Saturday, November 09, 2013

[jules' pics] Akadake

The aim of the day was climbing Akadake, Yatsugatake's highest peak. With Fuji-san visible from early morning, we set off expectant of blue skies.
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Deciduous leaves were already gone at this altitude, leaving the berries to flaunt their red-ness against the sky.
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As it was a public holiday (exercise day, no less), there were plenty of stumbling grockels around. Knowing the fun scrambling that lay ahead, we felt quite sorry for one woman, when her legs started to visibly shake before the first ladder of the day. But she carried on, so I expect she followed the all white circles all the way to the top, eventually.
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The top is, of course a bit wrecked, with some bits of concrete shrine things and a hut just over the summit.
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With plenty of people milling about on the top of Akadake, we didn't hang about for long.
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Over the other side of the mountain, the far end of the Yatsugatake range was visible...that somewhat Fuji-san shaped mountain in the distance is the last peak. We once spent several days walking the ridge the other way from that end, but that time we didn't make it to Akadake, due to being blown off the mountain by a blizzard.
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After coffee at the second hut over the summit, it was a romp through changing seasons, 1500m down the valley.
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We had a bath at the hut next to the bus stop before catching the public transport home.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 11/09/2013 07:48:00 PM

2 comments:

Steve Crook said...

I've always thought that the mountain hut thing always generated mixed feelings.

There you are, congratulating yourself on having made it all the way up there, bathed in sweat, catching your breath and wondering if you've got the energy to go on.

Then you look left and see someone else also did it, but managed to build a hut after they arrived...

Good luck with the UK. Here in Dorset we have a brilliant blue sky at the moment so all may not be lost.

James Annan said...

Yes, and the amazing thing is that the old huts really were built (and maintained and staffed and replenished) by people carrying stuff up on their backs - we once saw an old photo of a line of sherpas who had come to build the Hodaka Sansou (I think it was). Nowadays massive bits of steel frame and mechanical diggers are simply dropped off by helicopter, which seems a bit of a cheat by comparison. However, people do still carry provisions up to some of the lower huts.