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| Daruma Rock beyond the golf course |
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| A robot golf cart can come out. |
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| A small stream down from our left |
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| Adelante, por favor. |
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| On our right it appears the signpost. |
First 20m or so of this way is along the country club. Utility entrance for the golf course runs along the trail, but on our left, there is an ancient stone paved way which is typical of Hakone (; my posts for February 5 to March 5, 2021). This time, the terrain is FLAT! If you try this ancient civil engineering with your toddler, this section could be an ideal beginner’s entrance. I just wonder why such elaboration must have been done for mountain road 400 years ago … Probably, the route was a part of highway coming from Gotemba City 御殿場 on the slope of Mt. Fuji, via Nagao Pass 長尾峠 (ASL 911m), and reaching to Sengokubara Town. The community of Sengokubara still holds such traditional connections with Gotemba. I’ll tell you about it by the end of this month. 😉
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| Ancient and new roads |
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| The flat paved way |
This route is, for the first time for today’s itinerary, really a narrow trekking road in a forest. Yet, there are not many ups and downs. The paved ancient road eventually goes through a high wall of sasa-bamboos. They are Hakone-dake, Pleioblastus chino f. vaginatus, a very close relative for Azuma-nezasa, Pleioblastus chino (Franch. et Savat.) Makino var. viridis (Makino) Sad.Suzuki. Azuma-nezasa is ubiquitous in east Japan. Hakone-dake is found mainly in Hakone. Some say the plant is Hakone endemic, but genetic analysis seems to me does not endorse this claim. Still, the overall look of Hakone-dake is definitely slimer. The leaves of Hakone-dake are slenderer than their relatives in Yokohama. Once Botanist Mr. Teruo Katsuyama told me about any plants with name “Hakone” is slimmer or smaller than their relative in the world below. His guess was, due to colder climate in Hakone despite its latitude plants evolutionary adjusted their characteristics to their environment. For a kind of evidence of his conjecture, Hakone-dake can be found only in the forest where human afforestation took minimum even in Hakone. They have been there for centuries.
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| A
small stream flows in the field of Hakone-dake. |
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| An
ancient road goes through an old field of Hakone-dake. |
We soon find ourselves on a way running along Hayakawa River. Hello again! By this point, the River has enough water that would be difficult to be dried up. Basically, Hakone is a place where it rains a lot. Although the size of the river is not large enough to sustain population of Odawara, Hayakawa River keeps on going as river. We go ahead and cross Hayakawa River. After departing the field of Hakone-dake, I noticed there are lots of deciduous trees, like Maples and Bridal wreath, that will turn colors when autumn comes. During early summer with fresh verdure, it is an attractive enough strolling path. And the course will be impressive in fall. After crossing Hayakawa River, the route has a bit of going up with stone pavement. Then it becomes a comfortable stroll in beautiful forest. The exit of this trail is called Tsutsuji (Azalea) Street where in May many homes compete for flowering shrubs in their garden. After the housing area we find ourselves the road Shitsugen (Wetland) Street running in front of Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands (; my post for May 5, 2023). From the start of Kojiri Watergate, it is a leisurely walk of less than 3 hours. If you do not intend to go mountaineering, or want to avoid crowds of tourists in Hakone, this is a relaxing itinerary, especially with kids. Please try.
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| Hayakawa River again |
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| We cross the bridge. |
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| Beautiful early summer stroll |
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| Ancient trekking path |
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| The exit for the trail |
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| Azalea Street in May 2026 |
Hakone Town Hall 箱根町役場
256 Yumoto, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun,
Kanagawa 250-0398
〒250-0398 神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町湯本256
Phone: 0460-85-7111
https://www.hakone.or.jp/
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