Ishizuchisan – November 4th, 2012

Japan really is a country of mountains. With ranges found across the four islands it is no wonder that cities are so populous, people just can’t live at the top of these places. My little city of Niihama is also almost horseshoed in by mountains. I haven’t really gone adventuring out to those mountains, but I have visited the most famous mountain on Shikoku. 

Tengudake, the famous ridge

Mount Ishizuchi. The mountain is the highest in west Japan, with the summit being at 1982m. The name means Stone Hammer and the mountain is designated as one of the 7 holy mountains of the country. On a clear day you can supposedly see the top of the mountain from Matsuyama (if what I read at Matsuyama castle is to be believed) and from the top you get a great view of Shikoku.

It was a chilly and very early (6:00 am) day for me, but the early start time meant that we had a full afternoon of hiking.  We got to the base of the mountain to catch the first gondola, which takes you to the start of the hiking trail. From that point it was a three a half hour hike to the top. With a quick stop at Joju Shrine we headed onto the wooded path that would guide us on our trek up.

At this time of the year with the weather being chilly, but not freezing it is a good time to hike. It also is a great time to see some of the fall colours on the trees, turning the mountain from green into one that has shocks of red, yellow and orange. Japan has a slightly later fall that Canada, and so there is still some green to be seen, however the closer you reach to the top of the mountain you can see the clusters of snow that cling to the rocks and trees

 

Though the weather wasn’t warm, it was clear and sunny and the trail was filled with fellow hikers. Everyone on the trail was friendly, pausing to say “konnichiwa” or  “ganbatte” and at one point I had a man point out the different directions and which major cities lay there, he did say it all in Japanese but I’ve picked up enough to of understand what he was saying. The real one that the other hikers stopped to greet was Beihachi, the real star of the day, most people that we saw crossed paths with knew his name by the time we started our descent.

We made it to the top by 12:30 and for someone who doesn’t do much hiking that was a pretty good time for me. Getting closer to the top the walk became a little more dangerous as the snow covered wood and metal stairs were slippery, however I conquered that and made it to the top. I had brought lunch so we sat, caught our breath and ate a little. We also started to get very cold, as there was no protection from the wind. After a nice little rest we headed down the mountain. The descent was a lot easier and took a lot less time.

All in all it was a great afternoon and I had a lot of fun climbing to the top. Another great adventure in Japan finished.