{"id":5074,"date":"2019-08-31T09:50:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T00:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/?p=5074"},"modified":"2019-08-31T10:04:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T01:04:41","slug":"the-road-up-mt-yari-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/31\/the-road-up-mt-yari-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Road Up Mt. Yari — Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Late August. 5:30 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve had our breakfast at the Yarisawa Lodge (even took a HOT bath before hitting the sack, the first time ever<\/em> in a mountain lodge here in Japan), and are ready to continue our walk from the resort town of Kamikochi to the tippy top of Mt. Yari’s spear-tip summit.
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We’ve done the easy part, thirteen or fourteen kilos along the Azusa River and Yari Stream, gaining only a few hundred meters in elevation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now we’ve got six kilometers in distance and 1407 meters (over 5000 feet) in elevation change ahead of us. The lodge sits at 1773 meters. The tip of Yari’s spear rises to 3180 meters, making it the fifth tallest mountain in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We figured it would take us about five hours to get to the Yari ridge, and another thirty minutes to scramble up to the tippy top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some folks (folks with more energy than we (or I<\/em>) have) take in both Mt. Yari and<\/em> Mt. Oku-hotaka (the third tallest mountain in Japan at 3190) in a single hike, but that requires 1) walking a lot farther each day, or walking for five<\/em> days instead of the three we had, and 2) crossing the famous, perhaps notorious<\/em>, “Dai Kiretto,” which roughly translates as “the super jagged ridge that requires careful<\/em> three-point (two hands, one leg or two legs, one hand) advancement, sustained for three<\/em> hours, with any mistake meaning a long, long fall–most likely the last fall for you.” This “Dai Kiretto” is well-known as the most difficult bit of non-technical mountain climbing in Japan. If you’re scared of heights, or the weather is not so good, you definitely want to avoid it. If you want to consider it, you might consider a guide your first time, or at least going with someone who’s done it before. And you want to be extraordinarily careful. People have lost their lives here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But like I said, that wasn’t part of our plan. Not this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So back to the matter at hand. The day’s walk up from Yarisawa Lodge to Mt. Yari. The first couple of hours are a gradual incline along the Yari Stream, gradually winding into a cirque of mountains. Along the way, there are plenty of streams from which you can fill up your water bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then you come around a green slope, and for the first time on your day’s walk, see Mt. Yari rising up into the blue. This view is just after<\/em> you cross the last stream on the walk, so here, make sure you have enough liquid for the remaining couple of hours. (Of course, the amount depends on the temperature.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And up, up, up you go. The trail gradually gets steeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And rockier. Basically, it’s not a difficult trail, only steep. The trail itself gets a bit rocky . . . though the rocks in the picture above are off<\/em>trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You’ll surely want to take a lot of pictures, especially if you have a sky like we did, but taking a lot of pictures won’t make Yari get any closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most likely, you’ll get tired. So make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to take a breather now and then, to slow down your pace as necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And of course, enjoy the flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chinguruma. (After the blossoms have disappeared.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Almost to the ridge. In the end, what we thought might take about five hours took us four and a quarter. We tend to go a little <\/em>faster than average course times going up, and about right on course times going down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balky knee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then we hit the ridge. All that was left was the thirty-minute scramble up to the summit. Below is what the view looks like when you’ve gotten a few minutes up the spear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, yes, you have to cling to chains and climb up ladders, and make sure of every<\/em> step, but when you’re actually doing it, well, I think most people don’t feel a strong danger. But you do need to be careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Up our Hearty Hiking leader goes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then up I go. Up to the tippy top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n