Mostly Japanese Mountains

Greetings cavedwellers.

Yesterday I got to go for a run after work. That was great. It was so beautiful that I lost time because I kept stopping to take pictures.

Location: Mt. Monomi by the Uchiyama Bokujo Campground

Starting and stopping point: 初谷分岐　(Shotani? Fork on Rt 44)

Peaks bagged: Monomi (物見)

(First-time) peaks　#832

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. Arafune's weather (not too far away)

Total Time: 1:13 Break time: 3 Distance: 6.8km (4.25m)

Elevation: Lowest: 1,113m Highest: 1,373m Total Ascent: 373m Total Descent: 373m

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

Facilities: My run brought me past a campground twice. I suppose there maybe water there. There is a public restroom. I'm not sure if they close in the winter. I just checked and they are taking reservations until December 31. I'm not sure if they close then or if they just aren't taking reservations that far out. Arafune Panorama Campfield

Thoughts/observations/recommendations: This was a great run. It enabled me to connect the dots of my footprints a bit. Even though it was just a short time, running at the golden hour under clear skies gave me better views than I've had on several long excursions lately.

Today's listening: Bible in a Year

I won't write too much. I've already spent more time on this blog post than I spent in the woods!

Like I said, much of this is runnable.

One of the many great views of Mt. Arafune.

There is a pasture full of cows. I wondered how they kept the cows safe from bears. I did notice that the pasture is surrounded with barbed wire.

Coming down off Monomi, I ran on pavement for a while. Deer love these type of roads, especially at this time of day.

Mrs. Caveman and I first came to this area to look at the field of cosmos a few weeks ago. They're all gone now.

I love this sign! It is actually oriented to what it overlooks.

One of my pet peeves is that signs like this in Japan are often not oriented to the direction they are pointing. You have to twist your head around and try to do geometry in your imagination to reconcile the map with what you are seeing on the ground.

Well done Saku City for this sign!

This song is played in this town over loudspeakers at 5:00 pm every day. I think every town in Japan plays something near the end of the day to signify the time. It's not at 5 everywhere and some municipalities play different songs.

This song is called Yuyake Koyake 夕焼け小焼け. Yuyake expresses the idea of the last bright sunlight before the sun goes down and koyake is the light that remains just after sunset. It's quite nostalgic for me. The first town I lived in in Japan played this song at the end of the day. Doing some research for this blog post revealed that the lyricist was from Hachioji. Not only that, but I also realized that a place I hiked through before (on a long hike from Musashi Itsukaichi to Takao, 26 km) was named Yuyake Koyake Fureai no Sato in his honor because it's near his birthplace.

I really love this song and it was poignant to hear this here at this time of day.

Well, that's enough for now.

If you liked this place at sunset, check it out at sunrise here

https://mymancaveisthemountains.blogspot.com/2024/05/sunrise-from-mt-monomi.html

Caveman out.

To cave-curious comrades, cronies confidants, and cretins of all ages and both sexes, welcome.

**(Friday afternoon)**

A three-day weekend is going to start in about 3 hours and I'm at my desk ~~anxiously twiddling my thumbs~~ working hard. I am ~~just killing time~~ maximizing the time left here until ~~I can blow this joint~~ they force me to leave.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I really do. ~~Except for the TPS reports and their cover sheets. I don't think I'm going to do them anymore.~~ It's the best.

I was just telling my friends, the Bobs, how hard I work.

It is an absolutely picture-perfect day here--at least it is outside my cubicle. The weather forecast for my weekend's camping trip and hike is not looking so swell, though. Keep your fingers crossed that the meteorologists are wrong again.

Enough with the silliness. Let's get on to the cave report.

**(Monday afternoon, upon returning)**

What a ~~great~~ wet trip that was! Mrs. Caveman and I drove to the Togakushi area of Nagano City on Sunday morning. After taking up residence at the Togakushi Campground, we did the tourist thing. We had soba for lunch because it's the specialty up there. We went to a ninja museum and went for a walk in the woods. Last night was spent next to a campfire. Lovely.

I slept ~~like a log~~ very little last night. I was awakened by the pitter-pat of raindrops around midnight.

