Japan Alps Omote Ginza &　Ura　Ginza 3rd day

9th Oct 2014

Hutte Nishidake ( approx 2700 m / 6:00 AM  ) - Hutte Oyari ( 2884 m / 9:30 AM ) -Mt. Yari ( 3180 m / We didn't climb up to the top Sorry ! ) - Nishi kama one - Sugoroku Koya ( 2550 m / 16:00 PM )

Breakfast 5:00 AM !!!!! Very early !
Lunch at Yarigatake Sanso 11:30 AM
Dinner at Sugoroku 17:00 PM

Most of the people would be surprised to know breakfast start at  5:00 AM !!! I feel very early too. Please keep in mind breakfast in Japan is earlier than Europe or Nepal. Sorry I don't know other region.

I ate all and feel very nice. I like mountain because I have good excuse to eat as much as I like. Food make me strong in mountain.

We have departed on 6:00 AM on this day. At that moment, we were thinking to go  to Mt. Yari only today.

We can see nice moon next to Mt. Yari.





Very bright Hutte Nishidake. Just before departure. Thank you so much ! Enjoyable staying here.



Moon has gone to somewhere.




Nice later autumn feeling.






Wonderful view !


We are slowly coming closer to Mt. Yari.


Strange cloud has coming up behind the mountain.






Actually this route ( only from Nishidake to Mt. Yari) is very steep and a lots of up and down. In addition, sometime we have to use ladder.



I think this is the longest ladder on this route. Actually we cannot see where this ladder will end from the top. I have completed this, because I have no other choice! This is also one of the reason I like mountain. Sometimes I have to do more than my best.


This is Kita kamaone which is very famous rock area and my level of people is not allowed to enter. I have heard a lots of people challenged and some died.




Sun is coming up and we can look over yellow colored valley.



We arrived Hutte Oyari which is the same owner as Enzanso. So I know the people who are working here. I have popped in and say hello to them. It seems that everyone has already know I have came to this area and I might have arrived here yesterday. However it seems that my friend in Enzanso told them we stayed Nishidake Hutte last night because we are too lazy.

Anyway we enjoyed conversation and hot drink. I enjoyed milk tea and cocoa with a lots of sugar... I needed sugar at that time ! Also I hope it is no problem to enjoy sugar in mountain.

This hut is small and very tidy and serve very nice meal which we missed this year. Also you can enjoy nice Japanese sake because there is a kind of bar in this hut. You can see inside of Hutte Oyari. http://www.enzanso.co.jp/ooyari/categories/e02.html In addition, manager of this hut is very unique! You should speak to him and enjoy your staying here.

Also you can enjoy nice photos below. Too much better than my photos! http://www.enzanso.co.jp/ooyari/categories/e06.html

We arrived Hutte Oyari at 9:30 AM. We have almost completed today's plan. However it is only 9:30 AM. We feel it is too early to end today's work. Normally 9:30 AM is the time when I start to work after 1st cup of coffee in the office. So we decided to go more further today.

In addition, we met the guy who is going to same hut today. We enjoyed walking with him until Mt. Yari. It takes approx 1 hour from Hutte Oyari to Mt. Yari. We have met " Raicho " which is very rare bird and everyone think this bird is precious. The birds were very cute and crying something.

During this route, we have met 2 men who were staying at Hutte Nishidake with us last night. They have already gone up to Mt. Yari and looks very fresh because completed something. As I mentioned on yesterday's trip report, there 2 guys walked very fast and I assumed their speed was very similar and they decided to go together.They told us that other side of mountain is very foggy which is the side of our further route today. 

I walked same way last year with very light bag. However I carried big backpack this year and felt this route is not so easy than I thought last year. Clouds has coming up and we can only see Mt. Yari 1 minute per 10 minutes.  It seems that wind speed is very high and clouds has gone through very fast. Below is the photo at that moment. I have taken photo after clearing clouds.

 I have heard sometimes mountaineer have to queue like this...... http://www.matsuaz.biz/ooyari/2014/09/15/1410784920772.html
This would happen during end of July to beginning of August or long weekend in September. Actually I would not recommend to go in this kind of season. However you can see great Sunrise sometimes. ( Please see bottom photo below the queuing. )

There are not so many people on this date ( 9th Oct / Normal week day ) . So It would be good timing to go top of Mt. Yari. However we cannot read when the clouds will be cleared. Also It takes 1 hour to go and back and I have already been to top last year and I feel a little scary to go again. So we passed Mt. Yari and entered the hut which is called " Yarigatake Sanso ". This mountain hut is very big and very famous in Japan. I have heard that the owner of this hut was business man and dramatically changed to take over his father's job. I am interested in what kind of management currently he is trying.I found this hut English site. http://www.yarigatake.co.jp/english/

I wish stay this hut in future.





