lost or what?

I was out the door at 6AM, and surprise rain had arrived. This was not part of the plan!

As I went further south on the fast train, it was still raining a bit, but starting to clear up.

I think this is Nagaoka, sun starting to break through.

Sunshine! The dark clouds on one half and bright sun on the other provided a great twilight effect. I am getting better at taking photos from a moving Shinkansen. When you read my Japan trips, the drinking game is Shinkansen. Each time I say it, drink.

By the time I got to Doai station, it was very bright. Doai station has two platforms, this one above ground, and the other one, which is the deepest in Japan for trains heading North. You will see it later as I went back towards Niigata from that platform.

The first part of my journey was to run really fast up the hill on the regular road to the bottom cable car station. I had set myself a time limit, 2.75 hours max to get to the summit or turn back. I was making hay will the sun was shining at this point thinking it might rain later, going as fast as I could. Heart rate hit 175, my watch got angry.

I followed the access road up to the top cable car station, heres proof I did not take the cable car. The access road is hard going, it can only be driven on by things with caterpillar tracks. It is very steep and very rocky. A few times big rocks slid out from under my feet as I ran up it.... yes I ran where I could.

Looking back down the rocky path. Rain was coming! I had options if the weather turned really bad, stop at the top cable car station and catch it back down being the least desired plan.

I was gaining height very quickly. The hike starts at about 600 metres and ends at 2000 if you make the summit. The top cable car station is about 1200m. So if you take the cable car you skip a lot of the challenge! DONT BE WEAK!

Its raining on the next mountain over, which I also wanted to climb a few days ago but went to the volcano instead.

I arrived at the top cable car station after just over an hour, which included 5 minutes of stuffing about at the bottom getting on the right track. There are a few ski fields up here, but the big mountains are to the right of this pic and the big ski fields are further down the valley. I did not even stop here, had to keep going!

Looking back down on the cable car / ski resort. This part of the trail was nice and smooth, with wooden planks in many places. It is a very popular trail from the top cable car station to the summit, however I was the only person who ran up from the station.

I was headed up there, into the cloud. Well I was hoping to, as long as it didnt rain too hard and I had enough time to get there. Also, another rainbow. I was still running wherever I could at this point, soon it would get steeper. Under the rainbow there, that steep cliff, that is one of the most challenging ice rock cliff climb things in Japan. If you read about Mount Tanigawa you will read that it has killed over 800 people, more than Everest. This is largely from the ice climbing and also avalanches in winter. You can ignore all that if you are climbing it in hiking weather.

Views started to appear. Amazing views. They would only get better.... until I entered the cloud that is.

Lower down view in the other direction. Somehow the rain never arrived. I was very relieved, and puffing hard.

Bonus view.

Getting higher.

Still blue sky.

Now the steep parts started. There were ropes and chains but no ladders. They were not really needed, but have been added to this hike due to its popularity. I saw a lot of other people even though its a weekday with questionable weather.

The view is starting to get pretty serious now.

This one is looking back down in the direction I had come from. I like the silvery trees and shrubs, caused by the icy winds.

Even though I am only going up to the first peak in the range, which I think is highest, you can continue on for many days of camping over all those peaks. There are huts along the way to set up camp inside. The range is the border between Gunma and Niigata. The weather can change very suddenly.

Another look down the valley.

And the other valley.

Now to keep going into the cloud and towards the summit.

It was getting very steep! But it was not very windy. So far...

I hit the cloud, and it started snowing. Not enough to show on the ground though. Even though I was only wearing a long sleeve tshirt, I was not cold, despite it being about 0 degrees. The key is to keep going as fast as possible.

Ice started to appear. Thankfully not enough for me to be worried about slipping.

About 100m below the summit is this emergency hut. I think its where you are supposed to camp for the first night on multi day hikes.

Here I am on the summit. It was very windy on the summit, and very cold. I was ahead of schedule, but no time for happy snaps. I could not do THE STANCE because my camera would probably blow off the mountain. I am wearing my favourite, oldest long sleeve t-shirt that has appeared in many shots on the top of mountains.

ICE ICE BABY.

For my fast descent I had to put my camera in my bag and put my gloves on so I could use my hands to lower myself down rocks. On the way down I went back past a number of people I passed on my way up. They were very chatty, making triangles with their hands and asking Peak? Yes? And when I said yes they would clap. These were mostly older women. They like me on mountains because clearly I am not in Japan to impregnate their daughters if I am climbing a mountain. They would probably let me have an ice cream. Anyway I got distracted, this photo is proof I DID NOT take the cable car back down. I ran back down, fast.

I was early back to the station. This is part of the station, a pedestrian footbridge going into the mountain, where the giant straight down staircase starts.

Before hitting the stairs, I checked out the chalet shop. A nice spot. I wonder if they stay open all winter or if they get completely snowed in?

Here is the actual station. There is no staff. You can not use SUICA/ICOCA. I am using my Nagano/Niigata all areas travel pass so I didnt have to worry about buying a paper ticket. There is a ticket inspector woman on the train and she seemed to catch a few people that got on at other stations. My pass was checked twice in both directions, riding for free is not an option if you plan to steal from Japan!

I am assuming that sign says its 486 steps. There is no lift, there are no escalators.

Here is the inside of that pedestrian walkway I showed the outside of before. It could fall down any day now.

Steps, all the way down. No bends, no turns, just a straight down staircase. They are all in groups of 5 with a mini landing after every 5 steps. Every 50 steps they have painted a number. It sounds like a lot of steps but its really not that many. I went half way back up again as I had time.

Heres the view from the bottom looking back up again.

The deep, deep platform. People come here in the middle of the night and go ghost hunting. They also come in the day time to check out the steps. You can see other people in my photos of the steps, but none of them actually boarded the train, I was the only person who got on the train at this station. I am lead to believe on average only 22 people a day use this station, that number includes the top and bottom stations.

There is a toilet at the bottom. I have no idea where it drains to. Theres no door on it!

The waiting room is filled with hungry / angry ghosts.

I walked to the end and took a long exposure, nothing much to see. I aint afraid of no ghosts.

The local train took me back to EchigoYuzawa where I changed back to the Shinkansen. This is a very popular onsen town and ski resort. The main ski fields are a few km away, I saw lots and lots of huge hotels on the sides of hills, and lots of chair lifts. No snow yet though. Because its such a popular spot, the station has lots of high end shopping for tourists.

Out in the street people were soaking their feet in volcanic boiling water. Hopefully its hot enough to kill tinea.

The station forecourt is not really representative of the Yuzawa area, the much fancier hotels are all on the ski fields. The station is built on the side of a hill.

The shops inside the station however, are all very nice.

On the bullet train back to Niigata, clear blue sky again! I missed all the weather apart from some welcome snow. Actually, all of a sudden the train got wet like we hit a sudden downpour, but I think we went through a train wash.