I had a free pass from the wife to go out camping on July 27/28 and a weakened typhoon passing the area was not going to stop me. It did however change my plans as I had originally intended to bikepack the foothills of Mt Fuji. Instead I was going to investigate a campground in Okutama while taking the backtrails of Mitake.
The route that I ended up taking
Starting back at Kori station
Trailhead
By 10am I got a heat advisory...
...and it soon got too hot to take any photos...
... fingers were always covered in sweat and wrinkles began to form.
Yay to energy sapping heat and humidity
Mt. Otsuka rest area
Mt. Mitake is a popular tourist area that can be reached by bus then cable car from JR Mitake station. On top of the mountain is Musashi Mitake Shrine.
http://www.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/nat...ake/index.html
Old house on the way to the shrine
After climbing a few hundred steps up Mt Mitake, I reached the shrine
There, I bought a charm for safe passage in the mountains and attached it to my backpack
Took a short break and then backtracked to a side trail behind the shrine.
Unfortunately I came across a detour that added unwanted distance and a painful climb up a mountain... not happy.
Finally reached my destination: Hatonosu Garden Campsite (¥1500 per person per night - 2pm check-in / 10am check-out, but easily negotiable)
https://goo.gl/maps/jwoYCyGVCYqoviU57
The campsite is located at the bottom of a gorge and took few minutes and some switch backs before seeing the area.
The place is small and run down. Bits of junk that cannot be carried away scattered around. But it has plenty of charm and an awesome owner. Down in the gorge, temperatures were very cool and barely any mosquitoes around.
However, I could only find one pair of trees suitable for hanging and fortunately I was the only person there.
The owner only speaks Japanese but gets a lot of foreign guest.
He will reserve the only place to hang a hammock if you call in advance.
An icy cold stream runs through the grounds and a little farther away, a waterfall and a deep pool beckons for a dive.
After setting up camp, I went to cool off in the stream. I only managed a minute in chest deep ice water, barely catching my breath. Rushed back to camp to warm up. I couldn’t believe I was shivering while it was over 30*c with +90% humidity above.
The brunt of the storm passed around midnight and I could feel the wind whipping about outside. The temps dropped and I buried myself under the quilts.
Breakfast from the hammock ... on a table.
Luxurious
Packed up and ready to go
The rain stopped at around 7 and I was out by 8. I immediately started sweating on the climb back up and continued sweating until I got to the station 20 minutes away. I’ll definitely be back one more time during this summer.
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