This trip too is a day trip I did during the kouyou season with another friend that the one I went with in Nikko.
Kouyou in Japanese is the observation of the trees taking their autumn colors.
In Japan, it is serious business and like for cherry blossom season there are maps on the whether bulletin telling you when is the better time to go depending on where you live.
I wanted to go somewhere I never went but somewhere that was day trip friendly. That is how I found Mount Mitake (御岳山, Mitakesan). It is a bit confusing because there are two Mount Mitake in Japan. One is a vulcano, quite far away from Tokyo; another is a mountain, outside of the 23 wards area but still in Tokyo nonetheless (in Oume city). Even though it is still Tokyo, if you live in the 23 wards area, count at least 2 hours to go there.
The station is is called Mitake as well but the characters are different that the one from the Mount.
I had read a blog prior to going and the person had missed the bus going from the station to the mount and ended up going by foot. They said it was actually a good thing because the river (Tama River). It was true.
In Japan, it is serious business and like for cherry blossom season there are maps on the whether bulletin telling you when is the better time to go depending on where you live.
I wanted to go somewhere I never went but somewhere that was day trip friendly. That is how I found Mount Mitake (御岳山, Mitakesan). It is a bit confusing because there are two Mount Mitake in Japan. One is a vulcano, quite far away from Tokyo; another is a mountain, outside of the 23 wards area but still in Tokyo nonetheless (in Oume city). Even though it is still Tokyo, if you live in the 23 wards area, count at least 2 hours to go there.
The station is is called Mitake as well but the characters are different that the one from the Mount.
I had read a blog prior to going and the person had missed the bus going from the station to the mount and ended up going by foot. They said it was actually a good thing because the river (Tama River). It was true.
The river is more of a promenade. It takes quite a while though. From 30 minutes to one hour before you get to the bottom of Mout Mitake.
From there, you can ride a cable car that lifts you quite close to the summit
This is the view you get from there. And once you have arrived there, you can actually get ever closer to the summit with no effort by taking an old school lift. This is what we did.
This is the view you get after riding the lift!
From there you can go to the top through a shrine or you have a few hiking trails. To go to see falls, or the Rock Garden. They were both at an equal distance so we decided to do both. To go to the falls, the trail was an easy one except for the end with was very abrupt and a bit dangerous.
The route to get there had been a bit difficult so we decided to take an aternative route.. It was our loss, we are not very used to mountains and the 0,8k, were just endless stairs and it definitely took us more than one hour.. When that trail was finally finished, there was a little cafe with some picnic tables and they sold hot wine, so I decided to have a glass. Ensues a bit of a misunderstanding and I drank cold wine. It was a bit of a mistake as I got slightly drunk very fast! One should not underestimate the power of altitude.
(Actually, we never got to see the Rock Garden...)
At that point we were very tired and ready to go back home! But not without eating! Matcha kurumi udon was a delight
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire