February 1st Start&Finish: Ranzan Keikoku Sightseeing Carpark (嵐山渓谷観光駐車場) The weather: Sunny and surprisingly mild. Outfit/Equipment: Warm trousers, sport long sleeved top, stolen hooded sweatshirt (don’t tell my son), gloves. Map: I had our new hiking map of the area but mostly just followed the signs. Crowds: The occasional hiker and dog walker. Time: 10am to […]
January 26th Start&Finish: Shomaru station The weather: sunny and cold Outfit/Equipment: warm trousers, sport long-sleeve shirt, long sleeved top, down vest, hat, gloves. Map: We followed this map (and didn’t get lost!!) Crowds: The odd hiker here and there. There was an eki-den in Agano but we were travelling past that area. The train was […]
January 16th Start&Finish: Ranzan Keikoku Sightseeing Carpark (嵐山渓谷観光駐車場) The weather: Sunny and cold. Outfit/Equipment: Jeans, heat tech, jumper, hat, gloves, hiking shoes. Map: I meandered round this area, following each path to see where it went. Crowds: The odd hiker and dog walker. Time: 10am to 12pm Difficulty: 10,748 steps.
January 12th Start&Finish: A loop course from Shomaru station The weather: Cold and cloudy with the odd burst of sunshine. Outfit/Equipment: warm trousers, sport long-sleeve vest, long sleeve top, down vest, hat, gloves, hiking shoes Map: There is no map. We ended up turning the wrong way and walking off the edge of the map! […]
January 3rd. Start&Finish: Koma station to Musashi Yokote station The weather: Overcast and cold. Outfit/Equipment: warm trousers, long sleeve heat tech, long sleeve top, light down vest, hat, hiking shoes. Map: We followed this hiking course in reverse. Crowds: Hiwada-san in particular is a popular mountain but it was quiet after that. Time: 9am to […]
December 29th Start&Finish: Okutama station to Kori station The weather: Cold and sunny Outfit/Equipment: Warm trousers, long sleeve heat tech, long sleeve top, vest top, hat, hiking shoes. Map: We followed the Okutama Walking Trail Crowds: Extremely quiet. Time: 10am to 12:30. Difficulty: 16,641 steps.
December 21st Start&Finish: Ome station to Futamatao station (Alternatively park in Nagayama parking lot, though it’s a bit of a narrow, hair-raising drive up. There are also plenty of pay and display places). The weather: Lovely and sunny and not too cold. Outfit/Equipment: warm trousers, tshirt, long sleeve top, hiking shoes. Map: This is a […]
December 8th Start&Finish: The weather: Outfit/Equipment: Crowds: Map: Time: 5 hours hiking, from Start&Finish: Nishiagano station to Agano station. The route we were following led to a bus stop but we decided to walk rather than wait for the infrequent buses. The weather: Cold and sunny. Outfit/Equipment: warm hiking trousers, tshirt, long sleeve top, vest, […]
December 1st Start&Finish: The weather: Outfit/Equipment: Crowds: Very crowded in the park but only the odd hiker on the trail from the park. Map: You can find a course map here. Time: Around 2 hours Start&Finish: Akebono Children’s Forest Park The weather: Beautiful, sunny and mild. Outfit/Equipment: Jeans, tshirt, jumper, hiking shoes. Map: You can […]
November 24th Start&Finish: The weather: Outfit/Equipment: Crowds: Map: Time: Start&Finish: Ashigakubo station The weather: Beautiful sunshine but cold, especially at the top! Outfit/Equipment: warm trousers, long sleeve top, tshirt, light down vest, hiking shoes, hat. Map: We followed this course. Crowds: Not people evident when walking but lots of people eating bento at the top. […]