Central Alps② 21 to 23 Sep. 2014
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21 Sep. Kisofukushima town - Fuekino-taki Falls
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22 Sep. Fueki no taki Falls - Ontake - Hakuryu Hut（Sainokawara）
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23 Sep. Hakuryu Hut - Mamako-dake - Hiwada Kogen camp ground
21 Sep. Kisofukushima Town - Nakanoyu - Fuekino-taki Fall
Packed all the 25 days food in my backpack somehow and left the town to Ontake. I have to walk along sealed road for about 25 km to the trail head. I was fed up with the heavy backpack and the long road but the weather was perfect. All the rice field has turned golden, it's time to harvest.
On the way to Ontake, there are many shrines.
Ontake is one of the biggest volcano in Japan and very religious mountain. Still many people come in pilgrimage to Ontake wearing special white clothes.
The closer I came, the more shrines there were.
I arrived at the parking of Fuekino-taki Fall, the trail head to Ontake. It was getting dark and I decided to put my tent there. Many monkeys were jumping from one tree to another over my head. They sounded very excited. They might be angry with me for being in their territory. I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Monkeys, please allow me to stay here only for one night.
22 Sep. Fuekino-taki Fall - Aburagibirin - Ontake - Hakuryu Hut
I woke up to the birds' song. Fottunately the monkeys didn't attack my tent.
Aburagibirin is a very light and beautiful forest with Keyaki(zelkova tree) and pine trees.
There was a small shop just before coming above the tree line. I had some rice cakes there to recharge energy to hike up to Ontake(3067m).
Ontake is HUGE. JUST HUGE. It's really impressive mountain. Actually, Ontake is the biggest volcano in Japan. Mt.Fuji is the highest mountain but the area of Ontake is larger than that of Mt.Fuji.
After having a short walk around Ninoike Pond and the peak of Ontake, I went to Hakuryu Hut. This hut is small and basic but quite new. Left my backpack and hiked up to Marishiten to see sunset. I got a perfect 360° panorama but it was too cold to stay there at the top and I couldn't until I see sunset...
This night, I saw the best starry sky in this trip. The sky was clear and dark because there are no big citites around this mountain.
23 Sep. Hakuryu Hut - Mamako-dake - Hiwada Kogen Camp Ground
The Autumn Equinox day. It had become colder and I felt summer was about to end. It was so cold in the previous night and there was some ice on the surface of the ponds around the hut.
Mamako-dake is located at the North of Ontake. The ridge line to Mamako-dake is rocky and quite steep but you can enjoy the amazing view. You can see Ontake anywhere when you look back.
After the peak of Mamako-dake, descent to Hiwada Kogen. Very steep decsent. And not many people use this trail so the trace is not clear. The bush grows so much that we can easily get lost... But the turning leaves were incredibly vivid and enlivend me.
I got down to a ski field after a few hours of bush walking. There is a sealed road to Hiwada Kogen Camp ground from here. There were lots of white birch trees along the way. I saw some rabbits and squirrels there. It took three hours to the Camp ground.