Travel Tuesdays #24: Return To Mt. Takao

The other week my friend Hive account@steemitjp welcomed me back to Tokyo by suggesting we go climb a mountain. Not going out to grab a beer, or something fun, but something grueling, physically demanding and during the last cold breaths of winter. My wife said I needed the exercise and so I told Hive account@steemitjp I'd love to go, but only if we could throw back a beer at the summit!

The mountain I'm referring to is Mt. Takao in Eastern Tokyo. I've been there a once before, Travel Tuesday's #7, but I've never made it all the way to the summit. Oh, and last time I cheated by taking the cable car up and down the most challenging part. This time Hive account@steemitjp was having none of that and would insist we hike up!

We got an early start on a Saturday morning so we could beat the crowds and hopefully catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji before it disappeared under the daily cloud cover. I arrived 30 minutes early to an empty station. By the time David arrived at 8pm there were large crowds preparing their gear for the hike.

David suggested we burn some of the day's future beer calories off by hiking up the mountain rather taking the cable car or chair lift. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. So, the long purple route shown in the bottom of the above photo is the route we took.

The hike is a 1.5hr walk to the summit, but along the way there are so many shrines and sights to see it will easily turn into a 3hr walk. Let's begin shall we?

The walk from the station to the cable car station is about 5 minutes along a small stream. It also takes you by several food & gift shops one of which is a "dango" (Japanese rice paste made into a ball and coated with sauce) shop that we would later stop by at on the way back down the mountain.

Just past the dango shop is the cable car station. From this point there is no turning back. Either you take the smart way up the mountain for a reasonable $9.00 roundtrip or you suffer. The latter isn't so bad. Most of the serious ascension is the first 30min of the hike. After that it's sights to see and scenic views of Tokyo. Honestly, the I would recommend hiking up the mountain for the scenery alone. You can always take the cable car or chair lift down the mountain.

The first point of interest is the cable car station about halfway up the mountain. This is the first area that offers nice views of the sprawling Tokyo Metropolis below, but not the best views. Those are further up the mountain. There are several eateries here as well as a few gift shops. One eatery has an observation deck that does offer good views. They also have good beer and we would stop back by on the way down for a nice Pale Ale.

Just beyond the cable car station there is a monkey park you can visit, however you have to pay to enter. Past that is the famous Octopus Root Cedar, "Tako-sugi" tree. Named after it's exposed root structure that look reminiscent of octopus tentacles. From my earlier post:

The tree is said to be 500 years old and the root system strangely grows back from the path. Legend says a Tengu was looking for a way up the mountain and the tree moved it's root out of the way for him to pass. The tree is considered holy and a path opener for all.

Winding further down the path you encounter a picturesque portion of the hike, a road lined with red lanterns which light up in the evening. Day or night they make for great pictures.

Then there are the first flight of stairs. There is an another route around the stairs but it is long and dips up and down so the stairs are worth the climb.

These stairs lead you to the first temple complex, Yakou-in a buddhist temple. You will want to spend some time here as there are so many things to do and to take pictures of.

This temple complex dates back to 744 and houses Tengu statues as well as buddha statues and interesting sights.

Moving through the complex you ascend another large flight of stairs to the upper level temple buildings. The first upper temple is stunning in it's wood work. As a carpenter by trade I admire all of the detail carved into the structure.

There is an awesome wooden Tengu mask surrounded by dragons on each side of the entrance to this temple. Look at the carving of the dragon to the left. Spectacular work not only in carving but designing it all to blend together.

As we continue to the left of this temple and up another flight of stairs we reach the red temple. I really enjoyed looking at this one because of all the color used on it. So many temples around Tokyo are usually naturally colored without much if any paint. So seeing a temple like this is a real treat. Take note again of the dragons.

The Tengu at this temple appeared to have been carved from nephrite which is a variation of jade which is found in and around Itoigawa, Japan.

Just behind this temple and up another flight of stairs is the summit! At 599 meters high it's not too high compared to some of the mountains I have hiked up in California, but it's connection with nature is palpable. You can truly feel you are in a special place. It's a similar feeling that Yosemite fills you with, but is hard to describe.

We were extremely lucky to arrive when we did. Mt. Fuji was visible in all it's majesty, but would be covered in clouds only 10minutes after I took these pictures. Nature was favoring us this day and Fuji-san was beckoning us to give it a try next time.

We stopped here and talked about Steemit as well as other things going on in the cryptosphere in Tokyo and beyond. It was a nice feeling contrasting our talk about tech with our surroundings. After about 15 minutes we grabbed a coffee at the summit cafe, then rushed back down to the cable car station for a beer and bite to eat.

Along the way down I stopped at the red temple again fascinated by the intricate craftsmanship and art.

After about a 30minute walk down we made it to the watering hole. It's a cafe built several stories above ground to give the customers amazing views of Hachioji, Tokyo, Kawasaki & even Yokohama! I've seen amazing pictures from here taken at twilight.

It also becomes a beer garden during the summer time. Two reasons I have to come back again later this summer, at night!

Kanpai! We made it and it was time for that delicious pale ale!

And a view of Metro Tokyo! The tall, dark building in the center is Hachioji and Tokyo is to the right far off in the distance. While it might be hard to see in the photo it was easy to make out several buildings in person.

After 2 beers we chickened out and took the cable car down. I could actually feel my legs beginning to get sore and I didn't want to chance walking down the hardest part of the hike.

At the bottom David took me to his favorite dango shop in all of Tokyo. I have to agree with him, the dango were delicious and the anko manju was surprisingly good too. They hit the spot after a long hike and carried us over until we would eat a late lunch later in Hachioji.

Mt. Takao is an easy hike even for the inexperienced. It's conveniently located about 1hr outside of Shinjuku on the express train. If you are in Japan or are planning on visiting I would encourage you to climb it. You will have a great time and bring home some wonderful memories of ancient Japan.

For more information on Mt. Takao I suggest going to the following sites: http://www.takaosan.or.jp/english/about.html
https://www.keio.co.jp/english/sightseeing/takao.html

Thank for reading!

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