Monday October 6th. This one is going to be a big post, with lots of photos.

Our first full day in Kamikochi started off very early. We were up at 6 am, hoping to get ahead of the crowds and see the famous bridge with a few less people on it. We were not sure what to expect - the forecast was calling for cloudy skies all day, so we were pleasantly surprised to see some blue sky and the clouds starting to lift above the river and the valley floor.

The early start meant that it wasn’t super busy at the famous bridge.

The clouds were starting to lift, giving us our first views of the mountains. I believe this is MOunt Mae-Hotakadake (left).

Looking downriver, we also got our first glimpse of Mount Yakedake, ana ctive volcano.

The clouds lifting, exposing the fall colours.

A few weeks later and all that colour would be down in the valley.

The bridge was less busy but it was still impossible to get pictures without people in them. The light was beautiful and we could see more of the mountains off in the distance. It was stunning. Not quite the full view we were looking for, but amazing nonetheless.

We decided to get in a walk downstream while it was still less busy and headed along the north side of the river. The walk was lovely, with different views of the mountains opening up as the clouds rose and dropped as the sun came up over some of the surrounding peaks. The walk took us down to the Tashiro bashi bridge, where we crossed over the river. One of the trails was closed - it looked like a lot of flooding damage - so we continued also the “Forest Corse” down to the Tashiro-ike pond and marsh. This was a really pretty area, and we stopped for a bit to take some photos.

Looking up river, before heading downstream.

We did not see a lot of birds on this trip sadly. This was a common one - a Willow Tit. It looked (and sounded) a lot like a chickadee.

A small waterfall flowing down the rocks along the trail.

As we continued downstream, the surrounding mountains started to appear out of the clouds.

These berries were on a lot of the trees, and as we discovered later, the moneys eat them.

Up high on the mountains, you could really see the fall colours starting pop.

Hotaka Bridge

This was typical of many parts of the trail. There was really good infrastructure, with many of these bridges through the low lying, boggy areas.

Justine out front of the Tashiro Pond.

Some splashes of colour at the Tashiro Pond.

ON the way back to the hotel for breakfast.

As the sun came up, the clouds started to break. It looked like we might be in for a lovely day.

Birch trees along the river.

There were signs advising people not to eat the mushrooms…

We needed to be back at the hotel no later than 8:30 for the last seating at breakfast. We came back the same way we went out, and made it back with lots of time. We had already walked 5.58 kms before breakfast, and as it turned out that was just the start of the day!

A successful first morning walk in Kamikochi.

Breakfast was amazing! They had this fabulous French toast, fire-roasted bananas, and lots of other fun things to go with. We may have gone back to the buffet a coupe of times…

Rewarded with breakfast. There will be more to say about that french toast!

After breakfast we got geared up for a big day of walking. It ended up being much bigger than I expected, and had blisters on my feet at the end of the day to prove it. While we went a long way today, none of it was difficult. The trails we followed generally traverse along the river through the valley. Tomorrow will change that. but today was always out and back along the river from our base in Kamikochi.

Before we go much further, we have to talk about bear bells. I have come to hate them! There are black bears in the area, very similar to the black bears around where we live. But the government (?) has convinced everyone that these bears are dangerous! Every person hiking has at least one bear bell on their pack/person (many people wear multiple) and they have placed these bear bells every few kilometers along the trail - and everyone rings the damn thing, every time they walk by. At first I thought it was charming, but it quickly became old and very, very annoying. All you hear, all day as you hike, are the damn bear bells. I was tempted to start stealing clappers. There was no chance anyone was going to see a bear, given how many people are about, but save us from the ringing bells!

After breakfast we headed out the completely opposite direction, sort of east and the north up the valley and into the mountains. We were going to enter all three “areas” of the region - Exploring, Trekking and Mountaineering. We just snuck into the last area, at the very far point of our hike.

We started going north from Kappa bashi bridge, passing through lovely old forest, and up through the Dakesawa Marsh. We stopped for a bit trying to get some bird pics, without a lot of success.

Gray Wagtails. They certainly live up to their namesake - as they sit, they wag their tails up and down.

Eurasian Nuthatch

We continued on the trail, heading mostly east as the trail continued to mirror the river, winding through the forest. At one point we took a side trail down to the river bank to enjoy the views.

There wasn’t a lot of wildlife or birds to be seen, but it was a very pretty trail, mostly flat and easy going. We eventually came to Myojin-bashi bridge. Being a lot further from the main area, it was not as busy and we got some good pictures.

The views just keep coming… it’s such a stunning place.

Near the bridge is a little rest area and a shrine, the Hotaka-jinja Shrine. There’s a famous little lake in behind the shrine, but it was really busy and so we did not feel like paying for entry. So we continued on our way.

