Ever made a snowball in July? Ever broken your coccyx? 100 Meizan, Mt. Makihata. Niigata

 

Nukubi Stream Snow Bridge

Greetings, cave dwellers of all ages.  Welcome to my mancave.  Pull up a boulder.  Let me spin a tale for you.  This one is about Mt. Makihata--巻機.  
By the way, I'm not sure why this mountain got its name, but the name means something like "winding machine."

Location:  

Nagamatsu, Minamiuonuma, Niigata

Mt. Makihata is on the border of Gunma and Niigata Prefectures.  It's about 50km from the Sea of Japan.  Niigata is one of the snowier of Japan's prefectures.

Starting and stopping point: 

桜坂駐車場(巻機山登山口)Sakurazaka Parking Lot/Makihata Trailhead

Peaks bagged: 

Waremekidake (Waribikidake) ~~ Ohataya ~~ Makihata ~~ Ushigatake ~~ Maemakihata

Getting there/getting around:  

I drove.  Parking at the Sakurazaka Parking Lot is 500 yen.  The attendant wasn't there when I arrived or when I left.  Since I didn't have exact change, I gave what change I had and an IOU for the rest.

Coming by train, it's 40 minutes by bus from Muikamachi Station on the Joetsu Line.  About 2 hours to that station from Tokyo Station by shinkansen.  There is a bus stop not far from the trailhead.  See David Lowe's post for info about taking a trip here from Tokyo https://ridgelineimages.com/hiking/mt-makihata/  Tell him the Caveman sent you.😎

Maps: 

山と高原地図 15 越後三山 平ヶ岳・巻機山

Online printable topographic map (Japanese)

Weather Information: 

Mt. Makihata Weather

Total Time:  8:20 Break time: 1:04  Distance:  13.29km

Elevation:  

Lowest: 700m (ish) Highest: 1,967m Total Ascent:  1,545m Total Descent: 1,545m

Technical considerations/difficulty:  

There are two routes I'll address.  Both start at the Sakurazaka Parking Lot (桜坂駐車場).  

First, the easy one. This is the one on the right.  It follows the Ido Ridge up to Makihata and the adjacent peaks.  It's fairly steep but well-maintained.  No problems there.

The other route, to the left follows the Nukubi Stream (ヌクビ沢) , passing underneath Tengu Iwa (Tengu Boulder) up to the ridge connecting Mt. Waremeki and Mt. Makihata.  This trail should be approached with caution.   (Or not at all.)  It is only used for ascending.  Descending is probably just too dangerous.  I chose to go up this trail in order to bag Mt. Waremeki along with the other peaks in the area because Niigata is a long trip for me and I wanted to get all the bang I could out of the day.  I should have done some more map recon because I missed two items worth noting.  One, was that this trail is climbing up a stream.  Since the blue line on the map disappeared at a certain elevation, I had assumed that the stream started there and I would be just hiking up a draw (valley).  That was not the case.  Climbing up streams--called sawa nobori (沢登り)--is not really hiking.  It's something I avoid because you can find yourself in all sorts of predicaments unless you have ropes and such.  Two, I had only really looked at my Yama to Kogen map about this trail.  If I had also looked at my YAMAP app, I would have seen the note that said this trail is for experts.

Hiking up this trail was, at points, really fun.  There are beautiful falls and pools just one after the other.  The stream was quite wide and there were a lot of large, dry boulders next to the water to bounce up in the lower portions.  At other points, it took a lot of concentration and energy.  The trail is not well-marked at all and I often had to probe my way to find the safest route up.  Often, when the stream would become impassable, a parallel trail above the bank would be necessary.  That trail was often steep and overgrown with grass/ferns.  The overgrowth not only hid the trail markings but also made it hard to discern what the surface of the ground was.  Was it solid rock?  Sand?  A hole?  The pucker factor was high.

At one point, a giant boulder I was climbing let go and slid straight down--with me clinging to it for dear life.  Thankfully, it hit something solid after falling only about 1 foot (30cm).  I fell back.  The boulder rolled away to the side, narrowly missing me.  If it rolled on top of me, I would have been a goner.  I fell back (bad) but my fall was broken (good) by a sharp rock (bad) on my tailbone (ouch!).  It really stunned me.  In the few seconds before the effects became clear, I wondered, "Am I hurt?  How hurt am I?  Am I going to be able to get out of this on my own?"  Thankfully, even though it did hurt, I was able to keep moving.  I wasn't able to get a full range of motion from my lower back for about a good month after this experience, though.  I really bruised my coccyx.  Thankfully, I did not break it.  It made for an awkward day of hiking since I couldn't bend over anymore.  

Makihata couldn't break this old man's ass, though! 

Other high points of this part of the trail were the snow bridges over the stream.  I have never made a snowball in July before!


