Musashi-Itsukaichi to Mitake hike again
I did this exact hike in November 2017. I remember enjoying it a lot so I repeated it today. I also enjoyed it today.
The hike starts at the end of the Musashi-Itsukaichi line, at the station of the same long hyphenated name, and ends at Mitake station on the Okutama line. Which means I hiked over the mountains from one train line to another. This is the sort of thing that I find exciting to do. There is no road joining them either.
All up it is about a 20km hike including the descent down the road from Mount Mitake to Mitake station. You can take the cable car / funicular railroad down from there, but that is not my style.
Despite the long length, it is a fairly easy hike, despite having just over 1000m of vertical ascent. There are 3 peaks to go up and down, Aso, Hinode and Mitake. Much of the course is flat and smooth, so you can trail run to save time.
Prior to Hinodesan, I passed only 1 group of people, after that you run into lots of people that came up using the cable car to visit the temple and got bored of that so decided to go on a 'hike' down the stair case (photos of stairs below).
In other news, right now on Japanese TV there seems to be a hostage situation unfolding live inside The Warabi Post Office which is in Saitama, north of here. I could go and cover it live for Australian TV?
This is the Musashi-Itsukaichi station which really needs a shorter name. It is a pretty large town at the base of the mountains at the end of the train line. Quite a few school kids rode the train out to here to go to school.
Station as seen from the outside. I found a convenience store to buy my supply of muesli bars and pocari sweat for the day.
Pedestrian ok!
The first part of the hike is steep, but on a concrete path to this semi manicured garden area. I remembered it from last time.
Good view, better than the actual lookout in the photo below this one.
The lookout is still pretty good. Sun was still out at this point. That would change.
Obviously there is a shrine. Last time I got a bit lost here looking for the path behind it to take me to the mountains beyond. I think they have improved the signage since then.
There are even public toilets in the garden area. No one at all around, so I just urinated in the open like a filthy animal.
I tried not to take too many path shots today! The paths were often smooth like this, and generally in tall cedars, many areas are due to be logged, or have been logged, and have probably been planted specifically to be logged in the future.
Signs of logging, and wires. I also remembered this from last time, the new trees have grown a lot since then.
OK, a bit more path.
This is the summit of Mount Aso. Getting grey now. Tokyo in the distance. There are paths to bypass both Aso and Hinode if you just want to get to Mitake without going up and down, but obviously, I like to go up and down.
There are quite a lot of paths through this area, 5 of them meet here.
Getting close to Hinodesan now, steps appear...
Lots and lots of steps.
Here is the summit of Hinodesan, not a great view really.
I stopped for a muesli bar.
And took the required sweaty selfy. I put the same still sweaty clothes back on from 2 days ago, I will probably grow a new species of fungus eventually.
The summit area of Mount Mitake is actually a little village below a shrine, with shops and restaurants. Quiet today, horrific on weekends.
Time to start the ascent to the shrine. The priests were growling through a P.A. system to warn all those who approach.
Main shrine.
Not a lot of spots for a view from the summit, this is the best I could do.
A sign says this is the most sacred part of the complex, no dogs allowed. Also no drone.
Time to start my descent, avoiding all forms of transport that you have to pay for.
I actually got a photo of it this time, a blurry photo. Parts of the line are on the top of poles as per the previous photo, parts are on the ground.
Once you are at the bottom, its still a couple more km back to Mitake station. There is a bus waiting for the cable train thing, but of course, no bus for me!
Official symbol to alert tourists that there is an opportunity ahead to spend money.
OK, I take this shot on every trip. It is Mitake gorge. My previous shots on sunny days are better than today's, but it is still a nice photo.
Same location, looking off the other side of the bridge. A few kayakers today. Apparently kayakers is not a word. I beg to differ.
I had to wait 20 minutes for a train at Mitake station, which means it is time for 'the stance'. Should have gone lower. Why do I look fat?
Due to excess exertion in the day, tonight will be a smaller outing, do not expect too many pics.
First of all, the post office hostage situation is ongoing. Two people taken hostage at gun point after an earlier shooting of two different people at a hospital. It is big enough news that it is on the BBC. I saw footage of the hand gun. The last shooting in Japan was of former president Abe, for that shooting the guy needed to make a gun at home. I might go to the spot Abe was shot and killed at in a week or so.
Second of all, it is Halloween, and the mayor of Shibuya convinced me to not go, after he ordered the army to arrest all foreigners who dare to enter to take photos of Halloween. This is a reaction to the Seoul Halloween crowd crush that killed 159 people last year, a couple of days before I arrived there on my holiday before last (I take a lot of holidays). Although it is unclear why foreigners are being targeted so specifically by the mayor, it has become a meme of sorts on various parts of the internet where foreigners living in Japan frequent and discuss ridiculous things. There are stories in the news like, 'a bike was stolen in Hakodate 2 days ago, police are questioning foreigners at the train station to find out if they have been near the area'.
So after all that, it was time to go north a bit, to the next station which is Akihabara. It was quiet, but lots of tourists. For many people this area is the highlight of their visit to Japan, including most of the non Japanese people on my flight here.
After verifying that my favourite camera of which I have already destroyed 2 of, which is out of stock in Australia is also out of stock in Japan, not that I actually want to buy another one.... I suddenly felt very hungry, and so headed straight down a flight of stairs to the local Go Go Curry - the chain famous for having a Gorilla as it's logo.
I did not catch the train here. I walked, along and under the train track. It is not far at all from Kanda, there is a little pedestrian bridge over a river just before you hit Akihabara.
Both Yodobashi and Bic camera are fully sold out of Ricoh GR III cameras. Given that I have broken 2 of them beyond repair after taking about 1000 photos on each, I should be in no rush to buy a third. I wish they would hurry up and release a new version that is more dust and water proof!
The spot. A guy parked his Toyota BRZ covered in ridiculous stickers in front of me illegally hoping I would take his photo. He seemed annoyed when I moved closer to the train bridge so that his car was not in my photo. He had a giant teddy bear in the passenger seat, so I did not want to anger him.
Hmm, not a very sharp photo. It is hard to take a sharp shot while walking across the road at full zoom at night at 1/25 hand held.
The sign says it all really.
And here it is, Go Go Curry, pork sausage variety. This is the healthiest looking thing on their menu, everything else is combos of deep fried stuff on top of the curry. It is no Coco. It is however cheap and they take credit card. And on that note, everywhere I have been so far has taken credit card, I am yet to use cash even once other than to recharge my train card when I first landed.