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| Momiji - Maple tree |
It's Fall! And, that means...I'm on the hunt for the yellows, oranges, and reds in the trees (Koyo: roughly, autumn foliage viewing)!!! I read last week that there is a pretty amazing festival in Hachioji, with a street lined with the beautiful Icho (gingko tree). This is, by far, my most favorite-est (as Boy would say) tree!
So....off we go...
Since we were at the New Sanno we just had to roll out of bed and hop on the train. I found out, from the pamphlet I got from ITT, that there is a discount ticket for purchase at Shinjuku Station. This meant that we would get to Hachioji a few miles from the gingko street, but it was an easy ride and maybe we would just start out by hiking Takao-san. Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi, and back, on the Keio line cost about 800 Yen. The round trip chair lift or cable car ticket is about 900 Yen. Purchasing the discount ticket saved about 500 Yen each, for adults. Mackenzie's tickets were all half price. Garytt doesn't require a train ticket yet, but we did have to buy him a chair lift ticket at Takao Station. All in all, we saved about 1200 Yen on tickets.
So, we left Hiroo Station and made it to Shinjuku around 1015. I followed the directions on the paper, pretty easy. Pushed a few buttons, told it two adults and one child, it spit out four tickets to each of us. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! We walk over to the gate and look at our tickets....all in Japanese!
Oy!
We step back and try to figure out what in the world goes where. Our first try: put in ticket number one. Nope. Spit right back out at us. Then, I realize that the kanji on the ticket matches the kanji on the signs around us: Shinjuku. Then, I pull out the info on where we're going. Yup, another match: Takaosanguchi. So, we enter ticket number two. Success!! We quickly figure out that the first ticket is our instructions. The second ticket gets us from Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi. The third ticket gets us on the chair lift (or cablecar) up the mountain. The fourth ticket gets us back to Shinjuku. Shew...figured that out! We get to the correct track and wait for our 1031 time. The train took an hour, I think this is the longest train ride we've had on one train.
We left the world of black suit-ed men and women in skirts and five inch heels, and entered the world of hiking boots and backpacks. Ahhh...nature!
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| Our view while we waited in line for the chair lift. Not so bad! |
After a quiet ride on a nearly empty train, we arrived at Takaosanguchi around 1130. We left the station, and followed the people with the backpacks and hiking gear. They led us right to Kiyotaki Station where we merged into the hours long wait to get on the cable car. Kris said, "this is crazy. It'll be hours before we get up there this way." So, we decided to head over to the the chair lift. I thought, "oh my, there are no straps to hold Boy in that seat!" But, we got in the faster-moving chair lift line and snaked our way through and then up the stairs. Getting on the chair was easier than I thought. The lift-helping men weren't afraid to manhandle the kids and toss them in the chairs. So, that made things easy! Now, up up up we go!
Mt. Takao is right on the boundary between Japan's subtropical and temperate forests. Because of this it is known as an Eden of wildlife. ~ Mt. Takao Guide Book. Eden of wildlife, huh? Ok, we shall see. Mt. Takao is on the southeast part of the Kanto mountain area and was awarded three stars (the most that can be awarded) by Michelin in 2007.
The ride up was pretty gradual for a few minutes, then it took a nice steep turn up. The chair lift took about ten minutes. The cable car is faster, about 6 minutes up, but the line was insane! I think it was also a much better ride out in the open instead of closed into that cable car with 20 of our closest friends.
We got to Sanjo Station and started walking up on path 1. You can see the three pink trees at the bottom of the map...that's where we got on the chair lift. Then, the one pink tree close to the number 1 is where we hopped on the paved trail.
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| Manhole cover for Takaosan |
We walked on up and arrived at the first snack station. We picked a seat away from the crowds and ate our lunch. While everyone ate, I snapped a few pictures. I kept seeing everyone eating these little pastries on sticks. I thought they looked yummy. And, everyone else was eating them, so I wanted one too. Well, the line was super long, so I decided to wait.
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| Looking out toward the Kanto Plain |
After lunch, we were back on the paved trail and heading up Takaosan. On the way, we passed Tako-sugi, Octopus Cedar Root. What is an octopus cedar root, you ask. Well, the story goes a little something like this: long ago, a woodsman planned to cut the roots of this cedar tree because they were in the way. But, the night before he was going to cut the roots, the tree saved itself! The tree twisted its roots around like octopus arms.
Just past the octopus tree was the monkey park. Dear Mt. Takao attraction designers....thank you for not making the monkey park seem all that interesting. The kids walked right past it and didn't even realize it was there.
