lost or what?

I took 2 trains to get here, the very fast express Kintetsu line to Kintetsu-Tomida where I changed to the also very fast but very rattly Sangi line. Be aware the Sangi line is cash only paper ticket. It is particularly tricky because it leaves from inside the Kintetsu line station area which is IC compatible, and there is no English signage explaining this. I was caught out last time. The fact that it is still does not accept IC card and their only other line is being upgraded to do so soon tells me that this line will soon be shut down, so check if it is still running before you rely on it.
Also there is a 7-eleven near Kintetsu-Tomida station, about 10 minutes walk, so if you time your transfer you can go to it, but there is no shop of any kind at Nishi-Fujiwara station, so plan ahead. Probably best to carry everything with you from Nagoya.

Here is Nishi-Fujiwara station, the terminal station of the Sangi line. There is a little old man at the station today, who was thrilled to see me. They still have their collection of old trains as you can see. I do not understand how this train company exists, they run only 2 lines, both basically to nowhere, and yet run a train every 40 minutes 7 days a week. Last time when I rode it on a week day I was the only person onboard.

The station building is train themed. There is a toilet and a vending machine, but no shops at all.

It is only a 5 minute walk from the station to the start of the trail. I feel as though the station really only exists for hikers. The internet tells me that on the weekends this car park is full by 4am, as are most hiking car parking spots. This hike is part of a multi day camping hike along the Suzuka range, today I will be doing just part of it, up and back.

There were many other people, mostly carrying tents and gas stoves and enough food to feed a hungry bear.

The hike up is very steep from the start...until the plateau, there is not much view. Here is maybe the only view until we get all the views.

The 8th station has an open area, yes they number the stations like this is some kind of epic climb. There is still no view from here though.

The path was at times very rocky, autumn basically does not exist this year.

A view emerges.

Satisfyingly mossy, but not slippery, and dry despite the huge amount of rain from the last couple of days.

The views are about to commence.

Behold, the view from the 9th station. One to go.

I like moss covered rocks.

Arriving at the top. Those are the toilets at the camping area. We will now be all about the plateau. I really should have worn sunscreen.

I believe that later this afternoon, despite all the rocks, people will put up tents here. The building is possibly bookable to sleep on the ground under the tin roof. I have no idea how all that works, I like beds.

The whole area is very green still, last time I was here it was all grey, the ground and the sky, and reminded me of a post apocalyptic planetscape. I disagree with my spell checker, planetscape is a word.

The camping area is in the middle of 3 peaks of similar heights, today I will continue up 2 of them, which involved some doubling back, because I was enjoying the view so much.

A large number of other people were going up the path.

The rock fall there is natural, but there is extensive quarrying on one side of this mountain, I will show where shortly.

It is very different to the tops of other mountains.

The main summit, and all the people. Most of them cooking lunch. Yes, cooking.

Only 1144m, but I started from 40m above sea level, so a decent climb, especially because the start is very steep.

Now for a lot of redundant views before I start the descent.

In the centre of this pic you can see the top of the quarry, with a couple of excavators. I feel as though I could walk over there, but I won't.

You can walk over all of these mountains from here, and many people are. I will climb up a different one on my next hike. That one has a cable car, and I think quite a few campers will have taken the cable car up and walked along ridges to here.

More rocks.

More ridges. It was actually not that clear, despite the rain. I could see a layer of pollution hanging around in most photos.

From one of the peaks I saw some people hanging out on this rocky outcrop, so I wandered over as well, to be greeted by more moss.

And a lot more rocks.

Here are the people I saw, you can see the main peak behind them.

More plateau.

Time to head to one of the other peaks, where it is more greener.

But also rocky. And of course, very green.

Peak green. I am starting my way down from peak 2, and will soon go past the tin shed building for the last time.

The first tent of the day has been erected. It was only about 12:30pm! So this guy is just going to sit there for 18 hours now?

The path down was the same as the path up. It almost looks like Autumn, some trees have no leaves, but there really isn't a lot of colour going on.

Still time for more moss.

Much of the path down is tree roots and steeper than this. Here is a relatively smooth bit.

And then I remembered, I did no selfie, and no stance...until now! REAL ULTIMATE POWER. Feel the stance. I held it for much longer than the self timer on my camera required just to make sure everyone on the arriving train could fully appreciate.