I woke up bright and early. I had a bus to catch to Lake Okutama, and eventually Mount Kumotori.
I had done some reading online, and was starting to think I had maybe based my plans on some misinformation. I had read that the hike was something that could be done in just a few hours, but I could no longer find the original info I had read, and what I was seeing now made it seem way harder than I was thinking.
Regardless, I decided to go anyway. I would just consider any amount of vertical distance traveled a win, and be ready to cut off as soon as it became too much.
But first, breakfast! When I went downstairs, they already had it set up for me. Also, the clay pot in the corner had some eggs and meat, which were cooked by the candle underneath.
I also got a bowl of rice and a nice hot cup of green tea. Ultimately this set up is basically just *various thinks to put in rice*.
It was all delicious regardless.
After breakfast, I set out to the bus stop.
After winding through picturesque mountain roads for about an hour, we arrived at lake Okutama. This is where most of the passengers got off, until it was basically just me on the bus.
We continued to drive along the lake for another 30 minutes, until we arrived at an even smaller little town, which was my stop.
It took me a bit to figure out where the trail started, but I did eventually find it, and started the long slow ascent. It started as just a road through the upper part of the town until it just kept going into the woods.
So far, it had been fairly straightforward.
And then the road ended.
There was a sign that said Mount Kumotori that way, and it pointed towards a tiny trail that led off of the road along the side of a steep slope, with no railing on one side, and on the other side was a bush inhabited by Asian Giant Hornets. At least I'm pretty sure that's what they were.
At this point, I decided that this was not something that was safe to do alone, and decided to turn back. Pretty disappointing, but fighting giant bees was not on my bingo card for today.
I got back to the bus stop, where it was revealed the next bus was not coming for 3 hours. Also, there were no open restaurants or stores in this town where I could burn some time.
Taking another look at the map, there was another route up the mountain that looked like an actual proper road. It led to a shrine that was back in the mountains. I decided at this point I had nothing better to do, so I decided to give that a try.
Look ma, im in da mirrah!
Pros: Actual road; no precarious drop; no bees.
Cons: way longer; very windy; more chainsaws
The whole time I was climbing, there was some kind of logging action going on somewhere in the opposite side of the valley. Kind of spoiled the zen a little bit, but I tried not to let it get to me.
It just keeps going
After awhile, I reached a parking lot that I think is the actual start of the hike to Mount Kumotori. Meanwhile, I had completely wiped myself out just getting to the starting line.
At least there was a bathroom. And in the bathroom there was a sign that said "From here, The hike to Mount Kumotori will take 5 hours. If you are not prepared, turn back now".
So yeah, this was a cursed plan from the start.
Still, I've come this far so I will try and at least make it to the shrine. There will definitly be something there that will have made all of this worth it.
So yeah, It's nice I guess. But I could not find any shrine. To continue along the road would take my past this random persons house. Probably the people that maintain the shrine, but I'm not brave enough to go and find out.
Time to go back.
On the way back, I was seriously considering trying to flag down one of the cars that was driving down the road, and asking for a ride. Ultimately I didn't, but I wish I had.
Before reaching the main road, I did find a little shrine on the side of the mountain, and stopped there for a minute, before continuing on to the bus stop.
Bus stop time.
I managed to make it back to Okutama. Before returning to the ryokan for a much needed bath, I stopped at the food court for lunch. The only place that was open was the ramen stall, so that's what I got.
Also, the music they were playing was super weird. It was like a bunch of Japanese band interpretations of what they thought American country music was.