Mount Kita in the Southern Alps 南アルプスの北岳 (3,193m)
Nearest Station: JR Kofu.
Bus Stop: Hirogawara
Like many, Mount Takao was my first hiking experience in Japan, but Mount Kita was the one where my fascination was born. It was true hiking experience, involving a mysterious orange tent, raisin toast, and so much more.
I had already hiked Mt. Fuji the previous summer, and in the early autumn of 2012, I decided to try out Mount Kita, Japan's 2nd tallest mountain, which was surprisingly unknown to most of my Japanese friends. Mt Kita is located deep within the Southern Alps in the West of Yamanashi Prefecture. To get there, I took the train heading to Kofu station (甲府駅) and caught a bus to Hirogawara (広河原) at the base of the mountain. While on the bus, I met an 77 year old man who had climbed the mountain over 150 times. I arrived on the mountain a bit later than expected, around 11:00am.
Reaching the top of Mount Kita before sunset
After passing over the bridge, the first segment of Mount Kita is a long "forest level", deep in the heart of nature, filled with trees and little step ladders. After a couple of hours the area finally opened up and I had reached the first rest hut. Intent on making it all the way to the final hut before nightfall, I pushed forwards. There I passed a plateau which was overshadowed by what I then called a "long grassy wall of doom", this steep exposed path gave a clear view of the area, and showed the distance I had already conquered, but also showed there was much more to go. The higher I got, the dimmer the light became, and I finally reached the final rest hut near the top just as the final light of the day slipped behind the horizon and the first stars began to appear.
A horrible miscalculation on the summit of Mount Kita, miscommunication, with dire consequences
Back in 2012, I had only been living in Japan for just around two years and my language capabilities was less than ideal. Long story short, the person told me the price was much higher than I researched, and more than I had in cash. To this day I'm fairly certain he was just trying to gouge me for being late or not making a reservation properly. Despite my only other option was to face the outdoors alone, and the hut being far from full (there was only one or two other people there) they refused to accept the standard payment of 6500 yen. With the temperature dropping quickly and winds below freezing, I ended up taking shelter in their tool shed, wrapping myself in a garbage bag to stay warm. I huddled there for hours, only getting a small amount of sleep, and decided to start to make my way down about an hour before the first sign of light around 3:30am. I tried taking a new route down the mountain but after descending for three hours, I realized the path had been wiped out by a typhoon that had come by the previous month. So, I had to double back towards to the plateau near the first rest hut. At this point I was beyond exhausted, out of food, and the weather turned into a light rainy mist.
Raisin Toast from the mystery hiker in the Orange tent
“Do you want it toasted?” He asked. "I'm good", I said as I quickly inhaled the bread.
By around 6:30am I arrived at the plateau and saw only a single orange tent by a small pond. The old hiker was sitting there preparing some breakfast. I greeted him as I walked by, both of us commenting how the weather was less than ideal, and I was a bit nervous it would turn into heavy rain. He asked which path I came from and I explained about my whole detour around the mountain. As we continued talking, he pulled out several cut loafs of raisin toast and offered me a slice, which I gladly accepted. “Do you want it toasted?” He asked. "I'm good", I said as I quickly inhaled the bread. I said goodbye and stopped by the rest hut to fill up my water bottle for the final journey down. Before I left, I took out my camera and quickly snapped a shot of the plateau with the hiker in the distance.
A few hours later I had finally reached the base of the mountain and took a bus back into the city with some friendly hikers I met at the information center. On the way back to Kofu, we stopped at a tiny hot spring, which was actually my first "onsen" experience in Japan.
The 2013 journey to the summit of Mount Kita, Japan's 2nd tallest mountain
During the previous hike I never made it to the summit, I came back to achieve that long sought out goal that had been haunting me for the past year. My original plan was to take a night train to Kofu station but I ended up missing it (it was renamed so I didn't recognize it). I ended up sleeping inside a manga cafe by Tachikawa station. Like the previous year, I took the empty first train, transferring at Takao station by sunrise, taking the bus from Kofu until I was back out at the trail.
This year, I arrived at the trailhead by only 8:00am. I knew the course and the time it would take, so I took little breaks and quickly powered my way up the mountain. Just before mid-day, I found myself back at that plateau, and by strange coincidence, there was just a single, abandoned orange tent. It got me thinking about that kind hiker who gave me that raisin toast, and how he had seemed like a friendly mountain spirit.
I moved my way up the grassy wall and a few sweaty hours later found myself at the top rest hut. I still felt bitter about my experience there a year before, but it seemed the staff had changed up, and a younger man was working there this time. They had these sweetened dried figs which really gave me the extra energy boost I needed to make the final push to the top. When I had finally reached the summit of Mount Kita, I felt amazing. I was literally above the clouds, and could even have a clear view of Fuji in the distance.
All in one day
As high up as I was, the path to the summit wasn't so difficult. Now that I had finally conquered the summit, I wanted to get down as quickly as possible, as I had only brought a sleeping bag and cover with me, which would not be enough to stay warm at 3000m.
Believe it or not, I actually managed to make it down roughly 1700m back to the information center and bus stop. I had brought a sleeping bag and cover with me, at 1550m I comfortably slept near the bus stop.
A spontaneous return in the summer of 2015
One night years later, I get a call from my friend Evgeny. Both of us had been dealing with a lot of stress that year and I think needed an escape from the madness in Tokyo. But we had no idea what to do. So that night we ended up driving from central Tokyo along the Chuo expressway stopping in at various highway pitstops, and after a long drive, we ended up at a local craft beer pub in Kofu. Much later on the next morning, after meeting back up with Evgeny and sobering up at Local family restaurant, we decided we still didn't feel like going back to Tokyo. I told him about my two previous journeys on Mount Kita, and so he insisted we try it out. However, we didn't have any proper gear with us. Instead, we went to a connivence store and just bought some plastic ponchos, water, snacks, and made due with what we had. A few hours later, we were back at the start of the trail. Knowing it was impossible to make it to the top before nightfall, we stayed in at the first rest hut. This time there were many tents outside.
An eventful early rise
Another hiker woke us both up about an hour before our scheduled time and then the dark shining bright lights all across the room so we decided since we were up might as well start early as possible. We began to climb the tall grassy wall just as the sun was starting to make its way over the mountain side, and on the way we passed an old man who was sitting beside the cabin staff. It seemed he had broken his leg. About an hour later we actually saw a helicopter fly towards the plateau, so it may have airlifted the injured man. As we got closer to the second rest hut, a thick fog enveloped us, creating as unique atmosphere. It seemed my cheap 500 yen poncho was put to good use.
The most dangerous part of a mountain
The fog started to lift by the time we finally reached the summit. After taking a few photos we made it a priority to quickly head down as fast as possible. Because we had woken up so early we still had plenty of time to get to the bottom before sunset. With only about 30 minutes left to go in the hike, these two ladies quickly passed by us, as if they were dashing down the mountain. But unfortunately one of them slipped and fell into a ravine. Evgeny quickly climbed down to help her, and i stood halfway to help pull her up. Miraculously she didn't seem to have any immediate serious injury but I'm guessing she probably pulled a lot of muscles. Soon after, we arrived at the bus stop and as we were leaving we saw an ambulance come, which may have been for that lady. A few hours later and we were back to the highway heading towards Tokyo.
Mount Kita - a mountain of adventure
Each of my three experiences on Mount Kita have been unique and unforgettable. The course itself is quite long and not without its risks, but compared to many smaller mountains it's actually quite a standard and safe trail. The important factor when hiking such large mountains is proper preparation. I think that was the key lesson that I learned during my three adventures on Mount Kita.
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