Late Spring, we went for a one-day hike at Northern Yatsugatake, reached one of the peaks called Tengudake (1,646m). The weather was so nice, that the view & landscapes were magnificant.
The Yatsugatake mountain range is called Minami Yatsugatake (Yatsugatake in a narrow sense) on the south side and Kita Yatsugatake on the north side of the Natsuzawa Pass, and Tengudake is the highest peak of this Kita Yatsugatake. The top of the mountain is divided into east and west with an interval of about 300 m, and is called Mt. Nishi Tengu and Mt. Higashi Tengu. The altitude of Mt. Higashi Tengu is 2,640m, and the altitude of Mt. Nishi Tengu is 2,645.8m. There are two peaks, and the main vertical runway of Mt. Yatsugatake runs through the summit of Mt.
<Reference>
https://hikesinjapan.yamakei-online.com/area/2.php
It was quite far from Tokyo, we had to wake up before dawn to drive…
There first thing that caught my eyes were actually not mountains, but the image character on the vending machines at the “Service Area”(rest area on highway for cars). This one is the image character of “Central Japan Highway”! It’s funny that in Japan, everything (train companies, cities, areas, public services…) make their own image characters, which is shown everywhere, printed on merchandises, catalogs… And, they all look so cute!!
Anyway, we had a long drive, and met our friend at the entrance of the hiking route.
To be honest, I don’t remember the way to hike up, because it was just was any other Japanese mountains, not particular difficult, we just chatted away while we were walking, and there were not much view on the way… However, we hiked to higher area, the view started to change. We started to see what the popular “Yatsugatake” could offer. It was a clear sunny day that we could see far away. The view of all these landscapes & clouds were impressive.
The route started to become rocky. Sometimes we had to use our hands to support us, but it is not unusual. Actually, many Japanese mountains are rocky (including the popular Mt. Fuji), there are often more rock than green on the top. However, the landscape did not disappoint us. We were going to follow this route to hike on the back of the hills.
There you go, we reached “Tengutake” (1,646m), one of the peaks of “Yatsugatake”. It is not that high, but still we were above the clouds. It was quite windy & chilly over there.
I always think that the most beautiful part in the Japanese mountains are not on the peaks (which are not so high anyway), but in the forest & rivers. It is said that there are more than 2,500 species of mosses grown in Japan, due to the warm and humid climates at certain areas. Also, mosses are highly appreciated in the Japanese gardening. Only this route of Yatsugatake, I’ve already seen several different kinds of mosses. It was really interesting. I heard that they can only grow with clean water source, where nobody step foot on. We also walked carefully, tried not to disturb this beautiful yet delicate nature.
<Reference>
https://japanjourneys.jp/lifestyle/culture/moss-an-essential-element-of-japanese-culture
When we came out from the mountain, we passed by a teahouse. Around there, we found the most beautiful mosses that we have seen during the day. This pool of water produced such a unique color, and what around it were also fasinating.
Furthermore, we heard from the teahouse that there were some natural treeholes, where you can find the interesting “light moss” inside. We looked into some of the labelled treeholes (near the roots), but we saw nothing, just dark inside. While we were about to give up, we decided to use our headlamp to flash inside. Then we saw it! Some mosses were reflecting the light, showing such interesting colors. I see! They grow in the dark!!
Our day trip had came to the end, but what welcomed us back was not what I could see everyday. It was just in front of a 7-11. What a beautiful sunset!!