(乾徳山) Mt. Kentoku Hike

I would consider Mt. Kentoku the most technical dayhike from Tokyo. This is not to say that this is the most technical hike in Japan or in the area, just that out of the hiking spots that I have heard of, this is the most technical one (rock climb / chains). Mt. Myogi in Gunma might be one too, but I don't see it as a "dayhike" from Tokyo as it is not as accessible.

Budget: JPY4,420 (~USD40) from Tokyo

• JPY3,080. Train, Shinjuku Station < > Enzan Station, JPY1,540 one way.
• JPY1,340. Bus, Bus, Enzan Station (塩山駅南口) < > Kentokusan-tozanguchi, JPY670 one way

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 2,031m / 6,663ft)

• August 20, 2022
• Difficulty: 4 out of 5, but only because of the technical chain sections. 
• Traverse is around 16.8kilometers, with an elevation elevation change of ▲2,239m/ ▽1,965m
• Backtrail route is around 10.7kilometers, with an elevation elevation change of ▲1,423m/ ▽1,425m (7h10m). 
• Map link

When to Go
Buses are running from end of April until early November.

Special Notes

• Weather check: Japanese
• The clips of the chain sections are in the youtube video. The chain sections are safer I think going up, so I would recommend doing a loop clockwise from Kougen Hut to the sumit. 
• Trailheads. The shortest and most common used route is Odaira-Kogen, but no public transport. For public transport friendly route, then Kentoku-tozanguchi. 
• Kentoku-tozanguchi (乾徳山登山口).
• Train, Tokyo to Enzan Station. Take West exit. Bus stops are right in front of the exit, and there's a restroom right after going down the stairs. 
• Bus, Enzan Station to (乾徳山口) to Kentoku-tozanguchi (乾徳山登山口). Bus stop 1. The bus is quite popular, and an employee comes in to count the people lining up to get the required number of buses ready. 
• The entire hike covers about 8.5 hours (no breaks). Based on this schedule, the earliest bus arrives at the trailhead at 09:02am, and the last bus leaves at 04:08pm, which only gives you 7 hours.
• Nishizawa Keikoku (西沢渓谷入口) . This shares the same bus as Kentoku-tozanguchi (乾徳山登山口). A part of the trail going to this trailhead seems to have had been damaged and is not passable as of June 2020. Make sure to check before hiking. 
• Odaira-kogen (大平高原). No public transport, with parking. 
• Kuroganeyama-tozanguchi (黒金山登山口). No public transport, with parking. 

• Mountain huts. 
• Paid. None. 
• Free. Kougen Hut (高原ヒュッテ) is a pretty good free mountain hut 2.5 hours from the bus stop. Here’s some pictures from one hiker.
• Camping. None. 

Itinerary - Dayhike via Kentokusan-guchi. 

• Before 08:30am. Arrive at Enzan Station. 
• 08:30am. Bus from Enzan Station (塩山駅) to Kentokusan-guchi (乾徳山口).　
• 09:02am. Arrival at Kentokusan-guchi (乾徳山口). Start hike.
• 03:00pm. Back at the bus stop, take bus back to Enzan Station.

Actual Log

• 08:13am. Arrived at Enzan Station. 
• 08:30am. Bus, Enzan Station to Kentokusan-guchi. 
• 09:02am. Arrived at Kentokusan-guchi (乾徳山口). Started the hike. 
• 12:30pm. Arrived at the summit. 
• 12:50pm. Started descent. I realized I'm behind time so I started rushing as much as I could. 
• 03:00pm. Arrived at the trailhead. 

Exiting the station. 

There's a guide of the bus stops. I was going to take the bus to 西沢渓谷 so bus stop 1. 

And there was a long line already. Thankfully, they counted people boarding and had another bus waiting. 

An interesting thing I noted in this town - vending machines have these big signs. 

Arrived at the bus stop with some people waiting for the bus. Or maybe they were from the first bus. 

Started walking to the trailhead. From the bus stop, I just continued up the road  

Crossed the bridge and followed the main road. 

Plenty of signs like this, though the English disappeared quickly. 

Passed through a not-parking lot. 

The rough road leg. 

Some cemented sections. 

Finally, the official trailhead. 

Apparently there was a bear sighting a month ago. 

The trail was very clear, and was quite gentle. 

The first water section, but it was only a trickle. Better to use the water section close to the hut. 

The rocky section starts. 

Mossy trail!

The water source close to the hut. Strong water flow, at least when I went. 

Quite flat going to the fork. 

The big fork, right next to the free hut. I went straight since I was gonna do a clockwise loop. 

A section with some gorgeous flowers right before I reached the ridge. 

Behind the tree is my first view of Mt. Fuji. 

Mt. Fuji!

Arrived at another fork, turned left. 

Ridge walk!

Back to the woods, and around here is the start of the chain sections. 

First chain section. 

A side trip (about 2 meters away from the main trail). 

MT FUJIIIII!

A narrow trail. Can't be too fat in Kentoku apparently. 

The ladder down which you can somewhat see from between the rocks above. 

One of the two main chain section (other one was for the summit ascent)

Practically vertical. 

The ascent to the summit. 

Summit!

Why on earth is the summit marker not facing the right way?! Good thing the blue board was movable. 

Descent starts. 

The chain sections were NOT over. 

Looking back at the summit, with Mt. Fuji at the background. 

The descent was quite steep, and I was hugging trees maybe half the time. 

The free hut. 

Quite clean and spacious. 

There are car tracks going to the free hut. Fresh car tracks. I looked away a second and couldn't find where they came from (and I was rushing to catch my bus).