(本仁田山) Mt. Honnita Hike

Part of the trail to Mt. Kawanori, but since I wanted a chill hike, I'm cutting the hike short of summiting it, and thus will end it at Mt. Honita.

Budget: JPY3,040 (~USD30)

JPY3,040. Train, Tokyo < > Okutama Area (JPY1,520 one way)

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,224m / 4,016ft)

January 17, 2021
Difficulty: 2 out of 5.
Route below is around 8.0kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲1,157m/ ▽1,127m (3h55m)

When to Go
Anytime during the year!

Special Notes

Weather forecast: Japanese.
Trailheads. Both trailheads accessible via train.

Okutama Station (お奥多摩駅).

The walk to the trailhead is about 2.3kms on the road, so I'd recommend doing this on the descent. The actual trailhead is at this point: google maps pin. Exit the station, turn right and follow the road.
Nothing here really, not even a convenience store. There's a little local shop though, for some goods but of course, not convenience store quality.
In front of the restroom is a place to wash/scrub shoes.

Hatonosu Station (鳩ノ巣駅).

The trailhead is pretty close: google maps pin. Exit the station, turn right, walk past the restroom, turn right to cross the train tracks, and follow the signs to Mt. Honnita.
The restroom is nice, and there's some vending machines, but that's it.

If using the application yamap, look up Kawanori. This mountain is included in one of the many, many trails of Kawanori.
Saw someone say that during a February hike, the mountain was icy at the top. So check the weather a couple of days' in advance to see if it rained/snowed. If it did, bring spikes just to be safe.
Mountain huts.

Paid. None.
Free. None.
Camping. Available near Okutama Station.

Throughout the hike there's not really some good spots to wild camp either.
There was a flat spot near the trailhead at Hatonosu Station, but given that it's a trailhead, might as well go to Okutama Station's camp spot.

Itinerary

06:30am. Train, Tokyo area to Hatonosu Station.
09:02am. ETA: Hatonosu Station. Start hike.
11:25am. ETA: コブタカ山 summit.
12:45pm. ETA: 本仁田山 summit. One hour lunch.
02:25pm. ETA: Okutama Station. Train back comes around twice an hour.

Actual Log

06:30am. Train, Tokyo area to Hatonosu Station. The trains were fairly empty.
09:02am. Arrived at Hatonosu Station, and waited for my hiking buddy for the day.
09:40am. Started the hike. Exited Hatonosu Station, turned right, walk a bit past the restroom, then turned right again to cross the tracks. There are a couple of forks, but we kept left (basically the road that goes up). There are signs every now and then, so make sure to look for 本仁田山 (Mt. Honnita)
09:54am. Got on the official trailhead. It was a gentle ascent up.
10:29am. Arrived at a rough road. We made a wrong turn here and had to turn back. Basically do not follow the dirt road, and look for the sign that says "本仁田山登山道" (picture below). The hike from here on is a lot steeper.
11:35am. Arrived at Kobutaka (瘤高山 / コブタカ山). Took some pictures and continued on. The trail was somewhat flat until the ascent to Mt. Honnita.
11:58am. Arrived at Mt. Honnita Summit. There are two markers - one on the pile of rocks and a little marker on a piece of wood. There were two benches too, and we took the time to rest.
12:14pm. Started our descent. Be careful of a little fork about 2 minutes in - make sure to take the right turn to Okutama Station (奥多摩駅). The sign was very clear, but make sure you are actually looking at the sign haha. From here on was a VERY steep descent. The soil was loose and everywhere was a struggle to not slip down.
01:29pm. Arrived at the end of the trail, and from here on was a walk down the road.
02:00pm. Arrived at Okutama Station! We waited for the 2:30pm train back to Tokyo, and was soon on our way home!