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Cornwall Morganeering Copyright

 

Japan

The North Alps - September 2009

Day 5

 
I woke at 4-45 a.m. and was downstairs before the lodge keeper had got up. The sun was just rising over the mountains and you could tell that it was going to be a good day. The lodge keeper got up and went outside, and came back in shouting “Shimo Oritate”…… I thought that he had seen a wild animal or something but no, he was commenting that there was frost on the tables outside…… the first frost of the season.

 

Sunrise at Sugonorikoshi Lodge

Frost on the outside tables early morning

 


I discussed my options with the lodge keeper. If I carried on and did Yakushidake I would eventually get to Tarobe Goya, and then there was an escape route off the mountain to Oritate and Aremine. There was a bus from Aremine back to Toyama, the only problem being that it only ran on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10-30 a.m. Apart from this bus, the only alternative was a 2-hour taxi ride back to Toyama. This would be expensive, and would be more difficult as it would have to be pre-arranged by phone from Tarobe Goya. So, to carry on via Yakushidake was effectively making escape off the mountain more difficult. I was concerned with the climbing involved, and the fact that the weight of my rucksack was putting strain on my knee.
The alternative was to go back to Goshikigahara. This route was taking me back closer to Toyama, and had the advantage that there was a short high-level option as well as a longer low-level option off the mountain if I had more problems with my knee. I decided to go back to Goshikigahara for safety’s sake.

 

Leaving Sugonorikoshi for Goshikigahara

Looking back to Sugonorikoshi Lodge, just a small red blip on the ridge

The trail goes up a narrow ravine hemmed in by foliage

Mt Kasa in the distance

As it was a warm day and I would be walking through low scrub, I fixed my bear-bell to my walking stick so that I did not turn a corner to find a bear sitting in the sun! I set off at 6-45 a.m., and reached the peak at Etsuchuzawadake, 2,591m, at 11-40 a.m., i.e. nearly 5 hours of walking.
 

 

 

 

Etsuchuzawadake 2,591 m

Etsuchuzawadake 2,591 m

The trail from Etsuchuzawadake to Goshikigahara

It was a very sunny and hot day, and I had only taken one litre of water with me to reduce weight. I had consumed this by the time I reached Etsuchuzawadake. At the peak I met a Slovakian walker headed towards Sugonorikoshi. He had been caught in the wind and rain the night before and had not made it to the lodge, and had had to bivvy on the mountain using a small tent. Because of the high winds he said that he did not think that his tent was going to survive the night.

 

 

Looking ahead to Tonbi yama

Tonbi yama Peak at 2,616 m

I was now anxious to find water, and walking over a sandy part of the trail I noticed that it was wet from the rain. To the side of the trail was a small pool of water with a sandy bottom, and I managed to scoop up a litre and pass it through a micro-filter bag into my water bottle. I added 3 iodine tablets and, hey presto, thirty minutes later I had a litre of water I could drink. Just as well I did this as by the time I reached Goshikigahara Lodge at 3-25 p.m. I had consumed it all.

 

Mist rolling is as I approached Goshikigahara Lodge

Shokudo, Goshikigahara Lodge. The view is across the valley to Mt. Hari-no-Ki

Mt. Hari-no-Ki

 

I was quite tired again, as I had been walking for 8 hours 40 minutes in all, and had another early night.