28 August 2023
After exploring Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu in the northern part of Akan Mashu National Park, the plan for the day is to drive south and explore the attractions around Lake Akan (Akan-ko).
Lake Akan is a caldera lake formed by the collapse of a volcano long time ago. It lies between Mount Oakan and Mount Meakan at an altitude of 420 meters above sea level. Located southwest of Lake Akan, Me-akan literally means "female Akan", as opposed to Mount O-akan, the "male Akan", which rises east of the lake.
Akanko Onsen is the only hot spring resort town located on the southern shore of Lake Akan. It is a small town with onsen hotels, shops, eateries, free public footbaths and Ainu Kotan, a small replica Ainu village.
This was the day that my son and I were looking forward to. A tough hike to the summit of Mount Meakan, an active volcano in the Akan Mashu National Park, that offers breathtaking views not only of the mountain's deep main crater, but also of another, much flatter crater to the north and of the beautiful cone-shaped peak of Akanfuji nearby. My wife, who was not keen to join us, will explore Akanko Onsen while we are up in the mountain.
Hiking Mount Meakan is usually possible from May to early October via three routes. We chose to do the shortest and possibly steepest route starting and ending at Meakan Onsen. The trail is 3.3 km one way to the summit, with elevation gain of 789 m. It should take around 4 to 5 hours for the hike to the summit and back.
It was good that we had a good and filling Japanese breakfast at Hotel Parkway in the morning. Hotel Parkway is located in Kawayu Onsen and it took about an hour’s drive to get to Lake Akan.
Our Japanese breakfast at Hotel Parkway that will provide energy for our strenuous hike on this day.
We stopped at a Seicomart in Teshikaya to buy rations for our hike (bananas, energy drinks and Onigiri) and a few cans of strong zero beer to drink at the hotel in the evening.
We alighted my wife at the Akankohan Eco Museum before proceeding to the Meakan trailhead. We planned to pick her up, somewhere in Akanko Onsen, after our hike.
Mount Meakan hike
From Akanko Onsen, it was a 20 minutes drive to the trailhead. We parked our car at a public car park near Meakan Onsen, ate the bananas in the car and got ready for the hike. There are no toilets along the trail, so it was wise to use the clean and well maintained public toilet next to the car park.
We walked back to the trailhead (google map location here) which is a few hundred meters from the car park. There are signage and a small wooden box where hikers could register their personal particulars and contact number of next of kin in case of emergency. After all, Mount Meakan is still an active volcano.
It was 9.30 AM when we started the hike. After being blessed with excellent clear blue sky weather on our hikes in Shiretoko National Park, the weather started to turn on us. Although the sky was cloudy with rain forecasted for the afternoon, there was no rain and the forest was quite cool and pleasant.
My son, who is half my age and twice as fit, volunteered to carry the backpack with our drinks, rations, powerbank and jackets. As an avid hiker who had conquered Mount Kinabalu and Mount Rinjani earlier this year, hiking Mount Meakan would be easy for him. For me, it would be a physical challenge but I think willpower make my old body go.
The first part of the hike was though a forested area of pine trees. The forest was quiet. We seemed to be the only hikers around. There is danger of encountering brown bears in such situation. We clapped our hands and made noises when we passed thick bushes or shrubs. We also had a small bear bell that we purchased a few days ago, attached to our backpack. So a-ding-a-ling, we went through the forest.
There are red ribbons tied to trees, marking the trail in the forest. It was a pleasant walk as the ascent at this stage is not so steep.
The forest of large pines eventually thin out into open rocky ground and dwarf pines about 40 minutes into the hike.
The ascent got a little more steep after we left the forested area.
As we got higher, we could feel and see the clouds moving in.
We met a hiker who was on his down and he was kind to tell us about the foggy conditions at the peak. Nevertheless we decided to press on as the journey was part of the fun.
Visibility was getting bad as the wind blew the clouds across the mountain.
Another progress photo that we sent to my wife who was having a good time on her own in Akanko Onsen.
The trail to the summit is divided into 10 stages or stations. There are route markers informing hikers of their progress.
Somewhere near the 4th station, we spotted a unique looking imprint on the ground that looked like the paw print of a bear! It was the only imprint on the ground, so I thought it may be a prank and not a bear track.
In any case, I was not too worried as the print looked aged (probably made when the soil was wet and now the soil was kind of dry). The creature that made the print should be long gone by now.
We were soon scrambling over large boulders with pine shrubs next to us. The pine shrubs disappeared as we approached the crater. It is volcanic terrain from this point onwards.
The trail is marked by yellow paint on the boulders as we zigzaged our way up. We heard faint sounds of tingling bell in the fog up ahead and soon met another 2 hikers on their way down. They were fully suited up. We realised that we should put on our hiking jackets even though we were perspiring. It is important to prevent the body from losing too much heat in the cold wind.
We arrived at the 7th station at 11.23 AM, almost 2 hours after we started. Only 900 meters to go.
From the 7th station onwards, the terrain was extremely steep (from my point of view) and more challenging. There were pebbles and large rocks.
We were overtaken by a man, who was going at twice my speed. I think my son would be able to keep up with him, but he has to stay by my side.