We got up and had breakfast before putting the day's plans into action. Mrs. Caveman was to stay around the campground and visit the Togakushi Ranch while I climbed Mt. Takatsuma. We had breakfast and I ~~headed off the trail leaving her to do her thing. It was a great day. Mrs. Caveman got to sketch some fall foliage and I got to bag another of the 100 Famous Mountains.~~ took down a very wet tent and packed it up. We packed everything up. It had rained all night and was showing no signs of letting up

So . . . Our trip was cut short and I don't have a mountain report for you. Some day I will get back to climb Takatsuma. I like spending time with Mrs. Caveman, so it wasn't a big loss.

If you're interested in going there and want information, I'll leave what I'd already input into my template. Below that, I'll post some pictures of the places we went.

Location: 高妻山　Mt. Takatsuma Togakushi, Nagano

Starting and stopping point: 戸隠キャンプ場 Togakushi Campground

~~Peaks bagged:~~

~~(First-time) peaks~~

~~Getting there/getting around:~~

I drove. Mrs. Caveman and I spent the night at the Togakushi Campground and I left our car there. There is free parking near the trailhead for daytrippers. Checkout is in the morning, but if you get the basecamp plan, they'll let you check out at 4:30 for just another 500 yen.

It is possible to get there by public transportation. From Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano Station. (Or you could take the bus from Shinjuku to Nagano Station.) Change to the Nagano Togakushi Bus Line for the Togakushi Camp Ground. Depending on your choice of routes, it should take between 4 and 6 hours and cost between 6,900 yen and 10,000 yen each way.

Map: 山と高原地図18 妙高・戸隠・雨飾火打山・高妻山・信越トレイル

Weather Information: Japanese weather forecast

~~Total Time: Break time: Distance:~~

~~Elevation: Lowest: Highest: Total Ascent: Total Descent:~~

~~Technical considerations/difficulty:~~

~~Facilities: Togakushi Campground~~

~~Thoughts/observations/recommendations:~~

~~Today's listening: Bible in a Year~~

Places we went and things we did.

Togakushi Ninja Museum/Trick Mansion/Folk Museum This was fun. Togakushi is home to Togakure Ryu Nippo, one of the three schools of ninjutsu. The ninja museum has a lot of pictures of ninjas in training and lots of (real) tools of their trade. That was very cool. Make sure you read the captions on the pictures. The Trick Mansion is a building you need to find your way out of by finding hidden passageways. There are a few other attractions there. It was 650 yen. Well worth it.

Togakushi Ranch 戸隠牧場

82 Mori no Manabiya The 82森のまなびや is a cool place. Mrs. Caveman and I dropped into it and checked it out. There's a lot of great stuffed animals--deer, serow, eagles, hawks, foxes, ten, etc. Also, there is a lot of good information about the forest habitats. It's really well done and entertaining and informative for kids of all ages.

Togakushi is also famous for some shrines. That's not our bag, so we didn't go to any.

Here are some pictures:

Those are some of the hills I had planned to hike . . .

On Sunday, before the rain started, we dropped into the Ninja Museum/Folk Museum/Ninja House

One building houses articles one would find in a farmhouse of about 100 years ago.

This first picture is what the kitchen was like.

That open hearth is called an irori. It was a place for cooking and usually the main source of heat for a home.

On the second floor of that building is the ninja museum. There are three schools of ninjutsu and there are only one or two trained ninjas left. (Depending on who you believe.) The man that is the head of this clan is named Masaaki Hatsumi. He also founded Bujinkan, an international martial arts organization, which boasts several hundred thousand members.

There are pictures of people doing ninja training all over the museum but I have no idea about who they are or when and where they were taken.

The caption says, "Art of Disguise."

I guess he was shooting for Quasimodo?

Or, perhaps, Kato, Inspector Clouseau's trusted servant?

I was surprised at the variety of weapons they had which utilized fire. Poison also was big.

I love these roofs.

After the museum, we went for a walk through the woods. We started down the trail toward one of the shrines but--it was far and we weren't that interested. We walked on a trail that parallels the road.

After a bit, we reached the 82 Mori no Manabiya. (82森のまなびや)

82 is the name of a bank, my bank, actually. Mori no manabiya means "forest-study-house."

It has some great displays.

No wonder my bank fees are so high.

Wild boar (inoshishi), serow (kamoshika) and the butt of a deer.

That was Sunday.

Sunday night it starting raining around midnight and rained non-stop. I decided to give up on hiking Mt. Takatsuma during the night. This is what our site looked like in the am.