(飯能アルプス) Hanno Alps Hike

 

I had no idea there was such a thing as Hanno Alps, until I was hiking and there were directions pointing to "Northern Hanno Alps" or "Hanno Alps". Given that they had Minano Alps too, I figured this is just a thing amongst people of Saitama. Or Japan. But hey, if they wanna call it the alps, then the alps it is. 

Budget: JPY1,390 (~USD12)

• JPY740. Train, Edogawabashi Station to Higashi-Agano Station.
• JPY650. Train, Hanno Station to Edogawabashi Station. 

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 197m / 646ft)

• December 12, 2020
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5
• Route below is around 11.9kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲956m/ ▽972m
• PDF Map Link 

When to Go
Anytime during the year!

Special Notes

• Weather forecast: Japanese 
• Trailheads. So many, but the ones I marked on the map above in orange are the ones accessible by train. There is minimal English translation, so take note of the Japanese characters. 
• Higashi-Agano Station. At the station, it's a short walk away to the trailhead. Google maps pin here. From here on there'll be directions pointing to Mt. Tenkaku (天覚山)
• Mountain huts. 
• Paid. None.
• Free. None. 
• Camping. None.

Itinerary

• 06:46am. Train, Edogawabashi Station to Higashi-Agano Station.
• 08:08am. ETA: Higashi-Agano Station. 
• 08:30am. Start hike. 
• 09:50am. ETA: 天覚山
• 11:42am. ETA: 永田山
• 12:47pm. ETA: 多峯主山
• 01:22pm. ETA: 天覧山
• 02:00pm. ETA: Hanno Station. Train back to Tokyo. 

Actual Log

• 09:11am. Arrived at Higashi-Agano Station. I walked straight, turned left first chance I got, crossed the tracks, turned left and basically looped around the station. Soon enough there was a fork with a sign, I took the right turn going to "天覚山", and the trail was about 20 meters away? And so I started my hike. 
• 09:30am. Arrived at another fork, but I think both paths lead to the summit of 天覚山. Either way, I turned left. Soon enough I was stuck in human traffic that did not let up until the summit. 
• 10:06am. Arrived at 天覚山. It was a rather small spot, and can only accommodate a couple of people at a time. It had a bit of a view, but the trees and shrubs are covering half of it. 
• 10:07am. I turned left to start my descent. It was a rather steep descent, but was over quickly. There were plenty of ups and downs from here on, but nothing as steep as the one going to 天覚山. From here, I followed the signs to 多峯主山 or the train station, Higashi-Agano Station (東吾野駅). 
• 10;28am. Arrived at the main road, took a left. Soon there was a fork, left to continue down the road going to Higashi-Agano Station (東吾野駅), right to go up the trail to Mt. Tonosu (多峯主山). I turned right. 
• 11:47am. Arrived at Mt. Nagata (永田山) summit, which was a pile of rocks with a marker on it. Nearby was a little bench overlooking the city, where I decided to take a break and have a nice cup(s) of coffee.
• 12:28pm. Arrived at the main road again, turned right to find the trail going to Mt. Tonosu (多峯主山). I kept my eye to the left looking for a trail. 
• 12:32pm. Found the trail - it's pretty big, so not difficult to find. Continued with the hike. 
• 01:11pm. Arrived at the fork with some restrooms. From here on it was very park-ish in feeling, with plenty of signs both in English and Japanese. 
• 01:19pm. Arrived at Mt Tonosu (多峯主山) summit. Took some photos, then had to figure out which trail to Mt.Tenran was the one I wanted to take (there were a couple, all of them will lead to Mt. Tenran one way or another, so don't worry)
• 01:55pm. Arrived at Mt. Tenran (天覧山). Yey! In front of the marker is a view point overlooking Saitama and some mountains in the surrounding area, but the mountains look little or they were just that far away. I took some photos, then took the trail to the right of Mt. Tenran (right when facing the summit marker).
• 02:13pm. I was back at the city, and from here on used google maps to get around. I had some soba, ok, a LOT of soba and tempura and siomai, then went to Hanno Station to take the train back home. 

Arrived at Higashi-Agano Station only to have a good portion of the people riding the train exit - I was shocked! Was this mountain THAT popular?

Upon exiting the station, I should have had turned right and went through the path between the toilet and the station. But when I asked around the guy just told me to join the flow of people and go around the station. It works both ways. But to make life easier, here's the google maps pin.

Turns out there's one big hiking event. Take note that as of hiking, Tokyo is in the middle of it's third wave of the covid19. 

I think this is the spot I marked with google maps pin. The turn for the trailhead is to the right.

The start of the hike.

From here on until the summit, I was stuck in traffic. Human traffic, mainly due to grandpas and grandmas hiking, and since it was single file, it's not like we can skip them. So I took the time to eat my lunch while taking slow steps up. 

A flat section a couple of minutes before the summit. An option for those who wish to wild camp. 

Summit!

It was a steep descent at first, and then there were some relatively flat sections. In some hills, there's a way to bypass the up and down like the trail to the left here. 

After summiting Mt. Tenkaku (天覚山), follow the signs to Mt. Tonosu (多峯主山). Again, minimal English signs. 

Arrived at a road, turned left, and soon enough was a fork - left to end the hike and go to Higashi-Agano Station (東吾野駅), right to continue on to  Mt. Tonosu (多峯主山). I turned right. 

There are signs, but just in Japanese. 

Back to the ups and downs. This was a nice "up". 

A wild deer!

Arrived at another fork, just follow the sign (there's a little one lying down on the left). I kept left. 

A minor summit and a shrine. 

Mt. Nagata (永田山) Summit.

Near Mt. Nagata summit is a rest spot overlooking the city. 

Continuing on. The trail is right beside the neighborhood. 

There's an option to go left or right - the map says left so I kept left. They will both meet up at the same point though, so the right one, if it's a legit path, is not really a short cut. 

Continuing on.....

At the main road. I turned right.

I made sure to keep my eyes to the left as the trailhead is there. No pedestrian lanes either so just cross whenever. 

The trailhead! I crossed to the other side of the road, and continued the hike. 

Some nice stairs. 

A big fork to Mt. Tonosu. From here on, it'll be a convoluted set of trails that goes all over the place, with plenty of signs in both English and Japanese. So you can choose whichever trail you'd want to use. I turned left to go to Mt. Tonosu.

The summit of Mt. Tonosu. A whopping 271meters!

Saitama? Is that the ocean? 

The summit area. It had two tables to the left, and that marker. Behind me (in front of the marker) is the trail to Mt. Tenran. 

Do you see Mt. Fuji? No? Drats. 

I went down a little bit to go to the fork with the sign going to Mt. Tenran, and yet my map was showing a different trail. This is the trail right below Mt. Tonosu that leads to Mt. Tenran, via the summit of Mt. Tonosu. Long story short, from the marker of Mt. Tonosu, just take the trail right in front of the marker. If I didn't make sense, don't worry, there's plenty of trails and plenty of signs. 

The path down Mt. Tonosu. 

Beautiful walk. 

It really was a nice stroll. 

The rather long set of stairs to Mt. Tenran. There were a lot of trailrunners going up and down this path. 

Continuing on with the stairs. 

Finally, Mt. Tenran!

Facing the marker, I turned right. This view welcomed me. 

There's one path at this point, and I just followed it. 

Beautiful autumn foliage in mid December. From here on, there's really just one road and google maps can be used  (google maps pin). I just started walking back to Hanno Station.