Inshallah redux; the southwest slope of Mt. Nabewari to Ameyama Pass after Typhoon Hagibis 雨山峠

For about a month, I have been hesitating if I post today’s topic ... I’ve decided to go ahead. This week, I tell you how the southwest slope of Mt. Nabewari 鍋割山 (ASL 1272.4m) is now, after Typhoon Hagibis. Mind you, at the moment Kanagawa Prefecture strongly discourages anybody to go there due to the devastation by Hagibis. So, this post is NOT for introducing the hiking course. I WILL NOT tell you the itinerary, but just show you how the situation was in early December before winter snow. Next week, I tell you my tiny experience in Yushin Valley ユーシン渓谷 that now is practically off-limit for casual visitors due to winter collapse (more to it next week). We Forest Instructors of Kanagawa Prefecture are worrying the same should happen in the southwest slope of Mt. Nabewari during this winter. If not, the next big typhoon will surely bring further destruction. It’s not a place for somebody new to Tanzawa 丹沢 to enter. I’ve been there with my senior instructors as a part of duty to make it sure how bad the situation is in order to inform visitors. Several forest Instructors, including a veteran ranger for Akaishi Mountains (aka Southern Japanese Alps), know the place well for decades. Actually, the southwest slope of Mt. Nabewari is defined as Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林 so that it’s the area Kanagawa Forest Instructors are supposed to know well. Inshallah. The scenery was awesome, honestly.

Having said that, rough sketch of the itinerary is like this: it starts from the main gate of Yadoriki Water Source Forest, crossing many times Yadoriki Stream 寄沢, and ends at Ameyama Pass 雨山峠. The route traverses the notorious “Collapse in Hell” slope 地獄崩れ which has become more hellish by the typhoons. Moreover, it’s extremely difficult to figure out the routes now due to frequent landslides after the storms this fall. In any case, typhoon or not the route is well-known among Japanese alpinists as one of the most dangerous routes in Tanzawa mountains. Many people died, or went missing. A husband who returned to pick up an item left in the picnic bench of Ameyama Pass has not reunited with his wife since October 2018. These 3 months, there are several reports for encounters with bears in the route. You’ve got an idea, I hope.

Yet, if you do want to try, the things you MUST do are

1.      Find people who know the place damned-well, and say OK to go there with you.

2.      Choose the season of your visit: end of fall or late spring will be the best. For both times, the infestation by vampire leeches would be minimum. The weather could be relatively stable with fewer rain.

3.      NEVER enter there when it rains, or a couple of days after the rain. The route shall be deadly slippery, and you can put your name in the list of deads who tripped over the scree.

4.      Be well-equipped. Real climbing shoes and good gloves are the MUST-HAVEs. Also enough food, water, emergency kits, et al.

5.     For this route, VERY GOOD MAP, COMPASS, and HEAD LAMP WITH ENOUGH BATTERY are also indispensable. It’s so easy to lose the way here even for veterans. Those gadgets are handy when emergency happens. Imagine you lose your way, and find yourself alone in a completely dark deep mountain … thus for the head lamp. If you have iBeacon or cocoHeli, DO carry them. 

Now here are the photos how things are over there.

Yadoriki Stream has changed its riverbed completely. The course of the stream itself has altered drastically, and the nice points for crossing the stream have gone. We have to search for the places to get across. Forest Instructors worry those possible new routes could tramp rare plants that were once in shielded corners of the forest. Let us see carefully what happens to them …

Those roads which was once in the forest along the stream now look like a part of riverbed with trees sticking out of scree. It makes difficult to figure out the route. We searched the direction shown by a pink ribbon somebody left before us. There is no guarantee we can find the next ribbon soon, though.

Before the Collapse in Hell slope, there is a large landslide that destroyed completely a debris barrier for Yadoriki Stream. On the foot of it, there are piles of large trees with their roots sticking out to the sky. The entire grade broke down during the storms this fall. Here, we could figure out how thin the topsoil is in Tanzawa Mountains … We are sure, it will collapse further soon.

The “Collapse in Hell” slope is more hellish now with piles of logs on foot and more screes. It would be extremely difficult to traverse there if it rains, or immediately after rain. We were lucky.

There are several points where originally narrow plank path becomes thinner conduit precariously runs over slippery scree filled slopes tumbling down to deep valleys. To traverse such points we really had to go on all fours; and so, gloves are the MUST-HAVEs.

Strangely, the final stretch to Ameyama Pass kept its course as before the Hagibis. However, this is the area where many deaths and missings occur for decades. It’s simply preserves its trickiness.

Although this is very difficult place to enter, it is the only course currently to go to Yushin Valley as a day trip. I tell you my adventure to Yushin Valley via Ameyama Pass next week. I know you would ask “What is Yushin Valley?” Well, stay tuned! 😉

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment 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/