Hanamagari Weather

Total Time: 4:02  Break time:  :15 Distance:  11.6 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,189 m Highest: 1,655 m Total Ascent: 1,106 m  Total Descent: 1,106 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  The trail has a fair amount of ups and downs but isn't terribly difficult.  There are no ropes, chains or ladders.  The trail isn't marked very well but isn't too difficult to follow as most of it is on a ridge.

Facilities:  Nothing on the trail to Hanamagari.  The trail that passes the Miharashidai is popular with trail runners.  There are a public restroom, a few (seasonal) restaurants, vending machines and parking lots in that area.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  The hike to Hanamagari is not the main attraction around here.  The shrine and the Miharashidai are more popular.  

S'up, cavers?

I got to connect the dots on my map a bit the other day.  About 4 months ago I first hiked in this area--to Mt. Asama Kakushi.  This most recent trek was my 3rd one and enabled me to connect the dots from that mountain in the north to the Miharashidai of Usui Pass in the south.  In a straight line, that's only about 9km.

On my last hike, I realized there was something scandalous going on in the naming of these mountains.  On that trek, I climbed Mt. Hizuma--"Frozen Wife" and Mt. Hanamagari--"Nose Bent".  It gave me pause for thought.  What could those names mean?  This time, the mystery deepened.  As I was heading back to Hanamagari, this time from the other direction, I realized the mountain next to it on the other side from the frozen wife was Mt. Tomebu.  That name that means something about a husband.  I haven't found a definitive answer for what exactly the compound of the characters in the name means but it is something like "at home" or "faithful" "husband."

Poor guy.  He's got a frigid wife who's nose is bent out of shape but he seems to be hanging on.  I hope he gets a break some time in life.

I didn't think I would get much in the way of scenery today.  It was a bit hazy and there are not many unobstructed views on the way.  I was pleasantly surprised to see two kamoshika ("serow" in English.)

This is obviously kamoshika area.  I saw one just a few kilometers away on Asama Kakushi when I was there in December.

Anyway, here are some pictures and videos.  

First is some wildlife.

This video contains an amusing anecdote.  Don't miss it.

That's all for today.

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Caveman out.