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Photos |
The Hike |
Things to Bring |
Location
35.53°N/137.28°E, Gifu-ken/Nagano-ken, Central Honshu
The Trail
Nakanoyu Parking (1800m) - 30 min - 7th stage (2020 m) - 45 min - 8th stage (2405 m) - 45 min - 9th stage (2775 m) - 40 min - Kenga-mine (3067 m) - 15 min - Ninoike (2950 m) - 2 hrs - Nakanoyu Parking (1800m)
The Hike
| Getting there | It takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive from Nagoya to the Nakanoyu parking area. Coming from Route 19 follow the "Ontake Ropeway" signs all the way up the mountain to an elevation of appr. 1700 m, here you turn left and it is only another five minutes to the parking area. |
| A Popular Trail | It was a beautiful day in late September when my seven-year-old Fabi and I decided to give Ontake a try. We left the car at 8:00 AM, there were a few clouds in the sky, the temperature was 12°C. The trail is wide and easy to follow, there must be hundreds of people during the main hiking season in the summer. After about 30 minutes we arrived at the 7th stage, a wooden hut which was closed. The whole place was littered with garbage, unfortunately a typical sight in most popular picnic spots in Japan. The trail continued up the mountain, it wasn't steep at all, very gentle, easy going. |
| Holy Mountain | 45 minutes later we arrived at the 8th stage at 2405 meters. Here the forest ends and is replaced by the alpine zone, creeping pine and other shrubs are the most common plants. The rocky summit was clearly visible, the slopes below covered with vibrant red spots of autumn foliage. Ontake is an active volcano and one of many holy mountains in Japan, there are a lot of stone and bronze statues along the way. |
| Final Approach | After a short rest we continued up the trail which got steeper the closer we came to the summit dome. It took us 45 minutes to the 9th stage, a stone hut at 2775 meters which was closed. There is no vegetation up here, just brown volcanic rock. From the 9th stage it was another 40 minutes to Kengamine, 3067 m high and the highest summit of Ontake which we reached at 11.15 AM. |
| Active Volcano | A big shrine is located on the top of Kengamine, the last meters a up a flight of black polished stone stairs. There were about 15 other hikers on the summit, a lot more than on any other Japanese mountain I had climbed at this time of year. The view was fantastic: to the north directly below the summit lay the turqoise blue waters of Ninoike, a volcanic lake, at 2950 m supposedly the highest in Japan. 200 m to the south we could see (and hear!) Hacho Darumi, three hissing geysers which made us aware of the enormous power hidden just below the surface of the earth. The air had a slight whiff rotten eggs (H2S) due to the volcanic activity. |
| Going down | After relaxing on the summit for 45 minutes we descended for 15 minutes to the hut and small shrine at the shore of Ninoike. The water of the lake was crystal clear, we enjoyed the scenery for half an hour before slowly going back down to the car where we got at 3.15 PM. |
Things to Bring
| Water | There are no freshwater springs along the trail, unless you want to drink the water from Ninoike it might be a good idea to bring enough liquids. |
| Clothing | The terrain above the 8th stage is unprotected and the weather can change quickly, bring a sweater and raingear even if the forecast is good. |
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