Greetings cave dwellers. The caveman here. Welcoming you back to another spelunking episode. Hope you have your helmets and headlamps on because we're dropping into my cave.
I'm taking advantage of the long summer days while they're here to travel farther and take longer hikes than I can the rest of the year. Yesterday was my 4th (maybe 5th?) venture to Shizuoka in just the last month or so. It's about a 3-hour-ride each way for me to get down there. My backside is sorer than my feet but it's been fun to see some new places. Shizuoka is really a playground. If you like nature, fishing, golfing, onsens, you're sure to find something you like down there.
Yesterday, I went to Mt. Ashitaka, in Japanese, 愛鷹山,--Ashitakasan. It's called "san", mountain, but the "san" is actually kind of a mountain range composed of several "take"* or "dake"--another word for mountain.
*pronounced "tah kay" or "dah kay"
Here's the lowdown. Mt. Ashitaka is a volcano and the name for the elevated general area is Ashitakasan. The individual peaks are named and called "take" or "dake". "Take" means something like sharp, pointy thing sticking up out of the ground pointing at the sky.
Forgive me for continually digressing, but there are actually many words for mountain. "san", "yama", "take", "dake", "mine", "rei", "gaku", "maunten" . . . and they all have different meanings. Trying to understand them is a bit like trying to understand the whiskey vs. whisky or Scotch vs. Scottish arguments. At a certain point, I just give up caring. I've seen some virtual fisticuffs online about things like whether Mt. Fuji is pronounced "Fujisan" or "Fujiyama." That gets tempers flaring even more than disputes about the ratio of sheep to humans in New Zealand.
I don't have the energy to fight. When these things come up, I just grab my popcorn and watch.
Anyway, as I was saying . . . Mt. Ashitaka. Lovely mountain. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best. I had clear skies in the morning, but most of the best viewing points were fogged in while I was there. I'll have to get back in the fall or winter.
First, the details
Location: Shizuoka Prefecture, Susuno. Just south of Fuji
Starting and stopping point: Ashitaka Tozanguchi Parking Lot
Mountains climbed: Maedake (前岳), Ihaidake (位牌岳), Yobikodake (呼子岳), Echizendake (越前岳), Kurodake (黒岳).
Getting there/getting around: Parking for 30 cars there. Fujikyu Buses come from Gotemba in 30 minutes. The Fujikyu City Bus from Mishima takes 51 minutes.
Map: Yama to Kogen Chizu #32 富士山
Weather Information: This is a Japanese link but you can see the weather report graded for climbing in 3 hour increments. "A" is best. "C" is worst. Weather for Ashitaka
Distance: 14.5km. Took me about 8 hours.
Elevation: Minimum: about 750m, Maximum: 1,504m Total elevation climbed: 1,636, descended: 1,631
Technical considerations/difficulty: There are some fairly steep spots. Looking at the statistics distance and elevation of this hike, I found it interesting that this hike was more arduous than the one I made up Mt. Fuji last week. I first climbed up to Mt. Ihai. There is a steep ascent up to the top with a lot of ropes. Throughout this area, there were a lot of ropes and some narrow ridge walks. In a few places there were rickety-looking ladders but they were stable enough. Quite a bit of the area going up to Wariishi Pass (割石峠), is scree. You must be confident with a map and have a good sense for the trail because you really have to be able to almost sniff out the next red ribbon marking the trail. The scree area could be concerning in very heavy rain.
Two of the peaks are inaccessible these days due to rock slides. I wanted to climb them but will have to come back another day.
Facilities: There is a porta potty at the parking lot. If you need water or food, bring it with you because there is nothing on the trail.
Thoughts/observations: Really top-notch views of Mt. Fuji to be had here. I got some spectacular peeks at Mt. Fuji and the surrounding ski areas, military training areas (Japan Self Defense Forces and USMC), and other things on its south side. Mt. Hoei and its volcano crater on that side of Fuji, is so cool. Unfortunately, the weather turned early in the day and I can only guess how beautiful the view of Suruga Bay to the south of Mt. Ashitaka might be. Like I said, I'll have to go back when the weather is better.
You could make this a much shorter hike than I did. If you're not into straining too much, you could just go to Kurodake from the parking lot and be done in just 3 or 4 hours--but still get a great view.
Trivia: Japanese mountain names are interesting and sometimes infuriating. There are so many mountains, that many of them have the same name. Case in point is this hike's Kurotake, "Black Mountain". There are too many Black Mountains to count and there are many "Round Mountains" and "Big Mountains", etc. One of the peaks on this hike is 位牌岳 ("ee high"). I had to look up eehigh in the dictionary. It means "Buddhist mortuary tablet."
Let's close out by looking at some pictures. I'll start by showing some pictures I took from Mt. Fuji last August.
