Mountainous co-ordination - Special Post

Mountainous co-ordination

Special Post

Here we go...a brief (ha ha) itinerary of the next 7 months in Japan (this is as far as I’ve planned). Mostly, it’s just hiking plans, but I’m posting this partly so that if you’re at anyone reading this in Japan is at all interested they might thing about popping along for a walk in the clouds.

March 22-23 – Small hike day *1
March 29-30 – Small hike day *1
April 5-6 – Small hike day *1
April 12-13 – Small hike day *1
April 19-20 – Final preparation for golden week.
April 26 – May 6 – Golden week and vacation to either Malaysia or Indonesia, undecided as of yet
May 10-11, May 17-18 – Well, my birthday is May 15th, so I hope one of these two days to have a birthday party. Also, May 10th is the 1 year anniversary of me landing in Japan. Crazy! Preferably, the other weekend we’ll be out hiking. Somewhere. It’s like a double party since I didn’t have one last year! *1
May 24-25 – Small hike day *1
May 31-June 1 – Small hike day *1
June 7-8 – Small hike day *1
June 14-15 – Small hike day *1
June 21-22 – Small hike day *1
June 28-29 – Small hike day *1
July 5-6 – Fuji hiking season opens, Every weekend potential for a climb *2
July 12-13 – potential Fuji redux weekend *2
July 19-27 – Hiking the South Japanese Alps, 6 days. The hike begins near Kofu at the Hirogawara Alpine plaza at about 1500m. Second day sees an ascent most of the way to the top of Kita-dake at 3192m. After that it’s a straight shot South-west over Mibu-dake (2999m), Shiomi-dake (3047m) and a few others before finishing 78km further south in the Sawara-Jima area. Again, hut stays are possible but more likely to involve camping.
July 26-27 – Potential Fuji redux weekend *2
August 2-3 – Potential Fuji redux weekend *2
August 9 – 17 – Hiking the North Japanese Alps, 6 days. The hike begins outside the small alpine town of Murodo before heading north briefly to Tate-yama and then heading a long was south, across Toyama prefecture Nagano in the south before joining up with a major route near the alpine resort town of Kamikochi. Total length is 65 kilometers, medium-hard difficulty. Probably be camping most of the way, although hut stays are possible. There’s also the possibility of spending more time at the beginning of the first day in the north and scale Tsurugi-Dake, one of the more exciting peaks in japan. That would make this a 7 day shot with a day on either side to get to and from the trail heads.
August 23-24 – Potential Fuji redux weekend *2
August 30-31 – Potential Fuji redux weekend *2
September 6-7 – Small hiking day
September 13-16 – Hiroshima and/or final hike in Japan, Shirouma-dake to
September 17-25 - China
September 26 - October 16 – Everest Base Camp trek, 20 days, Nepal.

Hiking Descriptions
The following hikes are possible:
Kanto region (lonely planet descriptions)

Tsukuba-san (anytime)
Duration: 5 hours
Distance: 8 KM
Standard: Easy
Start/Finish: Tsukuba Jinja-mae
Summary: A short, year round hike on one of the Kanto Plains most historic religious mountains and popular tourist spots, through ancient cedar forest and an interesting rock garden.
Vertical rise: 700m

Nantai-san, Senjo-ga-hara, Oku-shirane San (late June to September)
This involves a trip up to Nikko and will be 2 nights, 2 days. I intend to arrive Friday night, hike Oku-Shirane San the first day and Nantai-San the second day. This is also a good opportunity for people looking to experience the cultural treasures of Nikko or take in the much easier hike across the Senjo-ga-hara marsh.
- Nantai-san
Duration: 4-6 hours
Distance: 8 km
Standard: easy-medium
Start/Finish: Futara-san-jinja
Vertical Rise: 1100m
Summary: Nantai-san is the extinct volcano that towers above the northern shores of Chuzenji-ko. While it is more or less straight up the side of the mountain, you don’t need to carry any camping equipment and the views are spectacular.

- Senjo-ga-hara
Duration: 2-2 ½ hours
Distance: 9 km
Standard: easy
Start: Ryuzu-no-taki
Finish: Yumoto Onsen
Vertical Rise: 200m
Summary: The hike from Ryuzu –no-taki to Yumoto Onsen is an easy stroll up the valley that lies to the west of Nantai-san and north of Chuzenji-ko. Very picturesque (I know! Check the ones out on this blog!)

- Oku-shirane-san
Duration: 6-8 hours
Distance: 15 km
Standard: Medium
Start/Finish: Yumoto Onsen
Vertical Rise: 1200m
Summary: The loop track from Yumoto Onsen up and over Oku-shirane-san takes in the highest peak in Nikko National Park, and stunning mountain scenery

Oze (June-october)
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 31km
Standard: Easy-medium
Start: Hatomachi-toge
Finish: Oshimizu
Nearest Town: Numata
Vertical Rise: 1000m
Summary: A relatively easy hike around the very popular Oze marsh, famous for the Mizubasho flowers of late May and June. Two of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan are included, but can be bypassed.