We ate lunch in this hut. You can enjoy nice typical Japanese food. These are not posh one but a nice one in mountain. In addition, young guy who is going to same destination toady has departed earlier than us because he has lunch box and no need to eat lunch at hut.

After the lunch, very unfortunately,,,, my pet found out that this hut has WiFi !!! and started to touch his smart phone... I should have stopped him to connect wifi. So it takes nearly 30 min for him to enjoy.... Also he found the e-mail from his work. This caused the delay of our afternoon start. I was so upset and nearly picked up his phone and threw away. I wanted to depart as early as possible, because it is first time for me to go this route called " Nishi kama " and feel a little nervous because I don't know if any scary part or not. However we have to go otherwise we cannot arrive next hut.

" Nishi kama " is not so steep like " Higashi Kama ". I can say Nishi kama is more moderate than Higashi kama. However I feel this route is very long way.




There are not so scary part on Nishi Kama. Below photo is a little scary part. But not so bad.


On this route, fog ? clouds ? has been coming and going at high speed. Sometimes we could enjoy the view, however sometimes we cannot see anything but our route. By the way,  most of the mountain route in Japan northern Alps is very clear and easy to find. This is very different from the trekking route in the U.K. However we cannot find the route in case of bad weather. Off course it is better not to go during the bad weather.  Also one more problem for foreigner, sometimes there are only Japanese mentioned on very important sign.

We arrived here and we found out this is the middle of Mt. Yari and Sugoroku koya which we need to go today. Now it has already 14:30. If this sign is correct, we would be arrive at Sugoroku at 17:30 PM. This is very late arrival and this would cause the problem for mountain hut. So suddenly I saw this sign and call to the hut ( Sugoroku koya ) and booked today's 2 beds and dinner.

I tried to explain where I am. However there are a few pronunciation for Chinese character and it seems that I pronounced wrongly and hut staff cannot understand where I am. After long explanation, they finally understand where I am and remind us to be careful to arrive late. Sometimes bear would come to the trekking route

" Oh no......... bear....."
  
Actually this is very first time for my pet to come to Japanese mountains and he feel very scary to hear about bear. Very luckily I have no experience to meet bear and normally don't care about. The only thing I normally do is put bear bells on the backpack. Normally bear is very shy and would not come out in front of human. I have heard that the bear bell let bear know human or something is near of you and bear try not to be close to something not sure.  You can hear the sound of bear bell when you walk though mountain in Japan. Most of the people have bear bell to protect ourselves.

After seeing this sign I started to try my best to concentrate on walking without taking care of my pet or taking photo.  He is the man. He should be ok. I prayed this sign is something wrong.






On the way to Sugoroku, my pet told me that he felt the smell of sulfur. 2 weeks ago, volcano eruption has been occurred at near this area and a few people has died because eruption was lunch time at Saturday. This volcano mountain is called " Ontake san" and famous mountain near this area. So originally my pet didn't want to come to Japan alps and very fear about this smell, because TV or News was repeating that a lot of people felt the strong smell of sulfur on the day of eruption. So this smell made him fear.

There are still lots of up and down to Sugoroku koya. We are so exhausted, however I love to try more than my best. Sometimes I have to do more than my capability in mountain. This can make my capability go up more. This day is the day of this. I feel very very good though extremely tired.

We finally arrived at Sugoroku koya. We eventually arrived on 16:00 PM. Actually it takes only 1 hour and a half an hour from that sign to Sugoroku koya. We were so pleased to know that we arrived safely in time.

Mountain hut staff is very kind and show us today's bed. This room is traditional Japanese style room and very warm.


Dinner started at 17:00 PM and we enjoyed beer today. It is worth to drink beer today. Can you see 2 cans of beer in below photo ? This is premium beer in Japan and this beer would be one of best beer this year for me. Sugoroku Koya's dinner was absolutely nice ! Main was vegetable tempura. Also Japanese a kind of stew. Anyway we so enjoyed dinner.

In addition, we have met young guy again and enjoyed chatting. Also I chatted with 2 young girls who come to here by herself. Currently trekking is very popular for young girls in Japan. I was so enjoyed today's everything.  Long day has been completed ! Today is the highlight of this Japan alps trip.

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