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| Mt. Yarigatake, momentarily revealing its triangular peak @ Nishidake |
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| At the summit of Mt. Yarigatake |
Mt. Yarigatake (槍ヶ岳), the 5th highest peak of Japan and with its pointing pinnacle,
is one of the mountains that no Japanese hikers and climbers have not heard of.
It is located near Kamikouchi (上高地), where all Japanese
alpinism started more than a century and a half ago. One of the main water
streams originating from Mt.
Yarigatake, Yarisawa (槍澤) and its lower section called Azusagawa (梓川) flows through Kamikouchi, which presents a tranquil and beautiful scenery
of its kind.
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| At the trail head on the first day |
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| The route of four-day trekking |
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| Elevation profile of the four-day entire course |
We stayed at the foot of Mt. Tsubakuro
on the day before our trekking. On the first day, we went up via Gassenone (合戰屋根) route, ascending
1300 meters, to Enzansou (燕山莊) lodge on the main ridge of Mt. Tsubakuro and made a round trip to
its peak. We then follow the ridge Omoteginza route, passing over a few peaks,
to Daitensou (大天莊) lodge and
stayed a first night. We kept on the Omoteginza route on the second day and
via. Higashikamaone (東鎌屋根) went up to Yarigatakesannsou
(槍岳山莊) lodge. On the third day we first made a round trip up to the summit
of Mt. Yarigatake and then descended all the
way to Myoujinike (明神池) at the tip of Kamikouchi and stayed at Kamonjigoya (嘉門次小屋) lodge for the third night. We
walked all through Kamikouchi, enjoying the last day of light rambling, and
went back to Tokyo.
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July 25, the 1st day
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| Walk from Ariakesou to Daitensou |
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| Elevation profile |
It is a little after 5:00 in the morning. We are just at the gate of
Ariakesou (有明莊) hot
spring lodge, which is located at the foot of Mt. Tubakuro, and about to
commence our four-day trekking over to Mt.
Yarigatake with quiet excitement and a bit of worry for the long way ahead.
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| Ariakesou lodge |
We came over to this lodge yesterday
afternoon. Three out of the nine members for this trip just arrived very early
in the morning from Taipei
by a midnight flight to Narita and came all the way to here with me. Some
members were already in Japan, two of whom joined the trip to Northern
Yatugatake (北八ヶ岳) immediately before this trip and joined us on our way up here.
We spent a night in Japanese traditional rooms and had good bathing in a hot
spring of the lodge. The dinner was excellent and enjoyable last evening. We
got up at 4:00 this morning and ate breakfast packed in a box that was
prepared by the lodge for early birds like us.
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| A room in Ariakesou |
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| Dinner at Ariakesou |
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| Breakfast |
The sky above us between the narrow valley
is clear, which we hope to last long. We first step on the paved road which
leads to the trail head at Nakabusa Onsen (中房溫泉). The winding road takes us to the trail head in a matter of 10
minutes. It is still before 5:30 and there are a few hikers besides us. The
elevation is 1462m here
and we will ascend 1300 meters to get to the Enzansou lodge on the main ridge.
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| Resting at the first bench |
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| Constant climb in the woods |
We place a first step on the Gassenone
trail at 5:30. The trail is wide and easy to walk on. Though this is counted as
one of the three steepest trail in the Northern Alps
area, it is a popular route and we come across many hikers on the way. Resting
places called bench areas are built along the way, almost at a half-hour walk
apart. We struggle the first half hour and come to the first bench, which is at
one kilometer from the trail head and another four and half kilometers to go.
There is an only water supply point on this route here.
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| A peak in the distance, Mt. Daitenshoudake |
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| Third bench area, a halway point to Enzansou lodge |
We resume our walk and keep going up. The
trail is a constant uphill and sometime goes zigzag. At 6:32 we reach at the
second bench and have some rest. On such an ascending trail, it is a good
practice to have a periodic break every thirty minutes or so. Just before the
third bench we go by an open section where we can see a peak on the main ridge
in a far distance. It is really encouraging and makes us forget this hardship of
climb for a while.