The torii gate on the path to the Myojin shrine

Outside the shrine, many poor fortunes have been tied.

The cool little shrine.

After crossing over the bridge, the trail basically turned north, as we headed towards the next camp, Tokusawa. The Myojin-bashi Bridge is another iconic landmark within Kamikochi, offering a slightly different, much quieter experience compared to the bustling Kappa-bashi. Like Kappa-bashi, it's a suspension bridge crossing the Azusa River. It offers beautiful views, framed by the lush forest and the impressive peaks of the Hotaka mountain range, particularly Myojin Peak (Mount Myojin) which looms prominently nearby.

Myojin-bashi Bridge

While there were some people about, it was much less busy than the bridge near the hotel.

We did stop at Tokusawa camp for a quick break. We had a drink and rested for a bit before continuing on.

At each of these camps there are areas set aside for camping, but each also has a lodge where you can stay, plus a small restaurant and convenience store with drinks (and more importantly later) ice cream! It’s incredibly well supported and there was even cellular service all the way up.

This lodge was near Tokusawa camp. It’s a good two hour hike up from Kamikochi. You have to carry all your gear up here.

You can also see all the tents set-up around the camp.

Eurasian Nuthatch

Some interesting mushrooms

Eurasian Treecreeper

More crazy mushrooms.

From this point north we were surprised to see a lot of heavy equipment and construction along the river bank. Later we discovered that there had been some huge flooding, maybe last year, that had wiped out huge areas of the trails. They were reworking the river bed and building out these huge wire cages full of rocks to reinforce the river bank and control the water flow. It was pretty crazy to see, with the biggest part of the construction just south of Yokoo camp.

But before we got there, we had our first money encounter! Justine had been really excited for us to see the Japanese Macaques (snow monkeys) that live in the area.

We had just come back from exploring along a new stretch of river bank and come back out to the trail. There was a guying walking towards us, but he was walking backwards, which seemed really odd. Then we noticed a big, solitary (I assume) male macaque up on one of the trees along the edge of the path.

It jumped down and came up the path a little ways towards us, before heading back off into the forest. It wasn’t a long encounter but it was pretty cool!

We continued north, where the trail became a new path being built as part of the reconstruction. It was not the most picturesque part of the hike. It was really interesting to see how they are building out these huge wire cages.

We continued onto Yokoo camp and the beautiful Yokoo-ohashi bridge. The Yokoo call is a base camp for more serious hikers heading out into the mountains. As we arrived, one of the park people made sure we were not planning to continue on further. Beyond this point you head up into the mountains, and the going gets much more difficult. They don’t want you heading out from this point after 10:00 a.m., unless you have other huts booked. At the 12.5 km mark, we were pretty happy to turn around and head back.

Yokoo-ohashi bridge

But first we ate the snack that we had brought with us and drank some water. The scenery was amazing (with the exception of the excavators and trucks) but it was already 1:00 pm and time to head back.

The trip back was pretty uneventful, retracing our path for the most part. We had planned on stopping at Tokusawa and grabbing some lunch, but when we arrived the restaurant was closed - so we settled for ice cream and a bit of a rest. It was pretty great.

On the way back, we stopped at Tokusawa Lodge and had some ice cream.

We continued back south and right before Myojin, we had our second monkey encounter! This time it was a whole troop, including some very small babies. They were working their way up a dry river bed, and it was so cool to see them forage for food, play around in the trees and generally monkey around. So fun!

After that we just had to push through and get back to our hotel. It was still a couple of hours back, taking the more direct route. We made a quick stop at one of the stores to grab a few beers, as a reward for our huge day of hiking.

It was just after three when we gratefully collapsed into our room and got out of our sweaty hiking cloths. We had a beer and chilled out, trying to recover from the hike. One of the interesting things about our hotel is that there are no showers in the room. Instead, there’s a shared onsen or bath house. After that hike I needed to clean up and so I braved it.

It was actually really nice. You start by getting undressed then going to the shower area. This is the only weird bit to me - you shower sitting down on little plastic stools. You do your thing - washing your hair then the rest of you, before sinking into a large communal hot tub. And after the day we had, it was great to soak away the aches and pains.

I came back and Justine braved it as well. And soon it was time for dinner! We had another amazing meal. All the food they have laid out on the buffets have been fabulous. Both days they have had this spectacular mushroom soup. Plus you can make soba noodles and there is a huge selection of dishes to pick from. And all were delicious.

After dinner we did a quick walk to stretch the legs and see what the night was like. The moon was almost full, but despite the bright moonlight, we could see some stars!

We headed back to the room, had another beer and just chilled out until it was time to sleep. And I suspected we would both sleep really well tonight.

Daily Step Count: 37,508 and 30.5 km!!!!