Greetings, cave ladies and gentlemen and cave kids of all ages, shapes and sizes.
I've been doing this blog for a few years now but some of the mountains I cut my teeth on before starting blogging never got a mention. Several experiences are worth noting. I think I can share a lot of information useful to people who live in or near Tokyo since I did so much hiking there.
The first mountain I will share is the highest one in Tokyo. It's Mount Kumotori in western Tokyo. Kumotori is actually the meeting point of Tokyo and the prefectures of Saitama and Yamanashi. I've climbed this mountain 6 times. I think I'll make blogposts for 3 or 4 of those hikes.
Kumotori is one of the 100 Famous Mountains from Kyuya Fukada's book. The kanji for it is 雲取山. It means something like "Cloud gather."
***The Caveman gave up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps. They are great maps but the publisher updates them almost annually and the links die. Comment if you want me to get you a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map.
Get a bus from Okutama Station to Kamosawa Bus Stop. (About an hour.) Okutama Station is the terminus of the Okutama Train Line. That is about 2 hours from Shinjuku.
There is also parking at the trailhead if you want to drive.
Elevation:Lowest: 331 m Highest: 2,017m Total Ascent: 2,837m Total Descent: 3,035m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
It's a taxing hike. There are not many places with ladders or chains but much of it is steep and much of it is exposed to the weather. I recall seeing a youtube documentary of a hike up Mt. Kumotori. The documentarian said, "This is the hardest mountain I've ever climbed."
Although it is in Tokyo, the weather can be much colder than you'd expect and it does start snowing around October or November.
Kumotori Helipad Nice to know in case there is an emergency. Do not pitch a tent on the helipad, though!
Kumotori Evacuation Hut: Right next to the peak. There is a public restroom up there, too.
Kumotori Lodge is on the far side of the peak. You can stay and eat there, too.
I heard through the grapevine that they are building campsites near the Kumotori Helipad. I can't confirm it, though.
I do recall two waterholes on the trail.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
If you live in Tokyo and haven't tackled this mountain, do it! I recommend prepping for it with some smaller mountains first, though. In order, I would suggest Mt. Otake, then Mt. Kawanori, Mt. Mito and then Mt. Takanosu before trying this one.
OK. Let's look at some pictures.
At the trailhead:
This one gave me pause for thought . . .
This is the evacuation hut. I've stayed here 3 times. Now that I've looked into things more closely, I don't think you're supposed to use these except in emergencies. I've never been the only person though. Since there are Japanese hikers staying there, I've assumed it's ok.
I took this on my way down. The guy in that tent looked absolutely miserable. He must have been soaking wet.
After passing Mt. Nanatsuishi, I turned left to take the long trail along the Ishi One (Rock Ridge) to Okutama Station. It has spectacular views. It's a loooooong walk, though.
I think I took this at Mt. Takanosu. That's one of my favorite mountains.
Looking at some of my familiar stomping grounds.
That's all for this one. I'll put up a few more posts on Mt. Kumotori soon.
This is a report on Mt. Ogawa which straddles Hokuto-shi in Yamanashi and Kawakami in Nagano.
It took me three trips to the area to bag this peak but I finally did it.
Area:
Location:
Map: ***The Caveman is giving up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps. They go out of date after a year or so and the links die. If you want a link to their latest map, comment and I'll get you a link.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,564m Highest: 2,418m Total Ascent: 934m Total Descent: 934m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
There are a lot of ropes, chains and ladders on these trails. It is very slow-going as the trail is sometimes hard to find and there are many areas where the boulders make it more of a climb than a hike. Often it takes some probing and backtracking to find the trail.
Although the trail is marked with red paint for the most part, some stretches of the trail have no markings. In others, the paint is faded. It is particularly difficult to see when it is overcast.
I often am amazed how closely the GPS on my smartphone tracks the trail on the ground. Usually, if I move just 2-3 meters away from the trail, I can see the deviation on the smartphone. That is not true in this area. Often the trail on the ground little resembles the map on the iphone.
The footing around the Karasawa Falls is a bit nerve-racking. The trail through that area goes through the stream for quite a ways. That necessitates great caution as the surface rocks are very loose and there is often nothing to hold onto.
