Mt. Takao 5-03-08

Mt Takao

So this week was Golden Week. Steve had 7 work days off so we were out an about trying to see new things. On Sunday we went hiking up Mt. Takao.

Mount Takao (高尾山 takaosan) is a mountain in the city of Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan.

Standing 599 m tall and located within an hour of downtown Tokyo, it is a popular hiking spot, with eight hiking courses and more than 2.5 million annual visitors. The Tama Forest Science Garden is also located at the mountain's base.

Mount Takao is closely associated with tengu, minor kami from Japanese folklore, and a Buddhist temple, Takaosan Yakuōin Yūkiji, is located on the mountain. There is also a local superstition, especially amongst young adults, where couples who climb Mount Takao will separate shortly thereafter.

This is the Wikipedia description of the mountain. The last line is really funny to me since for part of the walk it seemed like we were bickering quite often. Weird. Luckily we made it out without separating though! We plan to back since we arrived at 11am and made it up and down by 6pm. So we missed some of the sites like the Monkey zoo and some other things in the area. It was really busy, since it was a weekend. As we went up the mountain since there are 8 different trails and everyone goes at their own pace people started to spread out more. Just over half way up our trail there was such a narrow spot that only one person could pass at a time so there was a line about 45 mins long that we had to wait in to pass that small area. Litterally it was about 4 feet long. But VERY dangerous since it was on the edge. It was funny because at the beginning of our hike we were both pretty disappointed by the number of people there, and that the trail was paved and about 15 feet wide. Not much of a hike. Here we are with food and snacks our back packs on and water bottles on what seemed like we were walking around a metro park. SOON after that the trails started to change to what we originally expected! The top of the mountain was beautiful, but it was a tad on the cloudy side so we couldn't see out as far as we hoped. Also the top of the mountain was packed with people so it was also hard to move around. Next time we go will need to be on a week day and not during a holiday.

We were extremely tired and sore after the hike and unfourtunatly had to stand most of the 1 1/2 hour train ride home which was not fun. We definatly learned that we will need to get into better shape and wear better shoes before hiking up Mt. Fuji. Since if you just hike up Mt Takao no stopping it will take 1 1/2 hrs. Mt Fuji it can take anywere from 4-10hrs. Just to get up depending on the trail you take. So its a 2 day event forsure! You can really only climb Mt. Fuji in July and August. So we may not make it this year. We will have to see.

One the way down the mountain the trail we took was more for tourists, elderly and kids. The trail was all paved. although it was VERY steep. We had to keep stopping to give our legs a break. Also on this trail there was several temples, shrines and Statues.



So thats really it about climbing the mountain. First time I have ever done it! It was fun but VERY tiring. Don't forget to check out more pictures at smugmug!