Northen Alps⑤ 10 to 12 Oct. 2014
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10 Oct. Goryu Hut - Karamatsu-dake - Hakubayari-gatake - Shirouma-dake Chojo Hut
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11 Oct. Shirouma-dake Chojo Hut - Shirouma-dake - Asahi Hut
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12 Oct. Asahi Hut - Sawagani-yama - Inu-gatake - Shiratori Hut
10 Oct. Goryu Hut - Karamatsu-dake - Hakubayarigatake - Shirouma Chojo Hut
Completely surrounded by the clouds. I could not see anything and it was really windy. Anyway, I left for Karamatsu-dake. Just after Karamatsu-dake, there is a dangerous ridge section called "Kaerazu". "Kaerazu" means "cannot comeback". I was not sure I can go Kaerazu in that wind.
But when I came to Karamatsu, the clouds were cleared and the wind got weaker. Good timing!
As it cleared, I could see mountains in Hakuba, Tateyama and even Mt. Fuji in the South. As I heard, Kaerazu was very exciting place. Very narrow, steep, slippery and the rocks break easily. I went through carefully.
Then I went through the mountains of Hakuba. Hakubayarigatake and Shakushi-dake. This day's destination, Shirouma Chojo Hut, is just after these mountains.
In this Northern Alps area, I have come over many high mountains over 3000m. But when I looked at the North from this Hut, the further the ridge line goes, the lower the mountains are. I felt that I was getting closer to the end.
11 Oct. Shirouma Chojo Hut - Shirouma-dake - Yukikura-dake - Asahi Hut
The peak of Shirouma-dake is quite close from the hut. It was very windy and the cold winds stung.
In this Shirouma area, the contrast of white rock and green bush was beautiful and there were some green stones too. hmm, what was that?
After Yukikura-dake(2610m), the trail plunge down 600m to Asahi Hut. As the route came down to the tree line I could walk in the forest. It's been a while, trees!
There were some clear streams along the trail and I took water from them and washed my face. It was very refreshing. I always get energy from the natural water. Water is the most important.
I put my tent at Asahi Hut and walked around. There were lots of berry trees around the hut. I met a very kind group from Niigata prefecture. We all were going to the same place, Oyashirazu, and when I told them that I had been walking more than a month, they kindly gave me a lot of food. Thank you very much.
They gave me some sushi and alcohol. And the hut staffs gave us some food because they would close the hut for winter a few days later, they needed to consume all the stock.
What a fruitful night.
12 Oct. Asahi Hut - Asahi-dake - Sawaganiyama - Inugatake - Shiratori Hut
Left the hut before dawn because it would be a long day to Shiratori Hut. At first I went up to Asahi-dake and saw the sun came out. I could see the township of Toyama city on the other side. The city is on the Sea. The goal was just around the corner.
I took Tsugami Shindo trail to the Japan Sea from Asahi-dake. This is the main route which connect the Sea and Asahi-dake. The trail was well maintained and went through some swamps and bamboo grass fields. The best thing about this trail was that I could see the Sea from anywhere as the trail went along the ridge. What a good feeling to walk looking at the shiny ocean.
The trail dropped down to the treeline after Inugatake and went through in a forest of beech trees.
10 hours after I left Asahi-dake, I arrived at Shiratori Hut. About 10 people stayed at the hut this day and we all sat at the same table at the dinner time.
We were different groups but we all came from Asahi Hut. We were already friends who shared the love to the nature and we all had a goal to walk towards the Sea. We had a good chat there and I was so happy to share that moment with those great people.