1 June 2016
After hiking parts of the Old Nakasendo Highway and crossing the Japanese Alps, a hike in the beautiful valley of Kamikochi is inevitably part of our plan. Kamikochi is a roughly 15 kilometers long plateau in the Azusa river valley, about 1500 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by tall mountains, including Nishihotakadake (2909 m), Okuhotakadake (3190 m), Maehotakadake (3090 m) and the active volcano Yakedake (2455 m).
Kamikochi can be accessed via Matsumoto or Takayama as a day trip. From Takayama, we bought the round trip return bus tickets for the journey from Takayama Bus Station to Kamikochi via a change of bus at the onsen town of Hirayu-onsen. We would be staying at Hirayu-onsen for the night and return to Takayama the next day. The Nohi bus from Takayama to Hirayu-onsen departs every 30 minutes and we got into the Hirayu-onsen bus station early in the morning.
Our accommodation for the night was the Hirayu-no-mori, a hot spring resort located within a few minutes walk from the bus station. After dropping off our overnight bags at the resort, we took the Nohi bus to Kamikochi with only what we need for the hike.
Kamikochi is one of the starting points for serious hikers to trek to the peaks of the Japanese Alps. For us, we would be hiking the easy trails along Azusa River from Taisho Pond to Myojin Bridge and then back to the Kappa Bridge. The Kamikochi bus terminal is located near the Kappa Bridge. It is a mostly flat terrain and requires no hiking experience and only a few hours of time.
We alighted at Taisho Pond bus stop and start our hike from there to bus terminal area. With this, there was no need to backtrack down the same path. Quite a few visitors alighted with us but most stayed on the bus to alight at the bus terminal.
The hiking trail from the Taisho Pond to the Kappa Bridge offered some of the most breath-taking sceneries in Kamikochi. We took our time to walk this stretch, stopping often to admire the views, wild flowers, and snapped photos.
A short distance away from the Taisho Pond, there was a clearing where we could see the Mount Yakedake. This 2455 meter high volcano is still active. We left the trail to explore the river bank. Some of the nicest scenery were seen at the banks of the river. The water of the river was crystal clear and fast flowing. Just amazingly beautiful.
The trail to Tashiro Pond was through forested area, occasionally on wooden boardwalk over crystal clear streams. Tashiro Pond, one of Kamikochi's most scenic spots, is a small pond surrounded by marshland.
In 1915, the depth of Tashiro Pond was about 5 m. Rain from the mountains seen in the background fed the pond as subsoil water, bringing sediments and also decaying plants filled the pond, converting to a area of wetlands. Amazing colours.
This is also a good place for bird-watchers. We did not spot the birds but could hear them chirping overhead.
The trail to the Kappa Bashi Bridge followed the river, offering fantastic views of the Alps over the crystal clear water of the river. At places, the river current was strong and we could hear the faint sound of the raging waters. Weather was perfect in spring. Nice and cool and no perspirations whatsoever despite walking many kilo-meters.
Kappa-bashi Bridge is an iconic symbol of Kamikochi. It was built initially as a drawbridge but rebuilt in 1910 as a suspension bridge without any handrails! The present bridge built in 1997 is the 5th generation.
Several hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops were located around the bridge. Most visitors tend to congregate at this area, since the Kappa Bridge area offers a good spot for souvenir photos.
This was a perfect place for a lunch break before continuing the hike to the Myojin Bridge. We chose the restaurant located on the second floor of the building at the bus terminal. Tasty and reasonably priced lunch were served at the Kamikochi Diner.
After lunch, we continued on the trail from the Kappa Bridge to the Myojin Bridge, without crossing the river. We passed a campsite but not many campers were seen.
The trail was mostly through green forest and most times, we could not get views of the river and mountains. Hence, not as scenic as the trail from the Taisho Pond to the Kappa Bridge.
I was hoping to see some wildlife such as the Japanese macaque but none was encountered. Some bears warning signs were seen but it was highly unlikely to see bears unless very early in the morning and late in the evening.
After about an hour’s hike, we arrived at the Myojin Bridge.
We crossed over the Myojin Bridge and came to the Myojin Pond with a small shrine. To access Myojin Pond, a fee is required. We decided to give this a miss and head back to the Kappa Bridge as it was quite late in the afternoon and we did not want to miss the last bus.
The trail from Myojin Bridge to the Kappa Bridge was more interesting. Some parts were over marshland and requires walking on wooden board walk.
As we got closer to the Kappa Bridge, we came to the Takezawa Marsh, one of the more scenic areas of Kamikochi.
Wild azaleas were in bloom and there were also nice views of the mountains reflected in the marshes.
From the Taksezawa Marsh, it was a 5 to 10 minutes walk to get back to the Kappa Bridge area. Nice views of the Hokata Mountain range could be seen here and we rested here for a while before proceeding to the bus terminal.
From Kamikochi, we took the late evening bus to Hirayu-Onsen. Hirayu is the oldest and largest of Okuhida's onsen towns. Its hot spring waters are said to cure neuralgia, sensitivity to cold and skin disease. Hence, it made sense to spend the night at Hirayu-no-mori and enjoy hot spring baths after a day of hiking in Kamikochi.
More about my stay at Hirayu-no-mori in the next post.
Another good place to stay while visiting Kamikochi is Takayama. The Nohi bus from Hirayu-onsen to Takayama Station departs every 30 minutes and the journey takes an hour.
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