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Published: September 15th 2008
(Day 160 on the road)I finally had the hiking experience I had been looking for for such a long time - the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, from Asahi-dake onsen to Shirogane onsen. Up north in Japan on Hokkaido island, in the remote national park of Daisetsuzan, I spent five full days hiking of and camping in almost complete solitude. The trek is challenging and long, and temperatures dropped to below zero at night. But the biggest problem actually was access to clean water - at this time of the year (early September), water was extremely scarce up there, and it did actually cut my hike short by one day.
If you are contemplating doing this hike, read on for some tips or email me for more information. I found the only hiking book there is about Japan (aptly called "Hiking in Japan", published by Lonely Planet) not very useful at all, both their walking times and their decision on where to stop for the night were completely off at times. So if you do use that book, my advice is don't rely on it too much. Instead, there is a very good and detailed description of the trail at
this website.
Day 0: I arrived in Asahi-dake onsen in the morning, after I had slept that night at the Internet cafe in Asahikawa, about two hours away by bus. I had wanted to try these Internet cafes that double as hotels from when I first saw them in Tokyo, and it was actually pretty cool and far cheaper than any hotel or hostel. I only got about three hours of sleep though, but that was more due to the addictiveness of the PC right in front of me than the actual comfort of the place, which was not too bad. If you come to Asahi-dake onsen, make sure you have bought everything you need for the hike somewhere else as there is only a very small convenience store at the bottom of the cable-car. I spent the day getting ready and talking to the park Ranger's about the hike and its condition. The ranger I spoke to tried to talk me out of the hike numerous times, but I figured I was a) well prepared (carrying food for seven days, good equipment and good maps) and b) physically strong enough. I proved to be right. I also managed to pick up
a warm but ugly hat, gloves and hiking pole from the youth hostel that other travellers had left behind, and all of these proved almost essential in the days to come.
Day 1 (Asahi-dake onsen to Hakuun-dake Hinan-goya): I was off to a bad start. I had left my tent a little open at night to improve air circulation. As I had slept only three hours the night before, I had missed the rain that must have started during the night. I woke up with wet and cold feet at four in the morning and realised that there was a big pool of water at my feet in the tent. I waited another half hour or so for the rain to stop, but to no avail. There was nothing else to do but to get up and pack my things in the pouring rain. So I set off with half my equipment wet and the rain still pouring down. I hiked seven hours that day in very limited visibility, rain and even a hail storm. However, I was in good spirits, singing along as I stumbled up Mount Asahi and down again. This is what I had been looking
for, and I was not letting a bit of rain or fog spoil my hike. I stayed the night in the hut at Hakuun-dake Hinan-goya, but the air was so humid my sleeping bag did not dry at all. I spent a miserable and cold night in the wet sleeping bag, literally wearing every single piece of clothes I had except my rain-gear.
Day 2 (Hakuun-dake Hinan-goya to Chuubetsu-dake Hinan-goya): I must have somehow fallen asleep after all, and when I woke it was to a blue sky and sun; I could actually see the mountains around me! I rushed outside and put my wet gear into the warming sun whilst having a lazy breakfast. The hike to this day's hut, Chuubetsu-dake Hinan-goya, was about six fairly easy hours, and I enjoyed every second of it in this beautiful landscape. Especially the approach to Mount Chuubatsu was visually stunning.
Day 3 (Chuubetsu-dake Hinan-goya to Sansen-dai campground): The hiking book I had read put the hours of this day at five, and the next day at 10. I saw no reason why I should cut this day short and hiked for about nine hours up to the camp-site at
Sansen-dai. Temperatures in the night dropped to below zero, but I was actually snug and warm.
Day 4 (Sansen-dai campground to Biei-Fuji Hinan-goya): This was the by far toughest day of the entire hike and I was very glad that I had hiked a few extra hours on the previous day. At the end of this day I was thoroughly exhausted and dehydrated. Looking back now, I would not do this hike in one day again, but rather break it down into two days. I got up early before sunrise, made some tea and gathered water from a very questionable looking still poodle. Up to this point, water had been available, but no longer. I was carrying four litres of water, two of which I had boiled, two of which not. The trail from Sansen-dai to Oputakeshike was stunning and easily the most beautiful part of the entire trek. I could see far ahead and back, tracing where I was coming from and where I was going. For most parts, the path went along a green ridge, until finally dropping down to the base of Mount Oputakeshike. And this is where the hardship proper began. I had already been
walking for six hours at this point, and the path was going right up Oputakeshike. The height-difference was 600 metres, and the path went literally straight up its steep face, mostly over big boulders, requiring a lot of strength. As I set off from the bottom, I checked my watch; it was 11:59:43. For dramatic purposes, I waited the extra 17 seconds and started the climb at exactly twelve o'clock. Ten minutes later, I was back at the same spot, as I had taken the wrong path. So I started again at a very undramatic 12:12 or so. It took me two very long and exhausting hours to tackle this beast of a mountain, but the joy of reaching the top lasted only so long: The descent on the other side was steep and over loose gravel, making every step extremely treacherous. It was another two hours down and up to the hut of Biei-Fuji Hinan-goya. I reached the shelter after a good 11 hours of hiking, where the book I had been looking at stated this day at seven to eight hours. I had walked fairly quickly and only made short breaks - how anyone could accomplish this hike
in 8 hours remains a complete mystery to me. After settling in at the hut I realised that the only, supposedly reliable, water source here had dried out, and again I was forced to take water from a very dodgy looking small pool. I was running out of fuel to boil the water and had to take my chances again by drinking it unboiled (but treated with water purification tablets). The main danger here with the water is Echinococcus, a eventually deadly parasite to humans if undetected, coming from fox feces. The trouble is: You don't know if you have it, and apparently it takes about five to ten years for the symptoms to show, at which point it is too late to be treated. So fingers crossed the water I drank was fine.
Day 5 (Biei-Fuji Hinan-goya to Shirogane onsen): To finish the hike, I had three feasible options: 1) Follow the trail to my intended finish. The hiking book said it would be eight difficult hours, but after the experience of the previous day I was not so sure about the accuracy of the given hiking time, so it would probably take me nine or ten hours.
I was exhausted and, to be honest, not really up for another tough and long day. 2) I could break the day in two, but as I had no clean water and had been told that there was no water where I would stop for the next night, this was not really an option. So I settled for option 3) a four hour, moderate descent to Shirogane-onsen. From there I got two connecting buses back to Asahi-dake onsen (where I had started the hike), and was very happy to sit in the hot waters of the onsen that evening, resting my tired body and having a proper wash after five days on the mountain.
All in all, this was near-perfect hike. I was pretty much alone on the mountain at most of times, and the physical challenge was a nice change from the usual travelling of the past months. I am very keen to hike more in Japan!
Next stop: Kamikochi (Central Honshu, 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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Barry Solomon
non-member comment
Daisetsuzan National Park Maps
HI, I am in japan now, and thinking about doing the grand traverse. I was wondering if you still had the pictures of the maps you used, and if so could you send them to me. It would be very much appreciated. thanks so much Barry