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| When you exit Highway 158 from Matsumoto-shi, the entrance to Kamikochi is the Kama tunnel. It was poorly lit and had the steepest gradient I have ever seen (16-degrees) for several kilometers. The width of the tunnel was just wider than a tour bus so traffic could flow only in one direction. Hence, to stagger the flow, traffic lights were used on each end. I entered this tunnel at the tailend of the ascending traffic. As I plodded on, the decending traffic began to arrive. So I stopped and flattened myself on the wall to give them room. When the last vehicle passed me, I resumed my climb. Soon after, the tour busses crept up behind me. Their fumes blackened out almost all the light. I began to panic for I was unsure how long the tunnel was. I stopped, hugged the wall and flipped my t-shirt over my nose and mouth to filter out the air. I forced my self not to hyperventilate. When the last bus passed by and the air cleared, I resumed cycling. When I finally arrived in the fresh mountain air, my lungs were ecstatic! After the tunnel, I had 6 km up the dead-end road (at a much easier grade) along the Azusa River. I finally arrived at the campsite. Unfortunately, my five days of camping here was in almost non-stop rain. I hiked for a bit around the lake but did not venture in the mountains. If you want to see one of the most beautiful parts of Japan, do a google image search on Kamikochi. None of the mountains were visible during my stay. |
| Kamikochi Cycling Trip |
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| At the center of Kamikochi lies Kappa Bridge over Azusa River. The bridge was named after a novel "Kappa" (1927) written by a noted writer, Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), based on his experience of climbing the Japan Alps in 1920. Kappa is an imaginary water sprite in Japanese folk tales. Walter Weston, a British missionary who introduced modern mountaineering to Japan, first visited Kamikochi in 1891, and repeatedly came back to climb the surrounding peaks. In 1896, he returned temporarily to Britain and published "Japan Alps -Climbing and Exploration-," which introduced the mountains of Japan to people in Europe for the first time. Thanks to Weston's efforts, mountaineering as a sport spread in Japan, and in honor of his great achievements, a monument featuring his portrait carved in relief was erected on the bank of Azusa River in 1937. Today, the Weston Festival is held on the first Sunday of June at the beginning of the mountain-climbing season, when many mountain-lovers trace the same trails crossing the ridges as Weston did in his days. |