Doshi Mura July 2022, part 1

Howdy doody, cave dwellers.  Welcome back to my place.  

Yesterday I went for my first hike in what seems like years.  Actually, it's been less than 3 weeks since my last real hike, but I was itching to get out.  Yesterday was the first day of my summer vacation so I wasn't going to let the opportunity go.  On a whim, I chose to head down to the Doshi Mura (Doshi Village) area of Yamanashi to connect some lines on my map.  Yesterday's destination had less to do with seeing a special vista or challenging peak as it was just about putting on some miles.

One room in our house is my cave away from my mancave.  It's the map room.  The better part of three walls of it is covered with maps on which I trace where I have hiked or biked.  The pictures below are of one part of the maps that have not been marked up as much as other parts.  

The maps in the picture are of the Doshi Village in Yamanashi.  The Doshi River runs southwest to northeast from Doshi Village up to Sagami in Kanagawa.  To its southwest is Lake Yamanaka and beyond that is Mt. Fuji.  Doshi Village has the distinction of having the highest density of campgrounds in Japan.  Doshi Michi (Michi means street or road.) was the scene for most of the bicycle road race in the 2020 Olympics.  Doshi is a lovely area but it is kind of hard to get to and the Doshi Michi is the only way in or out.  2 or 3 times I have tried to ride my bicycle from my home to Lake Yamanaka but was turned back each time because of road closures.  The 2019 typhoon made the road impassable for a long time.  The Olympians may have been delayed by COVID, but at least the roads were open when they did come.  

But I digress . . . 

Anyway, I like to connect the dots on my hiking excursions.  It's kind of like thru-hiking by stages.  I want to mark up those blank spots on the map.  The area I decided to concentrate on now is marked by the oval.

This marks what I did yesterday.  I'm planning to go back tomorrow and mark up some more of the offensive blank spots.  

I take my inspiration from Maria von T.  "Climb every mountain" 🎵🎵

This is what it looked like on google earth.  

Speaking of google earth, there's a new place I heard about the other day in Delaware.  It's called Brandon Falls.  Look it up on google earth or googlemaps.

The animation

The details:

Getting there:  This time I parked my scooter near the Ooguri Bus Stop (大栗バス停) and hiked from there. 

There are ample bus stops along the Doshi Michi but the buses all depart from the southwest.  Like I said, it's not so easy to get to the area.  This is why there are still so many blank areas on my maps of this area!

If you want to get there by public transportation from Shinjuku, you have to go way around it to the north and turn south at Otsuki passing to the west of Doshi Mura toward Kawaguchiko.  THEN you can take a bus to head northeast to Doshi.  The shortest time to do this is 3 hours and 46 minutes.  Most options take 4.5~5.5 hours.  My home to where I was yesterday is 37km as the crow flies.  Were I to take public transportation, it would be a trip of 103km.  

The trail:  On this trip, I hiked about 17 km (a little over 10 miles) in about 6.5 hours.  There are several trails up to the ridge so you could shorten or lengthen this hike to your tastes.  It's not that high, I don't think there was any point over 1,300 meters.  There isn't anything extreme or scary.  There are no ladders or chains.  I didn't even need gloves.  Although most of this was a ridgeline hike, I was surprised at how much change in elevation I experienced.  The trail undulated so much that I ended up rising and falling about 1,600 meters.  (That is about a mile for any Americans reading this.)  That is a fair amount of change in elevation.  My ankles did feel a bit rubbery by the end.

If you're interested in the area, but not in hiking every part of it, I suggest going a bit farther to the south to Mt. Mishotai.  That has a great view as it is closer to Fuji.

Facilities:  Nothing.  No water.  No public toilets on the trail.  Plenty of onsens in the area.  There are many campgrounds but no restaurants.  No convenience stores.  Make sure you have gas, too, if you're driving.  There is one gas station but I think it was closed.

The hike:

One of the best things about this hike is that I didn't see anyone.  Not one soul.  I love that.  I was a fan of social distancing before it became cool.  Unfortunately, since the trail isn't used that much, it doesn't get any maintenance.  They were many spots like this that were overgrown with grass and ferns.

Critters.  

There were a lot of bugs on this trip.  So much so, that I didn't stop for anything.  I ate and drank on the move because the bugs were ubiquitous.  

If anything is going to kill me in the mountains, it will probably be a frog or a snake.  Not from their venom; I'll just be scared to death.  Frogs and snakes always give me a start and I'm afraid they'll make me jump off a cliff.

I don't know what kind of snake this is.  Perhaps a baby mamushi.  The markings don't seem right, though.  Do any of you know?

Fuji appeared at just 2 or 3 spots on the trail.

Looking east toward the Tanzawa Range.  The biggest mountain in the picture is Mt. Omuro, if I recall.

Not very photogenic, but pleasant.  Much of the trail was like this.

