MINAMI ALPS / KITA-DAKE 3-day hike

by Neil Marston, photos by Leshek Zbroniec

Apart from Paul who was running around like a headless chicken because of a last-minute hitch with his hike plans we (Ascelin, Craig, Lester, Les and myself) had the relatively easy task of meeting at Shinjuku station at 9pm ready to queue for the best seats on the night train to the Alps. The night train arrives at 11:20 so I had time to catch up on my train spotting, a hobby I have neglected for the last 28 years. Luckily Lester returned from his hat buying trip with a few beers so the time passed pleasently and we had the best seats on the train.

We had to change trains in the middle of the night and then take a bus to the start of the walk. The bus was noteable for two things, firstly the price: 2,200 Yen for an hour on a bus is surely a record even in Japan. Secondly, I managed to fall asleep for the first time in the night and was woken by a jolt. My initial reaction was that Paul must have been navigating since the bus was no longer on a road but driving along a small track. Apparently not - it arrived on time at our destination, a hut in the middle of nowhere.

Our first days hike was quite easy: 5 hours, climbing roughly 1500m to a mountain hut. The trail initially followed a river crossing it several times on bridges that had seen better days. I comforted myself in the knowledge that the bridge was unlikely to collapse under my weight - although I weigh 20kg more than the average Japanese man, I am a feather weight when it comes to hiking ... I only have a 30 litre rucksack, a third of the size favoured by most of the hikers we met. The threat of a 5m fall to the river below suddenly seemed less important when a football-sized rock flew across my field of vision, narrowly missing Craig's head. Time to move on. After that we left the river behind us and starting climbing the valley side through quite a pretty forest. It was about this time that Lester started complaining of blisters, which on inspection were suprisingly well developed for an hour of hiking. Luckily he was with a caring group who drugged him up and lent him a second pair of socks before setting off again.

By lunch time we had reached our hut. Having not slept more than a couple of hours the night before it was a case of "when in Rome" - I slept for 3 hours before waking up to the pleasant suprise that the weather had now cleared and there was a reasonable view of the surrounding mountains. Unlike Tsukuba-san, according to the report in the Alien Times, it was not the "smell of the forest, like a woman's scent, that brings the mountain to life" - indeed to me mountain tops in Japan tend to smell very much like the rest of Japan .. of cigarettes. Instead it is the views that make the climb worthwhile so we and especially the photographically-minded members of the group made the most of last hours of light to admire the views.

Our leader, Paul, decided that to make up for the short first day we had to cover 14 map hours the second day. Most of the hikers we talked to thought this was impossible, but we set off optimistically reasoning that since the weight of their packs reduced them to walking like ducks, their advice was probably not that valuable, especially since we didn't need to take cigarette breaks or come to a concensus about which order to walk in and who would carry the flag etc etc. Indeed by 12 o'clock we were glad that we had got up so early since the perfect weather and good visibility was quickly becoming swirling mist.

The views on the second and the third day once we had reached Kitadake were stunning. There were mountains as far as the eye can see or that the humidity would allow us to see (about 100km) including Fuji-san and several groups of mountains that Paul helpfully told me were the Kita Alps, which are of course to be visited in two weeks time on another Paul led trip and again in the first weeked of September on a trip that I am organising, if I have been persuaded to stay in Japan that long. It was also quite nice to have a birds-eye view of the rest of the days walk along a broad ridge. Not quite the 5* thriller we had been promised, but it was pleasent enough anyway.

At lunch time on the second day we reached a mountain hut were we decided to stay for the night to make the most of the better weather the next day. Apparently Paul had forgotten all his previous experiences in mountain huts when booking in ... he asked if we could be near the door so we would not wake people up when we left at four in the morning. While commendable in sentiment, his comment was going to have an ironic ring to it 13 hours later at 3 the next morning.

Even when I have been in bed since 8 the previous night, I am probably easy to annoy at 3 in the morning but our fellow hikers did their best to make sure that they were as irritating as possible. In the end they did too much and it was just funny ... the person that repacked their rucksack about 5 times individually wrapping each sock in super-crinkle poly bags, the woman who had a torch hanging around her neck which pointed everywhere apart from where she was looking (presuming that she was not looking into any of our eyes), the people who decided to check whether it was possible to walk through the door without opening it ... may noisy cars forever disturb their sleep and trains run through the night a couple of yards from their house.

We had been promised beautiful clear skies the next morning, but as I suspected at the time this forecast was more a guess than based on any weather forecast. So we set off into the mist passing the early risers and cheerfully greeting them with "Sumimasen" and "Ohayo gozaimasu". We were due to meet up with Tadashi's group of hikers on the summit of Kitadake, which was still 5 and a half hours away so it was full steam ahead. Soon the conditions slowed us down and we ended up walking closely together tying not to lose anybody in the mist. Even then we were still making good progress and by 8 we had reached the hut where we had intended to spend the previous night.

Paul and I set off for the summit to meet with Victor's group as quickly as possible leaving the others to finish buying postcards and join us later. The rest of the hike has already been well reported by Iulia so I will end my account here.

It only remains for me to thank Paul for organising the weekend and my fellow hikers for making it so enjoyable. See you in the Kita Alps?

PS: If anybody wants to buy a massage chair I have one available. Ideal for easing away the stresses of the day and aches from carrying rucksacks.

Cramped sleeping arrangements in the hut at Sanpuku-touge. The large sleeping area downstairs was empty!
Characteristic scenery of the Minami Alps.
The Minami Alps receive less snowfall than the Kita Alps, and the resulting landscape is generally more gentle.
Looking towards the southern section of the Minami Alps, an area of fewer huts and people - a perfect area for more remote walking!
Leszek and Tadashi on Kita-dake with Fuji-san in the background.
Neil anxiously looks on as Lester crosses one of a few unstable bridges at the start of the trail.	Rest stop on the morning of the first day so that Lester can plaster his already developing blisters (left to right: Neil, Paul (hiding!), Lester, Ascelin, Craig).
Sunset on the first day.
Group photograph with Tadashi's group on Kita-dake, Japan's second highest mountain (standing, left to right: Lester, Arifa, Björn, Neil, Niclas, Paul, Victor, Tadashi, Leszek; sitting: Iulia, Claire, Ascelin, Craig).	Misty weather between Mibu-dake and Ai-no-take, only a few hours before experiencing beautiful sunshine on Kita-dake.

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