I thought I could see the summit but every time I got to the “summit”, there was another one. The curvature of the terrain could fool you there.Eventually, we could hear the roar and hiss of the vents from the crater and I knew we were close to the rim. The trail flattens out as we arrived at the rim.
There are guide ropes to prevent accidents. It was foggy and we could not see any of the views of the mountain's deep main crater.
We just followed the guide rope to the summit at 1499 meters above sea level. We arrived at the summit at 12.15 AM, meaning it took us 2 hours 45 minutes.
A simple marker was at the summit.
We did not linger too long at the summit as the fog is not going to lift anytime soon. We knew we would not see the amazing sights due to the poor weather but overall I am proud and happy to have met the physical challenge. For my son, this hike is part of his preparation to do the hike to Everest Base Camp in November.
On our way down, we stopped at the 7th station, sat behind a large rock that shielded us from the wind and took our lunch. Somehow, food tasted good when eaten outdoors. In my case, I needed this energy to fuel my body for the journey down. By now, I was running on empty.
This was the only time we both sat down and rested. After our quick lunch, we made our way down the same path. Our pace on the way down was slightly faster. It was easier on the lungs but not my aged knees and legs. I did not dare to sit down and rest as I knew my legs would turned into jelly once I stopped walking.
We arrived back at trailhead at Meakan Onsen at 2.38 PM. Overall, the hike had taken slightly over 5 hours.
Exploring Akanko Onsen
While we are hiking Mount Meakan, my wife explored Akanko Onsen on her own.
The Akankohan Eco Museum, which opens at 9.00 AM, is a good place to start as most shops and eateries in the town do not open until later in the day. There are exhibits about the surrounding natural sights such as Akan’s scalable volcanoes (Mount Oakan and Mount Meakan) and lakes (Lake Akan and Lake Onneto).
One of the unique exhibits not to miss is Lake Akan's famous marimo. These are rare lake algae that grow into fluffy green balls of varying sizes. It is believed that the spherical shape is formed by the aggregation of filamentous alga and the rotary motion due to water turbulence. These are slow growing. Left alone for a few centuries, Lake Akan's marimo can reach the size of soccer balls.
After visiting the museum, there is a short (15 minutes) walking trail that leads through a pine forest to bubbling, geothermal mud pools, known as bokke located next to Lake Akan. From there, the trail continues along the lake shore back to town.
Like most places of nature in Hokkaido, there are chances of encountering the wild animals such as deer, red foxes or even the dreaded brown bears.
Being cautious by nature, my wife would not take the trail through the forest on her own. There was another group on that trail, so she went along.
They met a family of wild Ezo deer along the way.
After the deer went away, she continued her walk to the Bokke. Here, volcanic gases could be seen bubbling up through the mud from the magma below. The temperature of the mud pool is close to 100 degrees Celsius which is the temperature of boiling water. This is a reminder that Lake Akan is a caldera lake with volcanic activity underground.
The trail continues along the shore of Lake Akan to the cruise boat dock where tourists could buy tickets for a cruise on Lake Akan.
There are several hot spring hotels located near the cruise boat pier.
A good place to rest after the walk is at the Pan de Pan. This is a bakery that sells mostly takeaways but has a eat-in restaurant with approximately 20 seats with red theme decor. There is a free footbath corner in front of the store.
Ainu Kotan is the next place to explore. "Kotan" means "village" or "settlement" in the Ainu language. The Ainu are the indigenous people in Hokkaido. This is a small Ainu replica village in Akanko Onsen, which consists mainly of one street lined by souvenir shops specializing in Ainu handicrafts. These include wood carvings of bears, birds, humans, and Ainu art.
There are also a museum about Ainu art and tradition and a theater where various traditional Ainu performances are staged. The Ainu Living Memorial Hall recreates a traditional home for an old-fashioned 4-5 person family.
While the men were eating a picnic lunch of onigiri and energy drinks on top of a foggy windswept mountain, my wife enjoyed a nice warm meal at Ajishin. Ajishin restaurant specializes in Hokkaido deer meat.
One of the must-try menu items is the rice-bowl topped with slices of grilled deer meat dressed with a salty-sweet soy sauce.
After lunch, the next best thing to do was to have a nice drink and soak her feet at one of the free public footbaths while waiting for the men to finish their hike.
Akanko Onsen is considered to be the origin of hand baths that are now popular across Japan. The handbath in front of Kanko-do Crafts Shop is called "Owl Hand Bath" which is made from a hollow trunk of an elm thousands of years old. Above the bath is a wooden sculpture of a Blakiston’s fish owl, the guardian deity of the Ainu Kotan village.
Where we stay - La Vista Akangawa Hotel
It was around 3 PM when we picked up my wife from Akanko Onsen as planned and drove to the La Vista Akangawa Hotel.
Located in a tranquil forest, 5 km away from Akanko Onsen, this luxury hotel offers breathtaking views of the Akan River (Akangawa) and the virgin forests from all guest rooms. This hotel has nice public and private onsens too.
Time for everyone, especially the men who scaled Mount Meakan, to enjoy some onsen to soothe the tired body and legs.
Next post: Our stay at the La Vista Akangawa Hotel & Spa Resort.
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