Facilities:  

The parking lot has a public restroom and water stations for cleaning your boots at the end of the day.  He also sells badges and t-shirts--but I didn't see the attendant so I got no swag.  

There is a 2-story emergency hut below Makihata.  It's quite well-appointed.  The biotoilet is a bit nasty but there is a new portapotty soon to be installed.

There is a waterhole near the emergency hut.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  

This was a long day.  Niigata is a 4-hour drive for me and the hike was more taxing than expected.  If I had known ahead of time what I learned about the Nukubi Sawa portion, I wouldn't have done it.  That said, I'm glad I did.  😉  Fall would be a nice time to visit Mt. Makihata.  

Today's listening: 

Bible in a Year 

Let's look at some pictures.





From the road


Mt. Makihata
The parking lot
Sakurazaka Parking Lot Makihata Trailhead

Remember what I said about not doing enough map recon?  If I read this sign at the beginning of my hike, I probably would have changed my plan.






Snow!

Snow on Nukubi Stream





This is about the point where my trail met up with the Nukubi Sawa.  I really love running mountain water and couldn't stop taking pictures.

Nukubi Sawa



Nukubi Sawa 2





The snow bridges were cool.  Looking up from below, I thought there were only one or two.  There were actually 4 or 5.






Nukubi Sawa gif











It's like something out of Fantasy Island.
Except that it's freshwater.
And there are no tuxedo-clad dwarves pointing at an airplane.

Yeah, other than those things, it's just like Fantasy Island.

Nukubi Sawa 3















Since I've spent no time in Niigata, I have no idea what mountains those are.















Nukubi Sawa 4







Snow Bridges



Nukubi Sawa snow bridge

I hurried my way through them.  For one thing, they are melting and there are cold drops of water falling.  For another--even though this probably wasn't likely--if one of them chose that moment to collapse, anyone inside would be a goner.

Nukubi Sawa another snow bridge






I think this is the first time I've ever made a snowball in July.

Nukubi Sawa  snowball

















I made it past the snow bridges up to the ridge between Mts. Waremeki and Makihata.

ridge between Mts. Waremeki and Makihata

There are a lot of these little pools up on the ridge.  Very cool.








More snow off the side of Makihata

snow by Makihata in July







Mt. Makihata Flower

Mt. Makihata Flower2







Mt. Makihata Flower3








Mt. Makihata pond



Mt. Makihata pond2

Inside the emergency hut

Mt. Makihata emergency hut

Mt. Makihata emergency hut2




A view of the Nukubi Sawa and the Tengu Iwa on my way down.  Tengu Iwa is the pointy thing.

Nukubi Sawa and the Tengu Iwa













That's all for now.  Have a good one.  Don't forget to subscribe, etc.

If you haven't had enough of the 100 Famous Mountains, check one of these out



Caveman Out








Anyone want a freebie?

Guess who bought too many maps.


I really like maps, but I don't actually need two of the same one.  

Somehow I ordered two of these in preparation for a hike in Niigata that I made yesterday.  Want one?  Comment below.  First-come, first-served.


2023山と高原地図 15 越後三山 平ヶ岳・巻機山




Lucky 777, Koasama in Karuizawa

 





Location:  Mt. Koasama, Karuizawa

Starting and stopping point:  Toge Teahouse 峰の茶屋

Peaks bagged: Koasama west peak ~~ Koasama

Getting there/getting around:  I drove

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: Asama Weather

Total Time: :40  Break time: 0  Distance:  3.6 km

Elevation:  Lowest: 1,404m  Highest: 1,655m Total Ascent: 258  Total Descent: 258

Technical considerations/difficulty: Loose gravel/sand.  Nothing steep.  Very runnable. 

Facilities:  Public restroom across the street from the trailhead.  Emergency shelter (in case of eruption) at the trailhead.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:  Today I bagged my 777th peak on a quick run after school.  Mt. Koasama ("Little Asama") is a bump on the eastern side of Mt. Asama--the volcano.  It's about 800 meters lower than Asama.  I do wish there were fewer clouds.  The view of the top must be cool.

Today's listening:  Just my own huffing and puffing



S'up, cavedwellers?  I'm not going to write much.  There is no reason to spend more time blogging than I did running!

Hope you're all having a great summer!

This is at the trailhead.  The building is Tokyo University's volcano monitoring station.





This is a campground in Tsumagoi.


The west peak




Explanations of the restrictions and the danger.  Level 1 means un-restricted access to Mt. Asama.  Now it is Level 2.  You can't go closer than a few km from the crater.

The box to the left of the sign is to deposit hiking plans.  (I do mine online.  Ask me if you want to know how.  I never go into the woods without telling someone my plans.)


That's all.  See ya!