(赤石岳) Mt. Akaishi Hike

Buses are not running for 2020, and even if I say there are buses, saying there's public transportation to this mountain is misleading. You'll basically have to spend the entire day trying to get to the trailhead, and if you have a week of hiking then good for you.

Either way, public transpo aside, this is NOT an overnight hike. Given the difficulty and the access restrictions, I would say this has to be a two night hike at least.

Budget: JPY15,820++ (~USD150++)

• JPY6,820. Train, Tokyo Station to Shizuoka Station. JPY3,410 one way.
• JPY7,000. Bus, Shizuoka Station, go to Hatanagi Dam. JPY3,500 one way.
• JPY2,000. Bus, Hatanagi Dam to Sawarajima Lodge, temporarily marked at JPY1,000 one way.

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 3,120m / 10,236ft)

• 2021
• Difficulty: 5 out of 5, probably.
• Route below is around 22.1kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲3,250m/ ▽3,502m
• Map Link

When to Go
Checking the logs, I can only see logs from May to November, so I would say that's the safe window. But public access restrictions make it only feasible from July to August. For 2019, buses run from July 15 to August 25.

Special Notes

• Trailheads. None of the trailheads are easy to reach, basically needing an entire day to be allotted just for transportation. 
• Sawarajima Lodge (椹島ロッジ).
• Train, Tokyo Station to Shizuoka Station.
• Bullet train. JPY6,670, 80 minutes
• Local trains, JPY3,410. 188 minutes.
• Bus, Shizuoka Station to Hatanagi Dam (畑薙ダム). JPY3,100 one way, 2.5 hours, bus stop "⑧a”.Here's the google maps pin. Schedule for 2019, where it ran from July 13 to August 25. Just one bus a day.
• 10:00am, Shizuoka Station -> 01:25pm Hatanagi Dam.
• 02:25pm, Hatanagi Dam -> 05:50pm, Shizuoka Station.
• Bus, Hatanagi Dam (畑薙ダム) to Sawarajima Lodge (椹島ロッジ). 1 hr 35 mins ride. Link here, no price information, but will temporarily flag it as JPY1,000. The bus is not running for 2020. This is about 18kms+ distance (don't know the elevation gain).

Bus schedule, Hatanagi Dam (畑薙ダム) < > Sawarajima Lodge (椹島ロッジ)

• Nanpusu (二軒小屋). You'll basically face the same problem as above since it has to pass through Hatanagi Dam. Unfortunately, I cannot find an updated schedule (as of Sept 2020), which makes sense coz buses are not running for 2020. But here's some old bus schedule, which I assume will be around that time if ever. It is likely the same bus as the one that goes to Sawarajima Lodge. 

Bus schedule, Hatanagi Dam (畑薙ダム) < > Nanpusu (二軒小屋)

• Mountain huts. So many paid ones, which I think are closed during winter and are turned into "emergency huts" (tldr: free huts).
• Paid. Quite a lot (here's an online list), but definitely a lower quality than the more famous mountains.
• Free. None that I can see during hiking season. I sampled the emergency hut at the top of Mt. Akaishi, and it is paid (JPY5,500, no meals). There is one (兎岳避難小屋) in between Mt. Akaishi and Mt. Hijiri, but that'll depend on your itinerary.
• Camping. Next to the paid huts are camping spots all over. You can see them on the red marks on the map in the map above.

• Other mountains. Going up Mt. Akaishi involves a minimum of 2,400m gain, can (and should) be done with the other hyakumeizans:
• Mt. Warusawa which is a mere 3.5 hours away/5.4km, 691 elev gain.
• Mt. Hijiri which is 7.5hours away/9.4km 1,343m elev gain.
• Here's the overall picture if a Mt. Warusawa-Mt. Akaishi-Mt. Hijiri loop is done.

This route is around 33.6kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲4,811m/ ▽5,038m

Itinerary
Saturday

• 10:00am. Bus, Shizuoka Station to Hatanagi Dam.
• 01:25pm. ETA: Hatanagi dam.
• 02:00pm. Bus, Hatanagi Dam to Sawarajima Lodge.
• 03:30pm. ETA: Nanpusu Lodge.
• Camp and rest.

Sunday

• 04:00am. Start hike.
• 01:20pm. ETA: Summit, Higashi-dake (東岳), the highest point for Warusawa Mountain.
• 03:20pm. ETA: Warusawa-koya, camp for the night.

Monday

• 04:00am. Start hike.
• 06:25am. ETA: Mt. Akaishi Summit.
• 12:35pm. ETA: Sawarajima Lodge.
• 12:45pm. Bus, Sawarajima Lodge to Hatanagi Dam.
• 02:00pm. ETA: Hatanagi Dam.
• 02:25pm. Bus, Hatanagi Dam to Shizuoka Station.
• 05:50pm. ETA: Shizuoka Station.