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| Granite rocks show up |
While we are resting, a family with a girl
of five or six years old passes us. Thre are many family hikers around in Japan. We reach
the forth bench called Fujimi (富士見) bench at 7:43. The higher
we go the more descending hikers we come across. As we get closer to Gassengoya
(合戰小屋) hut, we
see more white granite rocks on the trail and around, which is unique to Mt.
Tsubakuro. At 8:18 we reach the hut and we have a long rest. They sell water
melons at the hut, which is a well-know refreshment here. Some members are
already enjoying sweet melons. There a commodity ropeway up to here and water
melons are carried up by it.
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| At Gassengoya hut |
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| Last section of the trail to Enzansou lodge |
After twenty minutes of rest, we start up
again to make the final ascent of 1.7km.
We soon come out of the forest limit and bushes around are now much lower. At
8:56 we pass the triangular maker of Mt.
Gassensawanokashira (合戰沢の頭), and keep on the trail of the sub ridge from Enzansou. Fog sets in
now and we can no longer have a view. We finally see the Enzansou lodge up in
mist at 9:33. When we come on to the ridge, the other side of it is, to our
happy surprise, still clear and we can see peaks across the deep valley. On further
left of the peaks, we can barely make out our main destination, Mt. Yarigatake,
of which pointing pinnacle is almost covered with cloud.
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| Other side is still clear and peaks are visible across the valley |
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| Mt. Yarigatake, with its top in cloud |
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| Meganeiwa (Rock of spectacles) |
We leave our heavy backpack at Enzansou
lodge and head for the peak
of Mt. Tsubakuro at
10:00. The round shaped peak
of Mt. Tsubakuro is now
in thick mist and disappointingly invisible. We walk on white sand, which come
from granite rocks of this mountain as a result of constant erosion. We soon go
into mist and the visibility gets very low. Shakunage (石楠花) is still in bloom and we can see its white flowers by the trail.
We pass by Maganeiwa (眼鏡岩), a huge chunk of rock with two holes on its center and reach the
summit (elevation 2763m) at
10:27. A few minutes of rest, we return to Enzansou lodge. On the way back, we
notice pink flowers of Komakusa (駒草), the queen of high
altitude vegetation, here and there on the white sand by the trail.
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| At the peak of Mt. Tsubakurodake |
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| Sakunage |
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| Komakusa |
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| Raichou |
We have an early lunch by Enzansou lodge
and start for Daitensou lodge, the destination of today, at 11:30. The trail
goes on the main ridge. If the sky were clear, we could watch Mt. Yarigatake
in the distance while rambling on it. We come across a Raichou bird (雷鳥, grouse), which is very cautious
and comes out only in such a foggy day as today. They are a rear and endangered species and live only in this area
and a few other areas of high mountains in Japan. At 12:30 we pass between the
twin rock towers (Kaeruiwa 蛙岩), which marks the end of Mt. Tsubakuro
area.
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| Kaeruiwa, the rock |
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| Going down Ohkudari (big descent) |
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| Climb down the ladder to Kiridoushi |
After a short rest by the rock towers we continue
on the ridge and come to Ohkudari no Kashira (大下の頭), where a long descent begins. In about 15 minutes
we hit the bottom and a short uphill sets in. At 14:10 a wooden ladder shows up before a gap and we climb
down on it. A relief image of Kobayashi Kisaku (小林喜作) who opened the Omoteginza trail in 1920s is placed on the surface
of a huge rock besides the trail. This place is called Kiridoushi (切通し), the lowest point before ascending to Mt. Ohtenshoudake (大天井岳).
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| Kisaku relief plate on the big rock |
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| A final ascent to Daitensou lodge |
We begin our final and long ascent today to
Daitensou lodge. At 14:21 we pass by the junction where a trail bypassing the peak of Mt.
Ohtenshoudake to Mt.
Yarigatake direction diverges
We slowly go up in drizzle. As the number of distance to the lodge shown in a
sign by the trail gets smaller, we become happier and happier. At 15:30 we finally
reach the lodge. We enter the lodge and go up to the second floor after
registration. It is warm inside and makes us comfortable while the thermometer
shows 12 degree outdoor. We have a dinner at 17:30 and go to bed at 20:00. We
have walked for 10 hours and a half covering approximately 11.4km. We ascended 1700m in total today.
