Hiking Mount Tanzawa from Shibusawa station and the amazing views of Mount Fuji
OK, I took 43 pictures today, so this description will be brief, and lacking any kind of tangents or bonus observations not related to the day.
I went to Mount Tanzawa, from Yokohama.
This required 3 trains and a bus.
First train just a local one to the main Yokohama station, I was in a hurry otherwise I would walk.
Second train from Yokohama to Ebina.
Third train from Ebina to Shibusawa.
Then just enought time to leap on the awaiting bus full of hikers to the trail start point.
Everything lined up perfectly, and the return trip was also very smooth.
Today was a fantastic hike, long, but amazing views the whole day.
When I started, it was a bit cloudy, but then Fuji came out and was there for hours.
There were colorful leaves lower down, bamboo forests higher up, rocks, steps, 2 peaks.
In addition to Fuji there are also views of the entire coastline including Yokohama, and also all of Tokyo.
Total time on the trail was about 6.5 hours, somewhere over 20km, with only a brief stop at the second summit.
I then ran back down wherever I could, many other people stay in one of the mountain huts overnight before returning, or going down the other side the next morning.
One of the reasons to do this is so you can see Fuji during the sunrise, when its likely to be cloud free, but it was cloud free for hours so I dont feel as though I missed out.
Onto the pics.
This is a very popular hike, and its a Saturday. There is a large carpark, information building, cafe etc. Also frequent buses on Saturday.
I was there early, but my bus was packed to the gills with hikers. Actually the entire train was hikers.
My two eventual peaks are at the back of this photo - beyond the ugly wires and the pine trees.
I think this sign is warning about leeches. Maybe this is why I am the only person ever to wear shorts in Japan.
I dont think its leech season.
Those arent actually where I was going, I think mine are around to the left up the valley, I hate the wires.
It was still quite cloudy and a bit dark at times, this is a poor photo looking back down at Shibusawa, I took the same photo again later in the day which looks much better.
There were probably 5 such mountain huts to stay at on the trail today. You have to book, it costs money etc. Not the sort of thing I would like to do, but plenty of other people were.
Due to the popularity of this hike, they have put in lots of boards and steps like this otherwise it turns to slushy mud. A few random spots were very muddy and needed some plank-work.
Great views no doubt, but I have to get up higher before the amazing views start.
Lower down there was some color to appreciate, especially when the sun came out.
I think a lot of the leaves were stripped during the typhoon, its a bit weird, some are still green but lots are missing. Its almost like its past its best but still green. This is a poor explanation of what I mean.
The colors arent as good as last year!
First view of the other side of the mountain range.
Heres another mountain hut. Theres no power, no water, and no road at all. I believe they get some of their supplies by helicopter.
Thats the ocean. The clouds looked great.
The view down the coast. If a Tsunami came now, I was safe.
A bit more view from this lower down spot. No fuji yet!
Kind of superfluous, more coast, the hills in the foreground look good. I am up higher here.
The view down the valley, Fuji is down there, behind cloud, but dont worry....
Pretty high up how but still not the summit. More great views of the ocean.
First one of these for the day. I am sweating a lot. I went really hard on the way up, passed hundreds of people.
The first summit. Most people stop here. It is called Tou-no-dake. I had no intention of stopping though, its another hour to Mount Tanzawa!
A bit hard to see, but that is Tokyo.
Almost out of the cloud. Look at that valley!
I had to head around to that peak on the left. The sea of little bamboo starts.
Bamboo plus almost all of Fuji. I struggled to only take 43 photos!
Look at the water in the valley, the pine trees on the sides of the mountains. One of these will end up on my wall.
And there we go, completely unobscured by cloud!
I stuck my ugly head into the frame to ruin the view.
Lets have a vertical one as well with a tiny statue.
And one more peaking through under the summit sign.
And another vertical shot of the amazing valley, bamboo, fuji. I dont really need to add words here.
Well and truly on my way back to Tou-no-dake from Tanzawa. The view of the bamboo in the sunlight was also fantastic.
I cant stop taking similar photos.
Back at Tou-no-dake and its now packed with people I passed on the way up. They arent going any further than here though, lazy.
A bit more Tokyo. I needed zoom to make that work.
To re-use one of my comments from the Taiwan trip -
Push her!
There are lots of paths up lots of mountains linking up in this area. Many you need a car to get to though.
OK, one more because of the awesome clouds!
A bit more color on the way down.
And as promised, heres the same photo I took on the way up showing the sizeable city of Shibusawa.
Back at the bottom and they have built a very impressive pedestrian only suspension bridge to a campground.
It was getting late in the day, light was getting awesome.
Of course I had to cross it before the bus came, stil cant really see up the valley to the main peaks from here though.
The red brick shopping warehouses of Yokohama
Apparently I am doing requests now.
Yokohama does have lots of shops. There are department stores, underground malls, long open air malls etc.
Tonight I went to a few of them, but not all of them, not even close.
There is no actual city centre, the 'Yokohama' area is actually quite small. Sakuragicho, Minatomirai, Chojamachi are all a lot busier.
Most of the very large modern looking buildings are actually shopping malls on the lower levels and underground.
They all have restaurant floors and 'streets' even if the streets are underground and indoors, just like other parts of Japan.
So there you go, theres all the info on where the shopping malls and stores and whatever are in Yokohama.
Now I feel pleasently exhausted. Its a most wonderful feeling most people never get to experience. Jelly legs from walking down the mountain, I can barely stay awak at 9:30pm.
Tomorrow I am back to Tokyo for 4 more nights. I better find some funny stories to make up otherwise this will be boring to read.
Before I selected my dinner, I got to see omurice being made, which I thought was fascinating.
There is no way I would be able to do what is required with an omelette to get it to go over the rice.
This is inside the red brick warehouse down at the port. 3 levels of boutique shops. More touristy than the boutique shops of last night at motomatchi.
Heres a long exposure of the red brick warehouse. Everyone else was doing tripods etc.
Lots of people were turning up here for dinner in limo's.
The skyline plus ferris wheel. I am standing on top of a huge shopping mall thing.
Inside was a hawaiian themed food court, and I briefly considered having a savoury pancake meal.
But then I decided on Korean tofu stew. Delicious. Damn cheap. Lots of mushrooms in the stew also.
The fun park was not drawing a lot of customers on a Saturday night.
That building in the front that looks like the Parthenon, also a shopping mall. I missed it on my way over from ferris wheel mall world because its wedged between the fun park and the water.
And heres a giant whaling ship in the harbour, unloading its tasty tasty catch.
The sakuragicho station area is chock full of shopping malls.
Behind it are a grid of restaurants, maid bars etc. Yokohamas Kabukicho.
Then there is this strange place, running along the edge of a canal, all these little bars are just a few feet wide. They all seemed very popular.
Final photo for tonight, a very low calorie ice cream. Much more ice than cream, and its really like they froze a cup of tea. I liked it.