Southern Alps② 6 to 8 Sep. 2014
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6 Sep. Hatanagi Bridge - Chausu Hut
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7 Sep. Chausu Hut - Tekari-dake - Chausu Hut
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8 Sep. Chausu Hut - Hijiri-dake - Usagi-dake Hut
6 Sep. Hatanagi Bridge - Chausu Hut
Finally on the 5th day from the start, I came into the forest.
Feeling the soft soil under the sole of my boots, I talked to myself "this is it".
There was a long and steep uphill to Chausu-dake and I was still carrying food for 11 days hiking. It was hard but I felt really good because I waited this for long time.
It took about 7 hours to Chaus Hut (2400m). I put my tent at the camp site beside the hut and had a short walk. Finally I came above the tree line!!
On the ridge, I could see even the Central Japanese Alps, where I would walk 10 days later.
It started raining in the evening. I lay down hearing the sound of the rain drops.
7 Sep. Chausu Hut - Tekari-dake - Chausu Hut
It was still raining in the morning. But I got excited when I heard the rain hitting my rain jacket. I love walking in the rain.
I took a return trip to Tekari-dake (2592m) this day.
It was fun to walk in the misty wet forest. There were also some flower fields here and there. Tiny and beautiful alpine flowers always enlighten me.
There is a hut beside the peak of Tekari-dake. When I got there a man was having a coffee on the deck he was the owner of the hut.
I had a cup of coffee with him trying to see the mountains in the Southern Alps between the patchy clouds.
When I got back to Chausu Hut, the owner invited me to the dinner at the hut. He said to me "you are going to the Japan Sea, right? Come in and have dinner with us".
I sat at the table with the staffs of the hut and 3 other hikers. We all love hiking and the nature so we became friends soon. I had a really good and hearty time.
8 Sep. Chausu Hut - Hijiri-dake - Usagi-dake Hut
You can see Mt. Fuji from Chausu Hut. I saw beautifully coloured Mt. Fuji this morning. The owner sent me off saying "Safe trip".
Head to Hijiri-dake.
There were lots of "Torikabuto" (wolfsbanes) on the way. Torikabuto is a purple and tall flower which has very strong poison. They are very beautiful but on the way to Hijiri-dake, I only saw those Torikabuto. It's because most of other flowers were eaten by deer.
Now the increasing number of deer is a huge problem in Japan.
There used to be wolves and hunters who controlled the number of deer but the wolves have been extinct and the people have stopped hunting.
That increasing deer eat flowers and saplings but don't eat Torikabuto because they are poisonous. That's the reason why I only saw Torikabuto there.
Now they take measures to control them and protect plants.
Humans are really selfish. Now we put traps around rare flowers to protect them from the deer. I understand it is necessary to do so. We have to do so.
However the reason why the wolves disappeared was that we developed forests too much and they lost places to live. This is us who made this situation and increase the deer.
It's all our responsibility, the deer haven't done anything wrong. But now we put fences around flowers and killing deer. Do we have any right to decide which life to kill or protect? Hmm...
I got to Usagi-dake Hut via Hijiri-dake. It's very basic but tidy hut which can accommodate probably up to 5 persons.
The peak of Usagi-dake is 10 mins from the hut. And I had an amazing view there. You can see whole Southern Alps and even some part of the Northern Alps.
