Kashimayari

Conditions were fantastic during my two day hike to Kashimayarigatake in Nagano, a mountain located in the middle of the Ushiro-Tateyama Renpo, a mountain range that stretches over 30km from Harinokidake to Hakuba-Norikuradake. We hiked up to the summit (2889.1m) from Ogisawa (1350m), where we'd parked the car, and then through Jigatake (2669.8m). On the way to the summit, I camped out in a new tarp tent (Skyscape Trekker from Six Moon Designs) whilst my hiking companians spent the night in luxury at the Tsumetaike Hut. Coming back was the same way; and from the car park, we headed to Omachi Onsen.

First day: 

Ogisawa > 3.5h (Kashiwara-shido) > Taneike hut > 1h > Jigatake > 1.5h > Tsumetaike Hut.

Second day:

Tsumetaike hut > 2.5h > Kashimayarigatake > 1.5h > Tsumetaike hut > 1.5h > Jigatake > 3.5h > Ogisawa.

Hotsprings & Scientists

The plan was to hit the onsens (hotsprings) in Kusatsu, Gunma on Saturday, camp in Hakuba, Nagano, then do some whitewater rafting on the next day. We managed the first day, but with the heavy rain that weekend, the outdoors company with whom we signed up to do it with, called us up to say that unfortunately, they'd have to cancel.

So, we just spent the weekend driving around and sitting around in water. And because we had scientists in tow, one of them just had to have pH indicator paper on hand. And for those who are interested, the onsens in Kusatsu were measured to have a pH value of about 2.

[Footbath in Kusatsu.]

[Flat udon in Kusatsu.]

[Humans on either side with Kusatsu waters in the middle.]

Burning Mountain

Yake-dake aka. burning mountain, an active volcano with a height of 2455m, is situated between the prefectures of Nagano and Gifu.

Akadake

Had a fab but exhausting time hiking up Aka-dake (2,899m) yesterday. It's my first time on the Yatsugadake mountains, and I'll definitely be back to climb the rest of the range. Had a few minor mishaps though, ripped a hole the length of a hand span in my trousers with my crampons; and I was a complete ditz by forgetting my glasses at the mountain hut we stayed at. But all's well that ends well with the help of duct tape and chakubarai (the Payment on Delivery postal service used in Japan).

Mount Kita

Mount Kita in Nagano Prefecture, Japan's second highest mountain at 3193m.

Unfortunately, because of strong winds and low visibility, I wasn't able to make it to the summit.

A Volcano Called Asama

After a day of overeating in Karuizawa in Nagano, I saw fit to climb up Mt. Asama (2524m), an active volcano that's close by, to work off all that food.

For the Second Time

19.07.2014

I was back at Mount Yari (3180m) in the Japanese Alps on a three-day hiking trip. It rained unfortunately, but the sunshine came out on the final day which allowed me to take some decent photos!

Knife ridges made up part of the trail where I could have seen a very steep drop when looking down if it wasn't so misty that day... phew! This hike was quite challenging, and by the third day, it was not an easy process to get out of my sleeping bag in the morning. Fantastic hike though, despite the muscle soreness!

Nagano Weekend

With a couple of mates, I went to Nagano for a fun-packed weekend.

We had oyaki, a local speciality;
Went to Zenkoji Temple;
Stayed in a ryokan (Japanese-style hotel) and played table tennis wearing a yukata after taking a dip in the hot spring;
Went to farmers markets and bought loads of veggies;
Saw the monkeys at Yudanaka;
And had lunch at St Cousair Winery.

Golden Week Camping Trip

Over Golden Week, I did a three-day camping trip in Ogawayama in Nagano. We took it easy on the first day with setting up camp, slack lining and an easy hike. The next day was spent hiking up Mount Kinpu (2599m), and we spend the last day doing some rock-climbing.

I had loads of new experiences on this trip. I learnt how to walk the slack line, how to make a campfire, how to rock climb outdoors, how to roast the perfect marshmallow, and how to make S'mores!

Last Snow Hike of the Year

[Oyaki, grilled on a cast iron pan over an open fire.]

Two weeks ago, I went to Nagano for three days. I spent the first day exploring Nagano City. I suppose it was because it was a weekday, but the town was pretty quiet with mostly older folk in the streets. But when I asked the hostel keeper, she said that it was pretty normal. I tried some of the local delicacies, like the oyaki pictured above. Oyaki are dumplings with skins made of fermented buckwheat flour which are wrapped around sweet or savoury fillings. I had one of each of the oyaki containing red bean paste, okara, and nozawana (Japanese green veg), and they were served with complimentary miso soup, buckwheat tea and pickles. They were really yummy, my favourite's got to be the nozawana.

[Zenkoji Temple]

The next day, I got up early to watch the morning ceremony at Zenkoji Temple. It was all done with great ceremony, while one group of monks were doing the chanting, another group were sitting to the side drinking tea?? I didn't stay for too long, after about twenty minutes of watching the monks chant, I returned to the hostel for brekky and a nice hot cup of tea.

 

[People waiting to receive blessings.]

After brekky, I went to meet with my hiking companions at Nagano Station, and we set off for Togakushi. The weather was perfect for snow hiking, but unlike the featherlight snow of my previous snow hike, this snow was wet and heavy, and required a lot more hard work to walk through.

We got some wonderful views from the top though, and what goes up, must come down... I'd bought along my sled, so after making sure that I had a safe path that didn't involve going off an edge, I took it easy and slid down!

It was not the smoothest of trails because of how wet and uncompressed the snow was, but I got to have a bit of a slide, my last opportunity until next winter.

Snow Hike in Kirigamine

After the yearly ALT Mid-Year Seminar with the traditional drink at the Lost in Translation-featured New York Bar, I was off to Nagano the next day to don on snow shoes again for three days.

I was lucky, the snow falling on Tokyo only delayed my train by five minutes, I'd chosen to pull myself up extra early to make the three and a half hour journey by local train, before the snow got too heavy. I would have been seriously disappointed if I had missed this, snow hiking is such a fun way to work out, especially when the snow is fresh and we have to break our own trails. We had people falling in waist-deep, it was quite hilarious when our big Finnish companion sank in up to his shoulders.

Our highest point was 1925m on the summit of Kurumayama.

With all that hiking, I looked forward to the meals at our ryokan "Hutte Kirigamine". The food is so delicious!

Oh right, got to leave my mark in the snow, even if it is only temporary. Fresh unmarred snow is just so tempting! I suggested imprinting ourselves on the snow, but no-one else was interested, so it was just me, a human imprint on it's lonesome in the snow.