I pondered these splintered signs for a while.  Was it a sasquatch?  Did Yogi throw a temper tantrum?

Exiting the mountain into the neighborhood I was treated by the fruits of the labor of the locals' green thumbs.

Bucolic.

Cubolic

Oh, yeah.  That's the ticket.  My dogs were yelping after that day.

Come back again soon.  

Take care of yourself and those you love.

Don't be afraid to press the "support me" button.  🙏  I'm hoping to hit one or two of the big boys next month and would appreciate some help to defray costs.  I'm told mountain rescue 🚁 is prohibitively expensive here.  🤣

Mountain biking in the Sayama Nature Park

This post is dedicated to Michael B., a legend of mountain biking.  He left us too soon.

Welcome to the mancave.  I trust you are beating the heat this summer.

I decided to drop by a cooler part of the man-cave today since the heat of July is upon us.  It has been quite a while since I ventured up to the Sayama Hills and Tama Lake area and since today was a better day for a bike ride than a hike, I headed up there.

The Sayama Nature Park is a sprawling wooded area surrounding two large lakes divided between two prefectures and spreading across several cities and towns.  

The two lakes, Sayama Lake to the west in Saitama, and Tama Lake to the east in Tokyo are both drinking water reservoirs.  Both lakes offer great views of the mountains to the north, west, and south.  

Since they are sources of drinking water, there is no boating, swimming, or fishing.  The area surrounding the lake does have plenty of opportunities for leisure.  As I already said, there are LOTS of hiking and biking trails.  The trail surfaces range from rocky and bumpy mountain trails to smooth, level hiking paths to paved dedicated bicycle paths to paved roads for car traffic.  Along with those pathways, there are numerous picnic spots, restaurants, onsens, and love hotels.  (Rest ¥4,000!  Stay ¥8,000.  You can imagine.)  The Seibu Lions (pro baseball) play at the Belunna Dome and kids of all ages can play at the Seibu Yuenchi (Amusement Park).  There are too many shrines and temples to count.

I can get to the general area from home in about a half-hour.  To take a trip around both lakes is about 20 km.  You could cut the trip more than in half by circumventing only one of the lakes.  There are also too-many-to-count minor trails you can detour on.  As a matter of fact, I should tell you that a GPS is a good thing to have here because it's easy to get twisted around.

Japan cracks me up.  There is so much random cuteness.  This is the last house before entering the park.

Starting out.  This is one type of road surface.

I actually got off my bike and did some "climbing" today.

I made it to the "top" of this 145-meter-tall "mountain."  I try to climb at least one mountain a week.  I guess this counts.

Tama Lake below with the Belluna/Seibu Dome in the distance.  That dome is a great landmark from the mountains.  It is visible for a long way.

The domed structures in the foreground are water intake towers.  They are where the drinking water pipelines begin.

The Ferris Wheel at Seibu Yuenchi from Tama Lake

Getting to the area between the two lakes now.  This is the dome up close.  I think there actually was a game going on.

Now starting around Sayama Lake.  The road surface on this side of the park is much rougher.  I wouldn't do it if I weren't on a mountain bike.

"Takane Ridge Road" in the "Rokudoyama Park"

I really should have taken a more representative picture of the road through this area.  It's quite rocky and bumpy for a few miles.  (ie, it's fun!)

This place is Rokudoyama (六道山) Observatory at Rokudoyama Park.  There is a water fountain, a public restroom, and picnic tables in the park.  You can climb to the top of the observatory for a great panorama.  It wasn't clear enough to bother climbing up it today so I'll post some pics I took on a past trip.

March, 2021

Speaking of pictures I didn't take today . . . On a past trip, I stumbled on this spot which has a fantastic view of the runway at Yokota Air Base and I was able to watch C-130s landing and taking off.  I had my binoculars with me that day, so it was really cool.  The exact spot is here:

 Overlooking Yokota Musashimurayama

I live under the flight path of Yokota but have never had such a good view as I had that day.

Izu Peninsula Mt. Amagi One of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains.

 

I had Monday off this week.  I decided on a trip that would allow me to make the best use of that long June day.  I headed down to the Izu Peninsula, to Mt. Amagi, one of Japan's Famous 100 Mountains.   (Mt. Amagi=天城--"Heaven Castle")  It's a hike I've wanted to do for a while but have put off because of the distance.  It's not a challenging hike and it's far so it's hard to justify the time and expense.  The usual train/bus route costs over ¥5,500/about $45 and takes 4.5 to 5 hours each way.  I opted to go on my scooter.  That also takes a long time but would cost about ¥700 in gas.  Despite the savings, the drive time had me worried.  Googlemaps gave an estimate of between 3.5 and 6 hours each way.  Assuming the longer estimate was correct, I could be looking at 12 hours crouching over my moped.  Yikes.