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| Daitgensou lodge |
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| Dinner at Daitensou lodge |
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July 26, the 2nd day
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| From Daitensou to Yarigatake sansou |
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| Elevation profile |
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| At the top of Mt. Ohtenshoudake |
Our little hope is wiped out when we see
thick fog outside. We have a breakfast at 5:00 and start out for the summit of Mt. Ohtenshoudake
(elevation 2,922m) at
6:16, which is just a few minutes walk from the lodge. We easily reach the
summit at 6:24. In such thick fog, of course there is no view to enjoy. We
return on the same route down to the lodge.
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| At Daitenshou lodge about to leave, every member in rain ware |
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| Going by a rocky section |
At 6:50 we put our backpack on and are off
to the long hike today. We begin a descent off the Mt. Ohtenshoudake,
which includes some dangerous rocky sections. In about thirty minutes of
downhill walk, the trail merges with aonther trail coming along the side of the
mountain, which we saw yesterday on the way up. We soon arrive at Ohtenshou
lodge (大天井ヒュッテ) and have a first break.
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| Ohtenshou Lodge |
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| Bikkiri daira |
We go along the side of the main ridge
leading to Mt. Nishidake (西岳) in bushes and low trees, which
protect us from getting wet from drizzle. There are many kinds of high mountain
flowers in bloom by the trail, which momentarily make us forget the bad
weather. At 8:18 we get on Bikkuri daira (ビックリ平, platform of happy surprise) where we hop on the top of the ridge.
Cloud hangs over the valley and the peaks beyond the valley are not visible. If
the weather were fine, this would be the best point to have a nice view of Mt. Yarigatake
after a long walk on the hillside, thus it would be a pleasant surprise and
named this way.
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| Heading for Nishidake Hut on the ridge |
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| Climbing over peaks in rain |
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| At Nishidake Hut |
We are now on the ridge and exposed to
rain. Fortunately it is not that hard and cloud breaks out to reveal
surrounding peaks from time to time. We pass Mt. Akaiwadake
(赤岩岳) at 9:08
leaving 1.7km to Nishidake
hut (西岳ヒュッテ). At 10:25 we finally come to
the hut expecting to have a rest inside the hut as the temperature is just 13
degree, which however does not happen because the hut does not give passerby
hikers to go inside.
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| Going down a steep descent |
With disappointment we come out onto the
high ground behind the hut and take a group picture. We are lucky enough to see
a complete view of Mt.
Yarigatake and its eastword
sub-ridge Higashikamaone where we will go up later. A very steep descent
begins. As we go down, wooden steps and steel ladders show up. We carefully
climb down. Quite a few steel chains are attached to the rock wall to help us
passing. We reach the bottom called Mizumata Nokkosi (水股乗越) at 11:48. We have spent an hour and ten minutes
to come down this dangerous section.
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| Passing over the narrow ridge |
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| Minamatanokkoshi, the lowest point |
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| Lunch box of Daitensou lodge |
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| Climbing down the vertical face by ladder |
From this lowest point we have to climb
back to Yarigatakesansou lodge covering 4.5km in distance and 600m in elevation. Rain still keeps falling while we begin
ascent at 11:51. We are on the ridge without high trees and exposed to wind and
rain. We come to a place by a tall rock wall where we have lunch. This is a
lunch that Daitensou lodge prepared for us. After lunch we resume the ascent
and soon come on to the narrow ridge, where both sides are sharp cliff. We come
to a big gap where you have to climb down by steel ladder affixed onto a vertical
wall. It is still raining and makes it slippery. This is the most dangerous
point in our course today. Each member goes down carefully and passes it. We
still have steep ascents and steep steps ahead of us, but I feel relaxed as we
have passed the most dangerous spot.
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| Hut Ohyari |
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| Going up the last leg to Yarigatakesansou lodge |
We keep ascent in thick mist and rain for
another 10 or so minutes and reach Hut Ohyari (ヒュッテ大槍) at 14:01. We go inside the lodge and have hot drinks. Unlike Hut
Nishidake, this lodge welcomes passerby hikers. I stayed overnight here last
year and remember that their food was excellent. After a good break we head off
for the last leg of today’s route. The sign of distance to Mt. Yarigatake by the track goes smaller and smaller
like 600m, 400m and so on, which encourages us. We
finally reach Yarigatakesansou lodge at 15:20, ending the eight and a half hour
hike over the Omoteginza route. We covered 8.5km today.
