Life is a mountain.: 茨城

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Mt. Tsukuba Nantaisan via Miyukigahara Trail & Fall Colors 筑波山男体山御幸ヶ原コースと秋の紅葉 12/2/2018

Hiking up Mt. Tsukuba Nantaisan via Miyukigahara Trail 筑波山男体山御幸ヶ原コース. Fall colors are still beautiful, but fading quickly now....colors were still nice around Tsukubasan Shrine (筑波山神社) and the cable car station.

Miyukigahara Trail 御幸ヶ原コース
This trail is a great workout and challenging/strenuous, so be prepared. Not ideal for beginners.

Summit Elevation: 871m
Distance: 2.5km
Elevation Gain: 610m
Difficulty: Difficult/Strenuous

Mt. Tsukuba
Mt. Tsukuba(Tsukubasan筑波山), one of 100 famous mountains in Japan, is located in Ibaraki Prefecture, within an hour from Tokyo by train (Tsukuba Express). For centuries Mt. Tsukuba has been worshipped as “sacred mountain” with the entire mountain seen as a body of deity. That said, there are shrines and sacred meanings attached to various locations in the mountain. There’s also a saying about Mt. Tsukuba and Mt. Fuji, “nishi no Fuji, higashi no Tsukuba,” that is, Mt. Fuji in the west and Mt. Tsukuba in the east.

The journey
People usually start from Tsukubasan Shrine (Tsukubasan Jinja 筑波山神社) or Tsutsujigaoka (つつじヶ丘), but my hike began from Numata, a small town at the foot of the mountain, which added extra 2.5km to the journey. It was worth for the extra effort, however, sightseeing through a quaint mountain community and businesses such as local foods and souvenirs. Mt. Tsukuba is a rocky mountain with dense forest and twin peaks, Nyotaisan (“female body”)/877m and Nantaisan (“male body”)/871m. There are several hiking trails to scale the mountain, and trailheads are located near Tsukubasan Shrine (Tsukubasan Jinja 筑波山神社) on the mountainside and Tsutsujigaoka (つつじヶ丘) where the ropeway station is, depending on which hiking course you want to take.

Miyukigahara Trail 御幸ヶ原コース
This trail offers a great workout hike ascending vertically straight up along steep rocky terrains. The route is the most rugged and steepest in Mt. Tsukuba, but shortest approach to the summit. At the top, take in panoramic vistas from Nantaisan....however, Nyotaisan offers better views, I'd say. Miyukigaraha trail surely kicks your butt and burns your leg muscles. If you like a challenging hike, this hike will not disappoint you!

Bring layers as temperature could change significantly at the top. Trekking poles may be useful.

For my Nyotaisan hike女体山ハイク report:

http://johnshiking.blogspot.com/2018/12/mt-tsukuba-nyotaisan-via-shirakumobashi.html