(武川岳) Mt. Takegawa Hike

 

Let's hope there's not much rock factories for this hike like Mt. Bukou. 

Budget: JPY3,140 (~USD31)

• JPY810. Train, Tokyo to Hanno Station.
• JPY830. Bus, Hanno Station to Nago. 
• JPY1,500. Train, Ashigakubo Station to Tokyo. 

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 1,052m / 3,451ft)

• Target: 2021
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5?
• Route below is around 10.2kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲1,228m/ ▽1,235m 

When to Go
Anytime during the year. 

Special Notes

• Weather forecast: Japanese.
• There are hunting dogs (猟犬). I've met one on the trail, and he was pretty friendly. He just kept walking next to me until I reached the summit, about an hour when I check my pictures.   
• Trailheads. 
• Nago (名郷) Bus Stop.  Google maps pin.
• Train, Tokyo to Hanno Station. 
• Bus schedule from Han-No to Nagou Bus stop. JPY830, 59 minutes one way. 
• Earliest ones are 7:10am, 7:40am, 08:00am, 08:30am. 
• Ashigakubo Station (芦ヶ久保駅). 
• Train, Tokyo to Ashigakubo Station. 
• If using yamap app, look for Mt. Buko. The map for Mt. Buko covers this area too. 
• Mountain huts. 
• Paid. None. 
• Free.  None. 
• Camping. There's a camping ground near Nago trailhead. 
• This hike will cover multiple mountains:
• (武川岳, Takegawadake) Mt. Takegawa, 1,052m
• (蔦岩山, Tsutaiwayama) Mt. Tsutaiwa, 1,004m
• (焼山, Yakeyama) Mt. Yake, 850m
• (雄岳, Odake) Mt. O, 883m

Itinerary

• 06:30am. Train, Tokyo to Hanno Station. 
• 08:00am. Bus, Hanno Station to Nago Bus stop. 
• 08:59am. ETA: Nago Bus Stop. Start hike. 
• 11:20am. ETA: (武川岳, Takegawadake) Mt. Takegawa
• 11:40am. ETA: (蔦岩山, Tsutaiwayama) Mt. Tsutaiwa
• 12:15pm. ETA: (焼山, Yakeyama) Mt. Yake
• 01:05pm. ETA: (雄岳, Odake) Mt. O
• 02:00pm. ETA: Ashigakubo Station. 

At Ikebukuro Station, platform 5. 

Just followed my google maps, and the bus stop is right outside the exit. I barely had time to do anything but walk to the station. 

Bus stop 2/3. 

There's a small restroom (mixed) in the trailhead. 

Turned left here. 

There's a right turn after that woody fence there. 

A small sign in the middle of the neighborhood showing the way to Takegawa. 

And a small path to the main road. Turned right at the road. 

There's another small sign right at the curve, to the left. Can you see it? 

What about now?

Yey, in the mountains!

ok maybe not. I exited at the road, and the path is to the left. 

There's a sign right there. 

Looking down, it seems there's a small unofficial parking lot right here. Google maps pin

OK, back to the hike!

Some nice root-y trail. 

Oh, I met a dog that was following me for most of my hike up. I thought it was just an off-leash dog, but it's been 30 minutes and still no owner. I call him Inu-kun. 

OK, maybe it's not a friendly dog. I am utterly scared now. I don't know half the kanji here, and I was definitely scared. In hindsight, the word is hunting dog (猟犬・りょうけん)

At Mae-Takegawa. 

Sigh. The hunting dog has not left me still. Take note - at this time all I know is that it's a dog that definitely looks hungry. 

A summit after Takegawa main summit. I was so scared of the dog I forgot to take a pic of the summit. Haha. 

A steep way down. 

A nice walk on the ridge. 

Take a right here. 

At this exit, continue on to that stairs on the right. 

The trail is to the left. It has more ups and downs than the one on the right, but at one point the path split and so better to take the left one. 

Another summit, with a better (?) view of Mt. Bukou. 

One of the twin peaks!

Sigh, another steep descent. 

Another of the twin peaks?

Plenty of these markers. Quite lazy to use as a summit marker if you ask me. 

Ashigakubo is to the left. Yeah it's a sad marker. 

Some ice on the trail. 

Water source near the Ashigakubo trailhead. 

Done! This is the trail right next to the train station. Well, next to the rails close to the train station.