I decided to roll the dice and take my chances.  I got up at O dark thirty and left home an hour later at sunrise.  (4:30 these days.)  Even though it's far, the ride was worth it.  The ride actually gave me the best views of the day.  On the way I caught a glimpse of the top of Odawara Castle while passing through Odawara.  The Izu coast around Atami and Ito were gorgeous.  Coming home, I took the inland route which brought me under Fuji's gaze around Gotemba.  I always wonder "Am I the only one who sees the giant eye on the top of Fuji?"  I was able to enjoy dinner on the shore of Lake Yamanakako at sunset.  That was beautiful.

These first several pictures are of the ride down.   Izu is one giant playground.  The ocean is beautiful, as you can see.  There is surfing, fishing, boating--but also golfing, and hiking.  Its hot springs are quite famous because it is a very active region geologically.  It would be a nice place to spend a week or so if you had a suitcase full of money.

Here are the details of the hike:

Getting there:  Whether coming by bus or by their own car, most people start hiking at the Amagi Juso Tozanguchi Bus Stop which is adjacent to the Amagi Kogen Golf Course.  You can get there by bus (about 1 hour) from Ito Station.  You can get to Ito Station from Tokyo on the Tokaido Shinkansen.  There are cheaper local trains but they will take longer than the shinkansen.

Facilities:  At the bus stop, there is a free parking lot for hikers equipped with public toilets and water.  The only food nearby I saw was protein bars in the clubhouse.  There is a vending machine for drinks there, too.  Water is ¥210!

The hike:  It's not very strenuous.  There are actually several peaks that comprise Mt. Amagi.  There is Banzaburo , Banjiro and Togasa.  Most people just do Banzaburo and Banjiro.  They are accessible on a loop trail that passes near the golf course.  One side of the loop is the shakunage (シャクナゲ=rhododendron) trail.  I'm not really a fan of hiking near rhodos, but I'm sure it floats some people's boats.

The loop takes about 3~5 hours.  It's about 8km.  The rise in elevation isn't that great.  Maybe 700 meters?

I did that loop and also added in Mt. Kotake.  It wasn't that far and I'm always happy to bag another peak.  After that, I also added Mt. Togasa to my hike.  Most people ignore it because it is about a mile or so down the road from the golf course to its trailhead.  I am glad I did it.  There is a wireless relay station at the top so there is a mostly-paved road all the way to the top.  Also, I got my best views of the day from there.  

My day ended up being 16.3 km which translates to just over 10 miles in American.  I went up and down 1,140 meters in elevation.  

The parking lot/bus stop I mentioned is annotated as the Amagi Kogen Golf Course.  I didn't park there.  I parked just above the uppermost fairway on the map below.  You can see a little blue triangle there.

Before I get to this day's hike, here is a picture or two I took of the area from Mt. Fuji.  

These are from the trail:

Sagami Bay is on the left side of the picture.

. . . and looking back.

These are from Mt. Togasa.  Unfortunately, the bay wasn't so visible by this time of day because of the haze.  It was hot.  36 degrees Celsius at sea level.

More on this later.

That Mt. Omuro looks cool!

Omuroyama Izugeopark

The relay center on Togasa

Happy puppies.

 

Oh, I should mention the badge.  This is kind of like a participation trophy.  (That I buy for myself.  How pathetic.)  Many of the popular mountains produce a commemorative pin that you can buy.  I try to buy one every time I climb one of the 100 Famous Mountains.  I have a big banner that lists all of the mountains and I attach the badge to the banner each time I get a new one.  I'm such a geek caveman. 

This is the one I got yesterday. 

If you want to climb a mountain that has badges.  Make sure you find out where they sell them ahead of time--or at least before you leave the mountain.  I found out the hard way that if you don't buy them near the mountain, you're out of luck.  There is no one manufacturer that handles all of them.  You can't order one on Amazon or something like that.  Usually, they are only available at one vendor near the mountain.  If you don't get it there, you are out of luck!  The ones for Amagi are sold in the clubhouse.

Some thoughts about this trip.  I'm glad I went.  I am not a fan of Nike, but I do love their slogan.  As with most of these things I waiver about doing, just doing it has brought results.  I've never regretted going for a run in the rain or taking on a mountain that pushes my limits.  (I'm not above turning back when things are dangerous though!)

I did this hike during an off-period.  The best months to climb Amagi are May, early June, and October.  Those periods have the best flowers, the best views of Fuji and the ocean and/or fall foliage.

They also have crowds.  There are trade-offs.  On my return, it was really cool to be the only person on Lake Yamanaka.  On the other hand, none of the restaurants were open and I almost ran out of gas because the one gas station on my way was closed.  (Actually, they had just locked the door--5 minutes early--when I pulled up.  But that post is reserved for a review on googlemaps!)

That's pretty much it--except for the ride home.  I got some great views of Fuji on the way.  When all was said and done, I rode about 300km and the trip took me just over 16 hours. 

These are from Lake Yamanaka

Drop by my cave anytime.