NOTE: Click on any image to view a larger format.
Who: Reza, Khilan and 2 members of the JPMorgan “Walk Fat Boy Walk” team (Ajul & Rob)
When: April 12, 2008
Where: Mitsu-toge-yama (Kawaguichi-ko, Yamanashi prefecture)
Navigator: Reza
Distance: 16.2 km (Total To Date: 48.7 km)
Duration: 7:10 (Total To Date: 17:25)
Altitude (Max): 1786 m
PHOTOS: Check out all the photos on Flickr.com or RezaK.com
Reference Links:
Mt. Fuji – Fujigoko Area Guide (English)
Mitsu-toge Mountain Homepage (Japanese)
Hike Summary:
OK … let’s get the lessons learned out of the way before getting into anything else !
- If your train has “Reserve Seating” … Do it !! Not fun standing for 40 min. at 7:00am
- (For Reza!!) If your watch records event activity, make sure you have enough memory
- Download/save/erase previous events to ensure maximum available memory
- Adjust “recording interval” in function of event (i.e. every 5 sec./30 sec./60 sec./etc.)
As for the hike … (Both Paul’s were out … so we humbly accept their £25)
As our destination promised to have stunning views of Fuji-san and Lake Kawaguchi-ko, I had planned on taking my big/heavy camera (Canon EOS 1D – Mark IIN) on the hike, but looking outside in the morning and seeing the heavy overcast, I decided against it. So much for that! I was really hoping for some great shots of Fuji-san.
Well, Khilan and I met up at Shinjuku station and barely made it on the Chuo Line Super Azusa … and unfortunately, we did not get reserved seats … and so we ended up standing for 40 minutes in a very crowded train all the way to Otsuki Not the best way to get a day hike started. We made a decent connection and made it to Mitsu-toge. On the way, Khilan confirmed that Ajul & Rob, from JPMorgan’s “Walk Fat Boy Walk” team were on the train right behind us … so we decided to do the hike together. Before those guys made it to Mitsutoge, Khilan & I made a small navigation error, but nothing too serious … (Can’t wait to get ribbed by Paul W!). Anyway, we saw Adjul & Rob right near the tracks and we set off.
The initial bit of the hike (~3.5Km) was on a paved road … not much fun, but after a bit of a decent vertical, we finally made it onto the trail … marked by a big boulder known as the Daruma-ishi. From there, it was straight up … seriously! We basically went from 850m elevation to the peak at 1786m over 3.5Km. The trail map (click to enlarge) at the base indicated a climb time from this spot of 3 hours, 45 minutes … and it took us 4:10 … (see our hike profile charts below) … so not that great … but not a disaster either.
The terrain was rough and yesterday’s rain did not help our footing. The climb just seemed never ending and we kept wondering when we would finally reach Hachijuhachi Daiishi (88 Buddhas) as that marked the 1500m elevation … bringing us very close tot he summit. We finally made it there and it was quite nice … and very Japanese … in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the forest, here were 88 little Buddhas sitting all properly lined up in the woods. We left a few coins as gifts, took a quick drink and moved on … as we really wanted to make it to the peak. Since I had not baselined/calibrated my altimeter, I was not of much help to the group as far as giving current elevation readings vs. the eventual peak.
Just before reaching the multiple huts at the peak, we came across the rock climbing walls which we had heard about, and they really were quite nice … a number of teams were there for training and some were actually doing the climb. The rock wall, the melting snow water, the moss everywhere, really made it a beautiful spot along our hike. It was at this point that we saw our first bit of snow ! … and it just increased from there. Our enjoyment of all the surroundings came to a screeching halt when we came up to the absolute vertical staircases leading us to the peak hut Shiki Rakuen-sanso. We too a mini break there before heading up to the Mitsu-toge-yama peak at 1786m. As much as we wanted to get there, we were not looking forward to the path … the slope was very simple … but we had to trek through utter “mud soup” to get there.
Oh, and in case you were wondering … no … there were no views as we were deep into the clouds! We finally get up to the peak and we see … absolutely NOTHING !! DAMN ! Here we are at the top of Mitsu-toge-yama, known for it’s stunning views of Fuji-san, and all we see is a white wall of clouds. (Take note of the glorious “white” background!!)
Well, we made the best of it … had lunch, rested, met a group of middle-aged Japanese couples (who we’d cross many more times!) and we finally started making our way down.
On our descent, our first real stop came at a major power line crossing and we got our first good view of Lake Kawaguchi-ko … and NO … still no view of Fuji-san We came a cross that group of Japanese couples and one of them ended up becoming our official photographer … especially since we would cross them so many more times along the way down.
Anyway, the path down was pretty much uneventful … nothing much to see … mostly a light downslope with decent terrain. Even the interim peaks/platforms, Kanashi-yama (1732m), Shimo-san (1302m) and Shinkura-yama (1234m) were pretty much non-events. But certainly after that ascent, this casual descent was quite pleasant. Unfortunately, just as we left the peak, Khilan started getting some tightening in his right leg, and once that happens, it just gets worse .. but he certainly kept up and dealt with the discomfort and pain. After quite a long descent, we finally came upon Tenjo-san … and FINALLY … there it was … Fuji-san was peaking through the clouds and looking mighty majestic. It was still quite cloudy and hazy, but we made a couple of attempts at taking some photos …
At this point, Khilan and his now painful leg decided to take the cable-car down to the base (just 5 minutes), while the others took the 30 minute walk down. Ouch … what a walk down … stairs for 30 minutes straight … uneven, muddy, and very painful on the knees and ankles. But we got down and met up with Khilan at the Kawaguchi-ko station… from where we headed back to Tokyo … and NO, we still did not manage to get reserved seats (sold out), but we eventually found seats in the non-reserved cars.
Finally, as to our conditioning, timing, etc … hmmmm … nothing to rave about … still not sure why it ended up being such a long day. We felt we had a decent pace, but for some reason it went quite long. We ended up finishing on the longer end of the expected duration (6-7 hours) shown in our “Hiking in Japan” guide book.
Oh well … it was still a great day … a good hike, we met up with some friends and hiked together … and yes, we did get to see Fuji-san … which by the way, I for one would have been really upset if we had not been able to see all day!
Heart Rate (Reza) / Altitude Chart
NOTE: Since my watch ran out of recording memory, I do not have a complete profile of the entire hike … but certainly have the key portion leading up to the Mitsu-toge-yama peak at 1786m. (Click charts for larger view)
CHART 1: Time-Based Profile
CHART 2: Distance-Based Profile
See you for Training #4 … We plan on doing the first 2 segments of the actual event !!!
Reza