When I only had two days left on Norikura and most of my work was done I decided it was time to finally bag the peak. The work that I had left was all hemispherical photographs which required cloudy days/ dawn/ dusk. Thus when I woke up and saw that it was sunny, I decided, today is the day to hike Norikura. However, the weather is so variable that I brought my work gear as well in case it was cloudy on my way down the mountain.
The first 1/3 of the trail I was quite familiar with since I hike it pretty much everyday, from there on however it was a new experience.
Up the second third I went. Interestingly the higher I went on the mountain the more restricted the trail became. So many people hike Norikura that to preserve the ecosystem and vegetation areas are roped off for hiking and you are not supposed to leave the trail. The second third of the hike as did the first follows a stream up slope. At a beautiful little pool in the stream there were two posts with Kanji written on them and two statues.
The one with a cane I like to think is the Norikura Yoda.
The trail continues to gradually go up slope until it hits the road again. Here is where in the spring the road stops and the buses turn around. Just up slope from the road is a large bowl in the mountain side that is protected from the sun and wind. This is where people come to ski almost year round. When I hiked the mountain it was August 10th and there were maybe 15 people out on the snow skiing. Due to the quality of the snow at this point there are tracks that people ski down rather than just anywhere. Apparently lots of ski teams come to Norikura to train during the summer.
The hike continues it’s way up hill skirting around the bowl, and leads it’s way up to an even higher cottage on Norikura. This cottage like most hiking cabins is also a restaurant and gift store. From the cabin to the top is the last stage of the hike, and the only one that most people take. The reason for this is that during the summer people can take the bus up to about 2700m, which is only 300m shy of the peak. One of the reasons for the road is that there is an observatory up there on the mountain.
So there are lots of people from this point on, while the other part of the trail had been all mine.
I don’t think I had ever hiked with so many other people at one time. Many of the hikers were elderly, but there were also a fair number of families with kids hiking the mountain. As with most things in Japan I did not know the proper hiking etiquette, so I went with what we do in America. That being if someone comes up behind you and you are hiking slowly, stand aside and let them pass. If one person is going down and another going up and they meet, who should yield, in America the person going down would yield. Etc. However, I could not find a pattern in what the Japanese did, it was basically a slow scramble up a trail. The trail was relatively wide in most areas, but not always to allow for traffic to go both ways.
Some of the other things I observed were that people did not always like you to pass them, sort of as though it was a line and no one should skip other people. This feeling was more prominent when I passed older people than the younger. Or maybe they remembered when they could quickly scamper up a mountain. Either way there was much waiting.
There was this one old lady who would take a step and then rest, then take another step and rest. When ever I made a move to go around her she would try to keep going but then stop and rest. I backed off and waited until the trail widened more so I could just go around. Younger folks were more willing to let you pass with a “doozo” or “sumimasen”.
Up the mountain we climbed on to a shoulder of the mountain which led to the peak. As I climbed the mountain clouds began to form and soon it was completely enshrouded by them. Though there was an occasional glimpse of a view. In the crater of the volcano there is a large alpine lake with a little remnant snow pack around.
From there you can see the peak clearly with a shrine on top! But of course I did not have 5 yen on me. It is tradition to donate 5 yen when praying at a shrine, 5 yen is sort of a sign of good luck.
Norikura is 3026m high and very easy to climb, though I am not sure I would want to do it in the rain. I sat on the peak for about 45 minutes watching the clouds, occasional view and my fellow hikers.
On my way down I was much more observant than on my way up and noticed that on the scree slopes where the hiking trail did not go were pink. Pink with flowers, I could not tell what kind so I got out my camera and zoomed in to discover these beauties.
komakusa (コマクサ) or Dicentra peregrina
Back down the mountain I went and since it got cloudy, I preceded to finish out the rest of my work.