Facilities:
The Sanso has a camping area with water. There is an onsen as well as coin showers. There is nothing on the trail although water can be gotten at the falls if you go that way.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
Mt. Ogawa is something of a mecca for rock climbers. From the pictures below, you can easily see why. It's not ideal for hiking as you can see from my comments on the technical considerations. I'm glad I could bag this peak but probably wouldn't put it as a high priority if I lived far away. The "view" from the top was non-existent. I also had expected to see Mt. Mizugaki--a very cool-looking mountain--because it is quite close but did not see it. I could see it from the road on the way but not from the trail.
Let's look at some pictures.
The first one is my first attempt a few weeks ago. I had planned to do half of the loop and continue on to Mt. Ogawa (小川山) that day but the trail conditions and the rain just made it impossible for me to do it in the time I had available.
After that day, I tried going early one morning on the last day of the Obon holiday. It had been raining a lot but there was a 4-hour window of clear weather forecast one morning. I left home 0 dark thirty and got there about 5:30.
The weatherman was wrong. It was not clear. It was raining. ☔ I gave up and went home.😭
Then I got back the other day and went straight up and back.
All-told, bagging this one peak took about 7.5 hours of driving and 7 hours of hiking. Not to mention gas, parking, etc.
Here are some more pictures. The first four are from the rainy day attempt.
The next are from the clearer day I went.
The Kinpusan Sanso (Mt. Kinpu Mountain Lodge)
I haven't the foggiest idea. Do you?
75 degrees. Nice.
Kinpu is really cool. It's one of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan. Check out a post on it.
There are so many beautiful spots here. None catch all the beauty, though.
Do you see the photobomber?
There are a lot of ladders and ropes.
. . . and a lot of rocks.
I had to heave myself up over lots of boulders to get to this spot, only to find it wasn't on the trail. Just beyond this point, it dropped off precipitously. I had to go back down and find the way around.
Climbing this mountain was much slower than coming back down. Not just because of the difference between ascending and descending but also because I knew where to go on the way back.
Ever feel like nature is giving you its opinion of you--and it's not good?
Another view of Kinpu
The top of Ogawa
I'll admit it. It was a bit of a let-down. There's no view.
The post notes that it is one of Yamanashi Prefectures 100 Famous Mountains. I found myself wondering why. 🤦♂️
The closest thing to a view from the top was to go to a pointy boulder nearby and hold my iphone up as high as I could while standing on my tippy-toes.
Mt. Mizugaki is somewhere down there.
Oh, yeah. Just what the doctor ordered.
Not only is Tenguyama on the bucketlist. Add Otokoyama to that, too.
Interested in this area?
Check out this post on Mt. Mizugaki. It's one of my favorite mountains.
This is a report on a short hike in the late afternoon in Okaya and Matsumoto, Nagano.
It wasn't a long hike and not the clearest day so this post will be short.
Area:
Location:
Between Okaya and Matsumoto in Nagano.
Map: ***The Caveman is giving up on posting links to Yama to Kogen maps. They're great but since they update almost all their maps annually, I find it hard to post usable links. If you want a link to one of those maps, comment and I'll get you a current link. If you want to search on your own, their maps are available on Rakuten and Amazon.
Elevation:Lowest: 1,782 Highest: 1,928 Total Ascent: 325m Total Descent: 325m
Technical considerations/difficulty:
Very gentle walk. A little too rocky for running much but no ropes, chains or ladders. There are a lot of critters.
Facilities:
¥200 pay toilet at the sanso. Parking is ¥500. Trail fee is ¥300. Overnighting at the sanso w/2 meals is ¥10,500. 1 night without any meals, ¥6,000.
Thoughts/observations/recommendations:
I really wish it was clear. Maybe another time. I only made this hike because I had a business appointment in the area and wanted to take advantage of that fact with the few hours of sunlight I had available. My plan was to get to the highest point in the area to catch the sunset. Time-wise, it was very feasible. The weather just didn't cooperate. If I have training at the same place, I'll cross my fingers for good weather and do this hike again.
The trail is like this most of the way. Easy to walk on. Hard to get lost.
It only took me ten minutes to get to the first peak.
Utsukushigahara is a beautiful place.
My initial plan was to hike Maehachibuse and then see the sunset from Hachibuse. Since I was being robbed of the sunset and I was making good time, I decided to go on to Mt. Maefutatsu before going home.
I was back to my car before it got dark enough to need the headlamp.
Want to check out some other mountains not far from this area?
