Nearest Station: Shibusawa (渋沢駅）
Two very interesting hiking routes in Kanagawa Prefecture are Tonodake and Mt Nabewari. Both routes start from Okura bus terminal, and also the paths merge near the summit and are connected to Mt. Tanzawa. I’ve hiked both mountains several times, including a 2017 winter hike on Nabewari and Tonodake the following winter with my climbing buddy Sneha. Although there was a good amount of snow near the top, it was a very fun and exciting adventure with very good views. I hiked it again solo in January 2020, going past the summit of Tonodake and making a crazy one day climb all the way to the summit of Mount Tanzawa.
A few months later around mid-March, Sneha both travelled again to hike the neighbouring Mount Nabewari. As we started the hiking course, Sneha shouts out, "Look! A majestic Japanese crane!" And there it was, in the middle of the forest, a beautiful construction crane.
A few minutes later, the trail split into two directions; with a paved road to the left and then another path to the right heading up the mountain side. So of course we took the mountain trail. As we continued along the steep path, we noticed the route was becoming more and more overgrown.
I started to doubt the reliability of the path we were on, as well as usefulness of the map I was using. About an hour in, we realized that this was actually a retired path for Mt. Tō and eventually trail had eventually become completely overgrown and taken back by the mountain.
The official path to Mt. Tō was about 50m above us, but the only way to get there was up a steep and dangerous mountain side. We debated for a while, but it looked like our only smart option was turning back... but then something unexpected crossed our paths. As it was still very early in the morning, the sunlight hadn't fully seeped into the mountain, and so some of the nocturnal beasts were still out and about. From the corner of my eye I spotted a black bear watching us from the distance. As soon as I noticed it, thankfully it ran down the mountainside in the opposite direction.
We had already come through some difficult ground to get where were we were, so it was decided that we would try to scale the 50m mountainside to reach the official hiking path. It was a very steep climb; we pulled on the tree roots for support and slowly pulled ourselves upwards. Thankfully neither of us slipped, and that bear didn't come back, so after about 15 minutes we ended up on the path of the mountain we hiked two years prior.
Our little excursion already brought us quite a distance up the path, right beside the first rest hut. More than anything we were just happy to see other hikers and actually her trail in front of us.
Although a little bit shaken up we both were in good spirits to continue the hike, so the plan would be to reach the fork near the top of Mt. Tō and move to towards mount Nabewari. As unsettling as it was, we had both become used to plans going sideways, and both agreed it still wasn't as bad at the Myogi incident in 2018.
Over the next hour we gradually climbed the mountain
until we reached a unique log cabin mountain hut, which had some Ghibli characters painted outside. I bought a fresh apple, and after another short break, we continued onward. I always remember that from this point onwards there is a lot of wooden stairs along the path of Mt. Tō. These stairs are punishing on the legs, but we managed to endure.
The longest flight of steps is right below the 3rd rest hut. After a short break there, we moved a bit further upwards and reached the area where the road splits, moving towards our original goal of Mt. Nabewari. As we moved along the mountaintops, we passed over two small peaks (Daimaru & Komaru), and saw two hang gliders in the sky far above us. I remember how we joked, thinking we had traveled far from society by being on a mountain, but those gliders had reached a new level of social distancing. Throughout the entire trek, we had a crystal clear view of a snow-capped Mt. Fuji.
Finally, we reached the top of Mount Nabewari and I sat down in the exact same spot during my winter hike a few years prior.
The path downwards was very steep for the first hour, but eventually leveled out into a long but relatively flat road along a river. Due to our early misadventure, our legs had definitely taken a toll, and became heavier the longer we walked. After a couple more hours, we finally reached the paved road along the rural farm houses which led us back to the bus station.
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