Mae-Shirane-san:
I
woke up really early, 6 a.m., on a beautiful autumn day to climb Oku-shirane-san
in the Nikko National Park. For your information, the hike starts by climbing
Mae-shirane-san, followed by Oku-shirane-san (2578 m), and ends by Goshiki-yama.
I left from Utsunomiya station using the JR Nikko line and got off at Nikko.
I then took a bus to Yumoto-Onsen. I started the climb at 10 a.m.
Chuzenji
lake as seen from from the path.
After
4 hours of hard work, I finally arrived at the summit of Mae-shirane-san.
At a certain time I thought, "Hey! This is not hiking... it`s rock climbing!!!".
I remember that the path passed by a small rocky valley and that at each moment
I could have plunged to my death! I'm sure you're thinking that I`m exaggerating.
My answer to you is: "Climb it and you'll see!". Anyway, I sat down
to eat lunch with a view of Oku-shirane-san, the highest mountain of the Nikko
National Park.
While eating, I looked at the time and, taking into account that it was autumn (the sun sets early), I made the wise decision to take the path back down (the red path on the map). I thought that the path down was easier than it was on the way up... I was wrong! It was muddy and slippery and/or it was filled with big rocks and I had to hop from one rock to the other. When I came back to Yumoto Onsen, my legs were very shaky! Fortunately, I was able to relax in an Onsen (thermal bath) before going back to Utsunomiya.
Even if I wasn't able to attain my objective (Oku-shirane-san), the view was worth the try... Maybe next time I'll be able to climb it :)
