March2nd Start&Finish: Shinrinkoen Station The weather: High 21 Low 4. Intermitent sunshine Outfit/Equipment: Jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. Map: Here’s the link to the park’s homepage Crowds: Busy in popular areas but quiet on the side trails Time: 9:30 to 2 Difficulty: 25,430 steps After checking on the park’s website and seeing that the […]
February 24th Start&Finish: Shiminnomori Car Park, or there is parking in the Peace Museum nearby. The weather: High 9 Low -4. Beautiful and sunny, but cool in the trees. Outfit/Equipment: Jeans, heat tech, hoody, hat, gloves, hiking shoes. Map: We just wandered round the shiminnomori, then crossed the road over to the Peace Museam. Crowds: […]
February 11th Start&Finish: Sawarabinoyu Dai3 Parking lot (there is also a bus stop nearby if you don’t drive) The weather: High 9 Low -3. Sunny but increasingly windy and extremely cold at the top. Outfit/Equipment: Warm trousers, warm long sleeve sport top, hoody, down vest, hat, gloves, hiking boots (waterproof boots and gloves essential for […]
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 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 25th Start&Finish: Shinrinkoen south entrance (there is 300 yen parking just outside the park) The weather: Cold and sunny. Outfit/Equipment: Jeans, jumper, light shoes Map: Here’s a link to the park’s own website Crowds: Very quiet Time: 10am-12pm Difficulty: 16,404 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 […]
November 16th. Start&Finish: Ichigo no sato (michi no eki in Yoshimi) The weather: Cool and cloudy with intermittent sunshine. Outfit/Equipment: Jeans, tshirt, jumper, lightweight shoes, hat. Map: I didn’t follow any particular map. I walked from Ichigo no sato up to Hatchoko park, then back again. Crowds: an occasional dog walker. Time: 2-3 hours. Difficulty: […]