I don’t
recommend wading in snow-capped Tanzawa area 丹沢 for
those who don’t know the place. But, this winter, we happened to climb up Mt. Oonoyama
(ASL 722.8m) 大野山 a day after heavy snow. It was gorgeous. So, in
this post and the next, I tell you my adventure on that day. Come to think of
it, if you try your first snow in Tanzawa, going up Oonoyama with virgin snow
may be one of the safest bets. Actually, we can drive up very near to the peak,
even with snow. When we had lunch there, we’ve met several kids who came to play
in the snow with their daddies by car. Of course, tires for snow and ice are
MUST for your family drive.
 |
| Mt.
Oonoyama in March. No snow already. You see? It’s a very gentle mountain. |
When we
look around from the shore of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖, to the
south we can see a mountain of a flat summit with lots of towers which is Mt. Oonoyama.
Until a couple of years ago, the top of Mt. Oonoyama was a ranch of Kanagawa Prefecture where prefectural researchers bred cattle for local milk industry.
The place was closed in March 2016 and an exhibition cottage and public toilets
in front of the parking lots went under the management of Kadoya Beef Co. 門屋. Then, in the late 2016, 27 years old girl, Kaoru Shimazaki 島崎薫 who studied organic cattle breeding in Iwate
Prefecture 岩手県 moved in Yamakita Town 山北町 at the foothill of Mt. Oonoyama.
She started to work for reviving the ranch, which invited to Yamakita several
20-and 30-somethings who sympathized with her. They are a kind of vanguard of
Japanese rural revival these days. If you go there in a fine day (without snow,
I mean), you might meet with them. Also, on one Sunday of every autumn, the Japan Mountain Guides Association 公益社団法人日本山岳ガイド協会 and the National Mountaineering Research Institute 国立登山研究所 hold Mt. Oonoyama Outdoor
Festival which is secretly famous for grand bargain sale of gears of Patagonia,
Montbell, Mammut, Mizuno, etc. etc. On that day many veterans climb Mt. Oonoyama
with an empty rucksack and descend with their large shopping. It’s not yet
announced the date for 2018 event, but you can check it from here. It’s really
worthwhile to reserve your weekend for that. All in all, Mt. Oonoyama provides
one of the best itineraries for novices to mountaineering in Japan. Spring is
with fresh greens, summer with lots of flowers, gorgeous autumn leaves, and
snow. Weather permitting, to the west from the top we will admire the entire
shape of Mt. Fuji with Lake Yamanaka 山中湖. The place is one of the 100best viewing spots for Mt. Fuji from Kanto Region.
 |
| Mt. Oonoyama, seen from Lake Tanzawa |
Having
said that, needless to say, you have to prepare WELL for snow-covered Mt. Oonoyama.
Crampons are the MUST. Also, bring light-weight blanket or the like. Snow in
Tanzawa is often wet and heavy. Moreover, normally before dark temperature does
not drop below zero when ASL is less than 1000m. So, there is no dry place to
sit down in the mountain. Blanket is handy for this situation. Strategically
layering your gear is also required. For the day we visited this winter, snow
did not appear before ASL 300m. At the foot of the mountain, it was a walk of
snowless country side, while the temperature dropped continuously to around 2°C at the peak. When we gain
the altitude, it was a nice exercise of sweating, and then, the air rapidly
turned damned cold as we proceeded. At the peak, we had a hot lunch of pork
& vegetable miso soup + hard liquors. That was a bingo for our freezing
body. Roads in Mt. Oonoyama are well-maintained, but be very careful. Do not
deviate from the defined paths. You can easily be frozen to death by
hypothermia if you lose your way in Tanzawa’s snow.
 |
| Cooking
our lunch in the pergola at the top of Mt. Oonoyama. |
 |
| We,
before climbing. FYI, in addition to this, all of us wore warm head-gears. |
This
time, our route to Mt. Oonoyama followed the most standard itinerary.
<Visiting
snow-covered Mt. Oonoyama (ASLs are approximate.)>
è Mountain Cherry Tree of
Yoritomo 頼朝桜 (; there are toilets at this point. ASL 340m)
è Top of Mt. Oonoyama (ASL 723m)
è Jizo-Iwa 地蔵岩 (Rock of Kṣitigarbha, ASL 420m)
è Kyowa Elementary School
(closed) 共和小学校（廃校）
Total
time: 6 hours including 1.5 hour lunch at the top.
Caution:
all the JR stations are of Gotemba Line of JR Tokai (JR東海御殿場線), and
hence no PASMO is accepted. We have to buy a good-old train ticket and pass a
manned ticket gate in their stations. Yaga Station is unstaffed and a conductor
of the train checks and collects your ticket. The service of Gotemba Line here is
limited (one service per half an hour at peak time) so that you’d better check
the timetable of the train first and modify your plan accordingly. We could
have only 1 hour at Sakurano-yu Spa to catch 17:34 train returning to the
downtown. (er, too much drinking over there …)
 |
| Yaga
Station. This station “cottage” was built by local volunteers in 2000. |
 |
| Yamakita Station |
 |
| Yamakita Station has the D52 locomotive that was resurrected for operation 3 years ago. Until the opening of Tan’na Tunnel 丹那トンネル in 1939, the place was a station of the most important artery train service of Japan, Tokaido Line. From here to Numazu Station 沼津駅, the locomotive had to climb steep mountains, which was uber-difficult during the 19th to the early 20th centuries. Yamakita town was the most fashionable place for the best and brightest Japanese mechanical engineers who made such difficult travel possible. In the 21st century, the service between Kohzu 国府津駅 to Numazu via Yamakita is a local Gotemba Line, and people do not think even Tokaido Line the artery. The title is for Shinkansen Bullet Train 東海道新幹線 … All glories must fade, but memories can remain just like D52. The machine welcomes tourists every October 14th. The super-popular ticket to ride is extremely difficult to have. You’d better ask Yamakita Tourism Association well in-advance. You can send them an enquiry from here. |
Next week I tell you my adventure to Mt. Oonoyama. 😄 It’s unbelievable the snow was less than 2 months ago. Now, we are ready for cherry blossoms’ party …
 |
| At the
top of Mt. Oonoyama. Why is the half of this photo smoky? That’s because I got drunk and dropped myself in snow with camera. The “smoke” is snow covering the lens. Cheers! |
If you find environmental problems in
Mt. Oonoyama, please make a contact to
Kanagawa Nature Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an
enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
For more
general enquiry about tourism in the area, the contact address is
Office
of Policy Planning, Yamakita Town 山北町役場企画政策課 企画班
Phone: 0465-75-1122,
FAX: 0465-75-3660
You can send an
enquiry to them from here.
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