A little past the Monkey Park was Joshin Gate. Kris decided here that walking amongst the mass of people all the way up the mountain wasn't going to be a lot of fun. So, after a look-see at the map right there, we decided to head off on trail number 3, known as the Jananese Judas Tree Trail. This trail was not paved and didn't look very congested. It was listed as being about 1.6 miles and, since it's on the southern side of the mountain it has more sub-tropical trees.
Our #1 hiker: Mackenzie (in purple to the right of that tree) would walk way ahead of all of us. Garytt would try to catch up but she would just walk faster to get away from him. She likes to be on her own when we hike. She needs her quiet time. And, Boy N.E.V.E.R. stops talking!!!!!
Most of the trail was a couple feet wide. There were some stairs toward the end of trail 3, where it started to really climb up. A few times Kris would turn to me and say, "I thought we were climbing up a mountain," as we took a turn down into the trees.
Speaking of trees...there were a lot! We saw many, many cedar and oak trees. I think one type of tree is a stewartia...maybe....it has camouflage bark. Garytt thinks this tree is awesome. (if you can correct me, please leave a comment. I'd really like to know what I'm looking at on the signs and in the forests. Or, do you know a good book or website I can reference? Thanks!)  |
| The four trees on the sign above, in real life. |
Mackenzie explored every nook and cranny she could find. When she figured out Daddy had a flashlight with him, she wanted to shine it in every crevice. "Whoa! That is SO cool!!" (I really must teach her my grandmother's phrase, "Oh, neat-oh!")
The last bit of stairs were pretty tough for the little legs in our group. Mackenzie had to take a few rests. Garytt, however, took off! So far ahead that it took us several minutes to even find him. When we did find him, he was, of course, chatting away with a couple of older Japanese ladies. They were in a full blown conversation! Older Japanese ladies love Garytt. And, he is more than happy to tell them all about his dog, and karate, and How to Train Your Dragon, and dinosaurs, and monster trucks, and whatever else pops in his head.
Almost to the top!
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| Doesn't that wispy grass make the picture pretty? |
At the top of the stairs we came to a Y split. Off to the right headed back down the mountain. To the left took us to the summit.
When we got to the top of the stairs we heard sirens somewhere off to the right of us. We turned and saw three little rescue vans coming up the mountain. They were curving around the switchbacks and moving up the incline. At one point, though, the turn was too tight, so they would have to pull part of the way around the curve, have one guy get out and direct them backwards so they didn't run into anyone, and then head up around the rest of the curve. One of the three vans had a guy get out, and I don't know if this was on purpose or not, but the van took off and the emergency worker took off running up the mountain after it! Poor guy!
At the summit!! All 599 meters of it!! (1965 feet)
I'm not sure what the deal was with these maples. Maybe it has been cold enough that they are getting splotchy with death. Or maybe they have some sort of disease. But, those black spots don't make for good up close shots. :(
But, from a distance they sure are pretty!
Fuji is over there hiding behind the clouds and haze on the right side.
After a short rest, some snacks and a couple apple juices, we headed back down the mountain. This time we took trail 4 down, the Suspension Bridge Trail, about one mile long. The beginning of the descent was all stairs. They weren't very steep, but there were a lot! On this side of the mountain we saw fir and beech trees.
On the way back down the lines for the treat I wanted were pretty short. So, I got in line and bought two skewers for the four of us to share. I'm not sure, but I think they were called dango. The white part, which reminded me of the mochi I had this past new year's, wasn't too bad. The soy sauce-like glaze they slathered all over it, not so much. I couldn't have eaten a whole skewer of the white part. Mackenzie took a few bites and said she liked it, but she didn't take any more than two bites. Garytt, at that moment, was having a bit of a breakdown and refused to eat any of it. Kris and I had as many bites as we could force down, now realizing Japan does not have trashcans anywhere, and wondering what we were going to do with the rest. We ended up just tossing them in an empty bag we had in our bag and went about our way.
Part of the way down the chair lift (which, by the way, was getting pretty chilly at 4 in the afternoon!) Garytt came out of his anger issue, and decided he really liked the dango! He finished off what the other three couldn't eat.
The hike was great! It wasn't too hard for the kids, aside from the last bit of stairs on trail 3. Getting off the main trek and heading out into what the brochure says is a "true nature experience" was definitely the way to go! The train ride home was pretty easy, and it was nice to have an hour to sit and relax before we drove home. Oh, I almost forgot....that gingko lined street I planned this whole trip around....we never made it. The mountain took up the entire day, so I will have to save that for another year.
