Pt. 1 Hiking the Northern Japanese Alps. My second Holy Mountain
Fall is a beautiful time to visit Japan and see the foliage change colors. Pretty much everywhere in Japan turns shades of orange, red, and yellow - Toyama is no exception. Right behind me in my backyard I have the Northern Alps of Japan, and what better place to go see the leaves change colors than up on one of Japan’s three holy mountains. Many people from near and far come to Toyama to take the cable car up the mountain so securing a ticket proved not an easy task. My friends and I found ourselves on the outside looking in until someone had canceled their reservation and someone in my group snatched them up. Up until this point, I had lived in Toyama for three and a half years and never been up there. This was the first of the two times in my five years living here.
They day started bright and early with a drive up to Tateyama station. From there I would catch a cable car up to Bijodaira and from there get on the bus that goes up to our final destination - Murodo. On the way up, there are a few scenic parts where you can catch glimpses of the nearby Shomyo Falls and just enjoy the scenery in general. I didn’t take too many pictures on the way up, so you’ll just have to come and see for yourself!
After stepping out of Murodo station, you are greeted with an amazing view of the Northern Alps up close. The colors were unlike anything I had ever seen before and something I could never imagine. The day started out a little overcast before clearing up, and then raining. From the station, my first peak was Ryuodake (Mt. Ryuo). On our way up we passed by a water hose that had sprung a leak and encased the surrounding plants with ice. Shortly after passing by the slippery ice patch, we got to a clearing where you can continue on to either Ryuodake or Jodosan (Mt. Jodo). The top of Ryuodake is a little jagged and a tight squeeze which is enough to turn my legs into Jell-O. This is a reoccurring theme and why you will almost never see pictures of me standing on peaks unless there is a lot of room. There’s just something about being so high with sheer cliffs that throws off my sense of balance and I feel like any gust of wind is going to send down a few hundred meters.
360 view from the clearing before Ryuodake
