April 29th
Start&Finish: Ikusabata station to Mitake station
The weather: High 23 Low 11
Outfit/Equipment: light hiking trousers, tshirt, hat, sunglasses, hiking boots. 1L water/mugicha
Map: We followed this three peaks course.
Crowds: There were plenty of people but not uncomfortably so.
Time: 9:15 to 1:15
Difficulty: 22,400 steps, 207 flights climbed.
Glorious sunshine on a national holiday so we just had to go hiking again, even though I still ached from Sunday’s hike. It’s a beautiful area, very popular in summer thanks to a the gorge with beautiful clear water. Still too cold for swimming though so not too crowded, but more people than we’d find on a trail in Saitama. There were a lot of university groups so it must be a popular place for the various hiking circles to head out to.
It was a hard steep climb up to the first peak, very humid thanks to heavy rain overnight so muddy underfoot too. Once up to Takamizu though it was very nice, quite cold in fact which revived me nicely. I really don’t do well in heat. The trails are all well sign-posted and there are plenty of people around to follow. If you were feeling super energetic you could walk to Naguri or Ogose from here but I was quite happy sticking to the trail we were on. We continued on to Iwatakeishi, and then to Sogaku before following the signs on to Mitake station.
The weather was perfect and the length and difficulty just right after Sunday’s exhausting climb. It’s definitely worth visiting now before the crowds of people escaping the heat of summer arrive.
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