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| At last Yarigatakesansou lodge above in sight |
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| Members at the dinner table |
Located at the shoulder of Mt. Yarigatake,
Yarigatakesansou lodge is one of the biggest lodge in the Northern
Alps accommodating 650 at most. Today it seems two thirds full.
The dining hall is big but still needs a few turns to feed all guests. Our
dinner starts at 17:00. One of the employees there is a girl from Taiwan. She
tells us that she is on a working holiday in Japan. It is pretty good for her to
work here and have chances to hike around the area. The lodge has a dryer room
where we place our wet clothes and gears.
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Juny 27, the 3rd day
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| Downhill all the way to Kamikouchi |
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| Elevation profile |
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| Breakfast at Yarigatake sansou lodge |
It rained rather hard last night. It is
still in thick mist when we get up, but no rain. We have a breakfast at 5:00
and get ready for climb to the summit of Mt. Yarigatake
by 6:30. Leaving our heavy backpack at the lodge, we start off to the rocky
steep trail. It soon leads us to difficult sections. We come to the bottom of
steel ladders and climb them up. At 6:58 I finish the last steel ladder and
jump off onto the summit. In that instant, fog clears for a second revealing
the surrounding peaks over clouds under blue sky. Unfortunately, however, by
the time all members are up on the summit, fog close in and we lose a nice view
again. More hikers are coming up and we are about to leave. There are two routes
to and from the summit, one for ascend and one for decent to avoid congestion.
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| Steep rock route to the summit |
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| Carefully climbing up |
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| The summit |
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| All members at the summit, in mist though |
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| Two routes, one for ascent (left) and one for descent |
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| Just about to leave Yarigatake sansou lodge |
We come down to the lodge and put our stuff
on for a long decent to Kamikouchi. When we are about to leave, the triangle peak of Mt. Yarigatate shows up in clearing
mist, just like saying goodbye to us. We start at 8:06. We will follow the
Yarisawa trail all the way down to Myoujinike today and it will be a very long
walk. We go down zigzag on the mountain side and come across many hikers coming
up. In fifteen minutes Sesshou Hut (殺生ヒュッテ) shows up on the
left side of the valley. This hut was first built by Kobayashi Kisaku whose
bronze relief plate we saw on the first day.
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| Going down the wide valley |
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| Sesshou lodge and Hut Ohyari on the left shoulder |
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| Banyu Kutsu, the cave |
We pass by the junction to Sesshou Hut at
8:50. When I look back, the summit is again in fog and not visible. The
lifeless scattered rock section is almost over and we now can see vegetation on
both sides of the trail. We are around 2,750 meter in elevation, and already
300 meters down from the lodge. At 9:08 we come to Banryu Kutsu (播隆窟), a cave under a big roof rock, which is said to
be the place where a Buddhist monk named Banryu stayed and made this to a base camp
to climb to Mt. Yarigatake in the year 1834 for the first time on a record. In
a few minutes down then we pass the junction to Hut Ohyari where we made a
final rest yesterday.
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| Coming down near the junction to Hut Ohyari |
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| Going by the Junction to Minamatanokkosi, at Ohmagari |
At 10:10 we pass by another junction where
a trail to Tenguhara (天狗原) separates. We are now on the left side of Yarisawa valley, and
crossing a sub stream. Small patches of remaining snow are by the main stream.
A junction to Minamatanokkoshi on the Higashikamaone route shows up at 11:04.
This is where the valley changes its direction by 90 degrees to the south and
called Ohmagari (大曲). The grade now gets moderate and goes all the way on the left side
of the Yarisawa. There was much snow left here last year while there is none
this year.
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| Yarisawa gets wider |
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| Babadaira camp area |
We reach Babadaira camp area (ババ平キャンプ場) at 11:27. We have already come down 5 km from Mt. Yarigatake. The construction
work which I saw last year has not been completed yet but a new toilet facility
is erected and in use. We have a lunch here. A poster is attached to a pile of
stones that shows a missing climber who is reported to have not returned from
the north ridge of Mt. Yarigatake (Kitakamaone 北鎌尾根), the most difficult route to Mt. Yarigatake.
