Hiking across the Northern Japan Alps (Japan Alps National Park, Central Honshu, Japan)


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September 25th 2008
Published: September 28th 2008
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(Day 174 on the road)So I am back from traversing the Northern Japan Alps, from Kamikochi at the southern end to Murodo in the north. It took me six full days of hiking, and unfortunately the weather was not really on my side this time - it was raining and windy most of the time. Also, it was extremely cold at night, which was particularly unpleasant as I freeze very easily. Having said that however, the hike was perfect, and I would do it again in an instance! There were very few other hikers, and the further I went from Kamikochi (which is the base for climbing the very popular Mount Yarigatake), the more I was on my own and enjoyed the solitude.

My route took me from Kamikochi to Yarisawa on day one, Yarisawa to Yarigatake on day two, Yarigatake to Kurobe goro on day three, Kurobe goro to Yakushidake on day four, Yakushidake to Goshiki-ga-hara on day five, and finally Goshiki-ga-hara to Kurobe dam near Murodo on day six.

I unfortunately timed my planned departure for the hike from Kamikochi with the arrival of a typhoon and decided to delay the start for two days to let the bad weather pass. It was raining continuously, and I pretty much spent the two days and nights in my tent. The typhoon however didn't hit the area, and on the morning of the third day the sky was blue. I set off early, eager to get going. The nice weather lasted for about seven hours, then it started raining again. I waited until noon the next day in the hope that it would stop raining, but to no avail. In the end, I packed all my gear in the pouring rain, and for the next two and a half days all my gear was either soaking wet (tent, shoes, rain gear) or damp (pretty much everything else). On day three it stopped raining in the late afternoon, and day four and five were pretty dry but mostly overcast, whilst day six was mostly rainy again. So a bit of a mixed affair.

The trek itself is for large parts a ridge walk, so with the right kind of weather you can have perfect views of the valleys on both sides. And when the clouds disappeared every now and then, it was truly spectacular. The most uncomfortable times of the hike were always the nights: I was so cold and surprised that I managed to sleep at all. I was always wearing everything I had on me for the nights and kept moving around in my sleeping bag to keep warm, but all that didn't really help much. I was always so happy at the break of each new dawn, as that meant that I finally could get up and get going again.

The worst and at the same time best part of the entire time I spent in the mountains were the late afternoon of day four and the morning of day five. On day four, I had reached my intended destination for the day by 1330h, with the next campsite about three hours away. Still feeling fit I decided to push on, well aware that sunset was to be around five o'clock, with complete darkness at six. During the day, I had walked through areas where camping even without a dedicated campsite would have been easy in many places, so I was not too worried about not reaching the next campsite.

As it turned out however, the next three hours the path led across a rocky and steep ridge at 2.900 meters across Mount Yakushidake and two more peaks past it, with absolutely no space at all to pitch my tent. In the west, I could see the sun disappearing, and from the east, dark clouds were approaching fast. It was dramatic: I was scared and thrilled at the same time. With the adrenalin pumping, I was hiking as fast as I could (partly on all fours on the big boulders), but with the rocky path and steep drops to both sides there was no way I could walk faster without risking serious injury or worse.

In the end, I didn't make it to the campsite. Just as I was preparing myself for a very rough and cold night at the top of the mountain without any shelter, I walked through a chimney-like bit where there was a rocky spot just big enough for my tent. It was far from perfect by virtually all measures (rocky, uneven, completely exposed in the chute), but it was my best bet, as nightfall and the storm were approaching fast. With the stony surface, it took me forever to put up the tent, as there was no way to put the carabiners in the ground to secure the tent. It started raining halfway through, and a good part of my gear received a good soaking. The night was tough, with the storm flogging down the chute fiercely, but it was still a thousand times better than without the tent. Strange as it sounds, I was so happy to be there: High up on the mountain, completely alone, far from anything or anyone, alone with and exposed to the elements. Living in cities and enjoying all the comforts of it, it is all too easy to forget the power and raw force of nature.

But all the hardship was forgotten in an instance the next morning: I got up at the crack of dawn to a cloudy and grey morning. But after I had walked for about twenty minutes, I witnessed the most amazing spectacle imaginable: The wind and the sun were battling with the clouds and the fog, creating views that are hard to describe. As the wind was so fierce and the sun increased its power, it pushed the clouds around, changing the view of it every few moments. One minute, all you could see was clouds, the next minutes I could see part of the mountain ranges, the next minute another part, sometimes down to the valley. Have a look at the pictures, they are some of the most dramatic I have taken on this trip so far.

On many occasions on this trip, especially when something was particularly beautiful or memorable, I had wished to be able to share it with someone. Not with this one: I was 100% content to be up on the mountain completely alone, far away from anyone, just watching nature in action. I sat down awestruck, cooked some tea, singing along to some Johnny Cash songs from my Ipod, and simply took it all in. Sadly, it was all over in less than an hour, when the fog and the mist were gone as if they had never existed.

After that morning, nothing was able to quite catch my attention anymore. I pretty much walked the next two days without thinking too much. Not without appreciating it, don't get me wrong, but I was still spellbound by this magical moment I had witnessed.

On the late afternoon of day six, I finished the hike at Kurobe dam. After two buses and a train, I arrived back in Matsumoto, where I spent the next couple of days and indulged in the comforts of the city. Highlights included Asama Hot Plaza (a nice onsen just outside Matsumoto), great food, especially basashi (raw horse meat, a speciality of Matsumoto), and a very nice Japanese-style hotel.

Next stop: Mount Fuji (Kawaguchiko, Japan).



To view my photos, have a look at pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).




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25th April 2009

Thank you
Hi Ben! Thank you for an inspiring report from your hike in the nortern Japanese alps. I plan to go on a short hike somewere in Japan in September but have not decided were to go yet. Dont know how much time I have got for this but I am considering different options. Are there any places/areas you would recomend. I have some experience from hiking in northern Scandinavia, so I am used to the wet and coold. Do you know were to find god maps and/or guide books covering trails, acomodation etc? Kindly Carl Sanglert Sweden
13th September 2009

Hikingalone in the Japan Alps
Hello Ben, I've been living in Japan for a while, but still haven't been into the alps enough! I have exactly one month left here and thought your route from Kamikochi sounded really great. I would have to hike it alone however as all my friends are working..haha. I have a decent level of fitness but not much experience hiking alone. I often trail run around where I live - Madarao, Shinetsu Trail and hike up a mountain I know quite often, but rarely venture high up mountains I don't know...especially alone. Your route sounds doable, but what preparatoins are needed for a 4-day hike? Also, I have heard Yarigatake is a hard climb and a little dangerous? Or that could just be my boyfriend not wanting me to venture it alone! Thank you in advance, Jo

Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0424s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb