Finally, with the first hints of summer’s disappearance, I managed to get out into the mountains once again – on a relatively short but nevertheless momentous hike. If I could explain it in the simplest terms, it was quite yin and yang, or rather the first day, up to Hiuchi san and the beautiful campsite near the marsh at Koya-ike was almost transcendentally beautiful, while the second day with rain, wind, and steep ascents and descents over mount Myoko was a trial, to put it mildly. Having said that, it was a good chance to see just how prepared I was for poor weather and heavy rain conditions.
Traveling to the mountains for a hike almost always necessitates an early start, and I was up at 04:30 to catch the bullet and regional trains to Myoko Kogen station. A station I have alighted at many times in the past in order to go skiing at the many local resorts. I was ready to tank the 8000 yen taxi fare from the station to the mountain entrance, only to find the driver holding me up so that some other hikers could get on and split the fare. We chatted about various mountains in central Japan and the recent spate of bear attacks on the way up the mountain.
After fiddling around with my gear at the entrance to the trail for a while I eventually set off, with the first stages of the route being both pleasant and comparatively easy. As it was early Autumn, there were a lot of mushrooms growing, and I was fairly sure I came across one Amanita Phalloides or rather, the deathcap (made recently famous due to a certain beef wellington dinner). Much of the route was on wooden duckboards, which made for smooth and rapid travel. Eventually I hit the jyu-ni mawari, or twelve hairpins, a series of switchbacks used to aid the path in ascending a very steep section of slope. I powered up these, thinking they would mark the end of the steepest sections, only to be met be genuine cliff scrambles in the middle of the path. No matter.
I remember seeing some signs mentioning the unique flora and fauna found along this trail. Being so close to the sea of Japan, it’s a sweaty rainforest in the summer, and buried under several metres of snow in the winter. Needless to say, I was glad as I began to ascend out of the rainforest and among the firs and pines with a suddenly broader sky above me and a fresh breeze blowing between the scented bows. As it flattened out from around 2000 metres of elevation, I made fast progress towards the Kouya-ike hut. Checking in, I then set about setting up my tent and camping gear. The campsite was perfectly flat and smooth, and made for very easy setup.
Carrying only my camera and a bottle of water, I made a dash up towards the peak of Mount Hiuchi, one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan (and in this hike I would be ticking off two of them). There was a highland wetland that caught the mid afternoon light perfectly just outside of the campsite, named Tenku no Niwa or Garden of the Heavens, that made for a truly serene experience as I slowed my pace to walk past it and take in the atmosphere. Eventually, knowing I had another 400 metres of vertical climbing ahead of me, I plowed on. Panting, sweating, and surprisingly tired given I had left the majority of my heavy pack at the campsite.
The views from the top of Mount Hiuchi were fantastic, and on the way down I met the pair of Australians living in the area who were to be my hiking companions on the following day. Returning back towards the campsite, I took some time to enjoy the scenery among the autumnal blossoms and eventually managed to haggle a couple cans of Asahi from the hut staff. As I was camping, I wasn’t entitled to any of the food they had prepared, but decided I was happy enough eating my camp fare anyway. Eventually I passed out relatively early at around 8:30 PM, but as often happens when I hike, I woke up int he middle of the night and my body simply wouldn’t let me sleep again.
The second day was forecast to be dreary, and by jove it certainly was. At first I didn’t really mind much, it was a nice change of pace from all the perfectly sunny hikes I had been lucky enough to organise in recent months. I had company, with the Australian couple I met providing each other with support, and by proxy, me too. It was one of those days where the wind was a little too strong for comfort, the humidity a little too high for comfort and the rain a little too heavy for comfort. Trudging along and occasionally slipping in the mud, we made it up to the summit of Mount Myoko, number two of the 100 famous mountains summited on this trip, though not after a lot of bushwhacking and an endlessly steep summit climb. There wasn’t much to see at the top, aside from a shrine tucked into a small cave, and we slowly started to make the long descent down after summiting, wary of rumours of a treacherous traverse along a cliff on the way down.
In the end, the cliff traverse was fine. So fine, in fact that the two Australians swore up and down that we hadn’t reached it yet. Well, I certainly didn’t find any other. The thing about this descent, where the peak of the mountain was roughly 2400 metres above sea level, was that originally I thought I would only need to descent to 1500 metres, a drop of 900 metres. Nothing too crazy, but somewhat rough on the knees nevertheless. I was wrong. Bidding farewell to the Australians by a small pond with a ramshackle bench, I continued my way down. The humidity was so high that i was basically walking down through warm fog. Slipping on every second rock. I began to curse the trail and whoever built it. My shoes were full of water, I was soaked through. Thankfully I remembered the rain cover for my backpack; my items remained dry enough.
After what felt like hours of shouting out in anger, rushing down as fast as possible without slipping and injuring myself, I eventually made it to an area where I could smell sulfur. Mount Myoko, being an active volcano, is covered in sulfurous hot springs and I felt like maybe, just maybe I was nearing my goal. Wrong! Idiot. I kept trudging through the increasingly heavy rain and sludge, passing a hiker where all I could manage was a barked ‘who the fuck made this trail?’ and steamed past him. After what felt like years, I came across the demolished bridge, and sketchy scaffolded replacement crossing of the Otagiri River. The home stretch was upon me. I knew the end of the hike terminated at an onsen town, and that I should be able to dry off and warm up a little. Well, I was a moron.
Forgetting that the majority of onsen baths are found inside of ryokan or hotels, I beelined towards the first signposted one I could find (I was still very angry at… the weather? the mountain? life? you see). When I realised it was another long steep climb up a hill to get there, I almost started to sob. Miserably forcing myself up the hill, I got there to find the baths entirely open plan (bad), entirely empty (great!), and entirely lacking anywhere to dry off (oh lord just end my wretched life). Saying eff it to myself, I got in anyway, and in the end my temper eased; maybe there really is something to the healing waters of the onsen afterall.
Eventually got out and jerry-rigged a dry-enough changing apparatus to get into more respectable clothing and made my way into the tiny onsen village of Tsubame Onsen. I finally met the other hiker who I passed at the hotel lobby where we waited for the bus. I subtly apologised for being a dick and overtly complained about the state of the trail. I was very chuffed to find out that he thought the trail was shit too. It was all in the past now, so who cares! In the end I think it was a great test of my gear. I still think Gore-tex is a complete hoax, and of course it’s Japan where it’s pushed so hard it’s almost impossible to find anything that isn’t Gore-texed to the nines. My Gore-texed boots were basically puddles at the end of the trip. Not to mention the PFAs or whatever new hell chemical we have found in our hiking gear simply shedding out into the environment.
I have very few photos of the second day because I was rushing to get down the mountain and I didn’t want my camera to get wet. Sorry!
It is not everything! 