Kamikochi - Yari ga Take - Oku Hotaka Dake Loop - Silver Week (September 19-23) (Day 2)

9/21

Up at about 5am (quite late for Japanese hikers), ate a bit, packed up and headed back up to Yari. Dropped our packs at the base, and got into line to climb the 5th highest peak in Japan. The climb was easy, but took about 35 minutes with all the waiting in line at ladders (one person at a time, and then waiting until there's space to step into. The top is fairly small - with room for maybe 25 people at a time. Took the obligatory pictures, took in the breathtaking 360 view, and headed back down.

Ate some breakfast, and then headed out across the mountains towards the Daikiretto. We walked across a few peaks, and stopped for a hot lunch of curry rice before dropping into the Daikiretto. Last meal, just in case...! The photo below is looking down on the Daikiretto - it's the ridge running from bottom right to top left. The trail actually climbs up the face of the mountain on the left, and there's a hut perched right at the top!

The climb down the first part wasn't too bad, and going across was mostly just walking, but there were quite a few spots where scrambling, climbing, holding tightly onto the rock and careful foot placement were all necessary. Nothing really difficult, but because of the long drop beneath, it's a lot more nerve-wracking. I don't have many good photos of the difficult bits, because I had no inclination to stop and/or let go of the rock. There are also quite a few places where steel bolts/chains/anchors/steps have been bolted into the rock, which sometimes help, but also remind you just how careful you need to be. During the last third or so, the fog rolled in, which made things a bit wet and slippery and ruined the views, but at least I couldn't see just how far down it was to the bottom!

As we climbed out the southern end of the Daikiretto (it's about 300 m down, and then 350 back up) to the hut at Kita-Hotaka-dake, we climbed back above the clouds. People were talking on cellphones, but we hadn't brought ours...!

The next little bit to Karasawa-dake and then on to the hut at Hotaka-dake-sanso took a couple hours, also with a few 'interesting' bits, as the Lonely Planet Hiking Guide points out. When we got to the hut, it was foggy, and people were setting up tents on the flagstone patio. We checked in and followed suit. Spent the evening inside the hut with some expensive hot food and drink, and then crashed again for the night.

Photos are still on Flickr.