Hello! I'm Koba, a member of the Moose staff!
Until now, I've been posting about staff days off on Instagram, but I'm going to start posting about them on the blog as well!
Blogs are great, aren't they? They're easy to read with photos and they come up when you search online.
When I first started climbing mountains a few years ago, I read Keisuke's article about the Suzuka Seven traverse over and over again and got excited.
I'll be writing my blog little by little, hoping that people will read it in this way, so I'd be happy if you could read it when you have some free time!
I'd like to get straight to the point and write about my tent camping trip to Mt. Hakusan from July 21st to 22nd!
This route is
Day 1: From Ichinose, take the Shaka Shindo trail to Mt. Oonami, Mt. Gozen, Murodo and Minami-Ryūga-Baba.
Day 2 Minamiryugababa - Betsuyama - Ichinose
This is a route that allows you to go around the main sites of Mt. Hakusan without using the bus.
I climb Mt. Hakusan once a year, but I've never taken this route and I wanted to try staying at Minami-Ryūga-Baba tent site, so I decided on this route, which is a little shorter for an overnight hike but is very satisfying!
From the Ichinose Visitor Center, head in the opposite direction from the bus stop, cross the bridge, and then continue along the forest path and road until you reach the trailhead.
You can also see it on the bus heading to Betsu-do-Ido!
Compared to the Sabo Shindo Trail, Shaka Shindo Trail is much less crowded, so you can enjoy a quiet hike!
First, we will climb up to Mt. Hakusan Shakadake in altitude.
A common sight in the mountains: dinosaurs appearing at watering holes along the way!
But without the stone, this would just be a fallen tree lol
But I do n't hate it lol
As you gain altitude it gradually opens up.
I'm sure many people will love this moment when they open it!
I'm also ranked in the top 10 of the "Mountain Moments I Love!" ranking!
There were so many flowers blooming on this hike.
It seems that Mt. Hakusan has also been selected as one of the 100 famous flower mountains, which makes sense.
I like edible plants so I don't know the names of any alpine plants, but it's so beautiful when they bloom in abundance!
I'll try to remember it using Chaolas' sports tenugui towels.
Once you reach Shichikuranotsuji, you're just one step away from Mt. Oonami!
Shichikuranotsuji is a branching point for many different paths, and when you see the signposts you'll want to try other paths as well.
I'm particularly interested in the Rakuraku Shindo.
I want to go and see if it's really that easy lol
Arrived at Mt. Otaru!
I like this view of Mt. Hakusan the most.
I feel like I can really feel the power of the earth visually.
If you've only seen the view from Gozenmine, be sure to also climb Oonamimine!
We descend Mt. Onanamine, tour the ponds and head towards Mt. Gozenmine.
This is Midorigaike Pond.
It's the bluest of all the ponds in Hakusan! It's Midorigaike Pond, but it's blue!
There must be something about blue and green.
A green light is green, and a caterpillar is green,
Euglena is green though.
Climb Gozenmine!
Compared to Mt. Otaru, it feels more like a mountaintop and is more lively!
I thought that Kengamine, the other peak of Mt. Hakusan, was the highest and I had always wanted to climb it whenever I climbed Mt. Hakusan, but when I looked it up, I found out that it is the third highest peak after Oonamimine, so I lost interest in it lol
Because Kengamine looks like the strongest, lol
After enjoying Mt. Gozenmine, we descend to Murodo.
The view of Murodo that can be seen from Gozenmine is also beautiful!
The red roof adds a nice touch!
I would also like to climb Mt. Hakusan in winter and see Murodo covered in snow!
When we arrived at Murodo, we were tempted by the draft beer, but we held back as we only had a little further downhill to go and headed towards Minamiryu.
The canned beer in the fridge was so strong that it was dangerous lol
We descended to Minamiryu.
It feels like a village in the mountains.
You can see the tent area one level up.
We arrived at Minamiryugababa tent site and set up camp.
The tent site usage fee is 800 yen, which is cheaper than tent sites in the Alps, which is a relief.
The tent used this time is the one on the right in the photo, the BIG AGNES "Fly Creek HV UL1 EX Solution Dye"
This is a lightweight double-walled tent from Fly Creek, exclusive to Japan, weighing just 907g.
Click here for the product↓
BIG AGNES Fly Creek HV UL1 EX Solution Dye
There was a fox taking a nap at the campsite, which was super cute, but someone nearby bit off the guy line of their tent, so you need to be careful.
Food can also be eaten if it is left outside.
After setting up the tent, we returned to Minamiryu Sanso for a long-awaited draft beer!!!
The sun was still strong, so my friend and I relaxed in the rest area of the mountain lodge, looking at a map.
Looking at the overall map of Mt. Hakusan, I was able to clearly see the road from Itoshiro to Shirakawa-go, which I've always been curious about, so I think I'll go back there in the fall!
I went outside just to take the photo above, but the cup was facing towards me.
I realized it after I finished drinking it lol
By the way, at Nanryu Sanso, draft beer costs 700 yen and canned beer costs 500 yen, which is a really reasonable price considering it's a mountain hut!
I love Nanryu Sanso!!
The sun was setting so I ate dinner and went to bed.
The next day, I was planning to go through Mt. Betsuyama and descend to Ichinose on the Chiburi Ridge, but that night, I was hit by a storm that lasted until dawn and could hardly sleep.
I was worried the tent would collapse...
Since visibility was poor in the morning, we didn't go to Betsuyama and quickly descended the mountain on the Sabo Shindo trail.
It's been a while since I've descended the mountain at 8 o'clock lol
Since we had made it down the mountain early, we went to a hot spring and then went to a soba restaurant and an udon restaurant in Ono City before heading home.
The soba noodles at "Fuku Soba" were very chewy and delicious!
The photo shows an udon restaurant called "Maemura", which was also delicious!
Eating local meals after descending the mountain is one of the joys of mountain play!
We look forward to receiving your information on recommended meals for descending the mountain!
Thank you for reading!
I'll continue to make it easy to read without putting too much effort into it!
Stay tuned for next time!