Tanigawa-dake (July-Oct)
Duration: 5-8 hours
Distance: 19km
Standard: medium
Start: Doai-guchi
Finish: Tsuchitaru
Nearest Town: Minakami
Vertical Rise: 1000m (some potentially taken care of in a cable car)
Summary: A great hike over Tanigawa-dake made all the easier by a cable-car from Doai-guchi to Tenjin-daira. Rugged mountains, great views and convenient train access at both ends.

Joshinetsu-Kogen (May-September)
Duration: 5-6 hours
Distance: 12km
Standard: easy
Start: Asama 2000 ski resort
Finish: Yunomaru Kogen
Nearest Town: Karuizawa
Vertical Rise: 300m
Summary: A hike around the high plateau on the western side of an active volcano, Asama-yama, with spectacular views of the mountain and its surroundings on the way.

Kumotori-san (April-September)
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 31km
Standard: easy-medium
Start: Owa
Finish: Oku-tama
Nearest towns: Chichibu, Oku-tama
Vertical Rise: 1500m (some by cable car)
Summary: An easily accessed two-day hike over Kumotori-san, which is the highest point in Tokyo, including a visit to the 2000-year-old Mitsumine-jinja

Tanzawa Traverse (Anytime)
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 24km
Standard: medium
Start: Okura
Finish: Nishi Tanzawa Shizen Kyoshitsu
Nearest Towns: Shibusawa, Shin Matsuda
Vertical rise: 1300m
Summary: A two-day traverse of the major peaks in the Tanzawa Range, hopping from peak to peak with lots of mountain huts and escape routes

Myojin-ga-take (Anytime)
Duration: 4 hours
Distance: 10km
Standard: easy-medium
Start: Do-Ryoson
Finish: Miyagino
Vertical Rise: 900m
Summary: A pleasant day hike starting at a temple set in a cedar forest and finishing near an onsen after a hike along a ridge famous for its annual fire festival, with great views.

Amagi-yama Traverse (anytime)
Duration: 5-6 hours
Distance: 15km
Standard: easy
Start: Amagi-kogen golf course
Finish: Amagi-toge
Nearest Town: Ito, Shuzenji
Vertical Rise: 400m
Summary: A hike through untouched native forests along a ridge to the highest peak on Izu-hanto with a free public rotenburo at the end of the day.

Chubu region

Myoko-san and Hiuchi-yama (July-Oct)
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 25km
Standard: medium
Start: Senjojiki
Finish: Komagane Kogen
Nearest Town: Komagane
Vertical rise: 200m
Summary: Alpine hiking with most of the climb taken out by a cable-car. The two-day route takes in a great ridge track between the two main central alps peaks

Aka-dake (July-Oct)
Duration: 1 or 2 days
Distance: 19km
Standard: Easy-medium
Start: Minodo-guchi
Finish: Kiyosato
Nearest Town: Chino, Kiyosato
Vertical rise: 1400m
Summary: A relatively easy hike over the Yatsuga-take range from ewest to east. These are very popular mountains with good access from Tokyo. Watch out for crowds in summer!

Kiso koma-ga-take (July-Oct)
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 25km
Standard: medium
Start: Senjojiki
Finish: Komagane Kogen
Nearest Town: Komagane
Vertical rise: 250m
Summary: Alpine hiking with most of the climb taken out by a cable-car. The two-day route takes in a great ridge track between the two main Central Alps peaks.

*1 – These 11 weekends will feature a variety of 1-2 day hikes, mostly in the Tokyo area. It’s unlikely that I’ll organize hikes on a back to back basis. It will more likely be on a biweekly basis. That having been said, the Lonely Planet book I have on hiking in Japan lists 15 hikes for the Tokyo area and I have already done 5 of them. Of the remaining 10 I would like to get all of them done, but that’s likely too ambitious for one summer. The five that I have already done in the Tokyo area are: Mitsu-Toge-Yama, Takao-san to Jimba-San, Mitake-san to Oku-tama, Fuji-san and Senjo-ga-hara. If there is enough interest to redo any of the first three hikes I would be happy to go along with a group heading out there. Fuji will definitely happen again as mentioned above and in note 2. The other weekends that may be used for Fuji are also potential weekends to go on these hikes, but they will be on much shorter notice.

*2 – These 6 weekends are all potential for Fuji depending upon the availability of other hikers and favourable weather on the mountain itself. We’ll be doing a good long shot up the mountain and we’ll figure out what the exact plan is beforehand. I’ll make a facebook event for it eventually. There may be two groups, one starting from the bottom the day before and another starting from closer to the top. Again, we’ll see. Regardless, hopefully we’ll have a good weekend and a straight shot up. Once Fuji is done I’ll be planning a couple of other hikes out to a few different mountains in the Tokyo/Chubu areas, all of which will be doable over 1 or 2 days. These are the same listed above in 1