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| Lunch of Yarigatake Sansou lodge |
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| Heading for Yarisawa lodge |
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| Yariwawa lodge |
At 12:23 we arrive at Yarigatake Lodge, 1 km further down, and have a rest. This
lodge is located in the deep valley
of Yarisawa creek and
water is rushing down deep on the right of the lodge. After 10 minutes of rest,
we continue our hike down. At 13:06 we walk by the beautiful stream, which
flows parallel to the trail for some length. At 13:13 we pass Ninomata (二の俣) where a sub-stream joins the main stream and we cross the sub-stream
over a bridge. After passing Ichinomata (一の俣), the valley broadens and
the grade becomes much gradual. We reach Yokoo (横尾) at 14:12. We are making a steady progress.
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| Beautiful and rapid stream of Yarisawa flowing along the trail |
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| At Yokoo |
After a short rest in the wide open area
where a majestic Mt.
Maehodakadake (前穂高岳) is commanding
behind a suspension bridge, we start off for the rest of today’s walk. The road
is now much wider and cars would be able to pass, though no car is allowed
here. We made a good pace from Yokoo to Tokusawa (徳澤), which is the last stop of our way to the destination.
Yarisawa creek now becomes a wider river called Azusagawa (梓川) and flows down much slower. We complete our last
leg of walk to Kamonjigoya lodge by 16:20.
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| At myoujin |
Kamonjigoya, a small lodge built 130 years
ago by Kamonji (嘉門次), a local hunter of Kamikouchi stands by Myoujinike (明神池), a tranquil and sacred pond just below Mt. Myoujindake (明神岳). This is a Shintoism shrine where gods live. Kamonji is well know
for his friendship with Welter Weston, an English man who discovered beauty of
Kamikouchi and its peaks and brought a concept of sports alpinism to Japan. His
contribution to mountaineering in Japan is regarded very highly and
there is his bronze relief panel stands in Kamikouchi.
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| Kamonjigoya lodge |
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| Myoujinike pond, and Mt. Myoujindake on its back |
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| Hodaka Shrine in front of Myoujinike pond |
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| Original section of the lodge |
The small Kamonjigoya has since been
expanded to the bigger current state, yet it retains the original part with a
Irori (囲炉裏), a fire place, in the center of a room. It has
a bath and we take bath first time in three days! We have a wonderful dinner
with Iwana (岩名, charr), which only live in cold and clear water
of mountains. After the dinner some of us go over to the old original room. We have a great time with other hikers and the fourth generation of Kamonji, who
now runs this lodge, of course over Sake!
We covered mostly downhill 17 km for 8 hours today.
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| Dinner at Kamonji lodge |
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| Picture with the fourth generation of Kamonji (One in blue shirt behind) |
---------------------------------------------------------
July 28, the fourth and final day
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| Easy strolling route |
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| Elevation profile |
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| Mist is fading |
This is the last day of our trip. I get up
around 5:00 and go out for stroll around. Azusa
river is still covered with fading mist and peaks above are still in fog. We will
have only an easy walk of a few hours, so I feel very relaxed at last. On the way back
to the lodge, many macaques, old ones and babies in families, are nursing each
other by the river. They are not afraid of human at all.
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| Myoujin suspension bridge and Mt. Myoujindake |
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| Macaque family by the river |
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| Macaque mother and baby are leading us |
We have a breakfast at 6:40 and leave for
Kamikouchi bus station at 7:30. The thermometer shows 18 degrees. We walk on a
flat and well maintained trail by the river. It goes through mushy and wooden
sections. A macaque mother and a baby on her back strolls ahead of us over the
wooden trail. Sun ray seeps through tall tree branches and reflects on the
trail. I wish that the time would freeze and I could stay here forever!
=================================
Mt. Yarigatake is a pinnacle that attracts every hiker, no matter which country
he/she comes from. I am very happy to have a chance to visit it for two years
in row. It is a pity that fellow hikers were not able to see the view from the
summit, though I trust that they enjoyed and appreciated the beauty and
wilderness of Japan
high mountains. I will probably take my hiking friends again next year to other
places of Japanese high mountains.
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