Climbing Karamatsudake via Happo Pond

Beginner route optional HERE.

Back in Aug 22, 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, I wanted to get back to doing outdoor stuff and attempted to hike Mt. Karamatsu. I haven’t been working out during this time and I gained about 10kg since I hiked Mt. Fuji 2 years prior. It was too hard for me to climb and I was the slowest in our group. It got frustrating and I let my frustration get the best of me and I quit when I reached Maruyama Cairn and told the group I would just descend on my own.

I still had fun on my own while going down, I tried to convince myself that I really am built for solo trips than with groups just so I wouldn’t feel so bad not being able to go to the summit with the group. I went home and tried to forget the whole experience.

Imagine my surprise when I was planning some hike trips last month and I saw the Karamatsu routes and realized that Maruyama Cairn is so close to the summit! It’s only 1.6km and 310m elevation, about an hour and half hike, and I can’t believe I gave up and climbed down. That’s when I decided to do a revenge hike. Go self!

Fast forward to 2024…

23:00 (Oct 12, 2024 / Saturday) – Me and my group met up at Kawagoe Station and headed to the Hakuba, Nagano. Our goal was to reach Kurobishi Parking Lot around 4am and get a parking spot before it gets full. We were still undecided if we will hike from there or wait for the cable car’s first trip. We passed by a few convenience stores along the way and bought foods/snacks and last minute things we need.

03:00 (Oct 13, 2024 / Sunday) – We got to the parking lot and IT WAS ALREADY FULL. We thought we were early but turns out…NOT. Change of plans, but first we need to find a parking lot. We went around the parking lots near the Happo Gondola Station but most of it are closed. Finally we found a space in the parking lot going up this cafe near the Happo Gondola Station.

4:00 – After parking (We paid ¥2,000) we decided to just nap for a bit while waiting for the gondola to start running. Woke up around 6:00 and was definitely taking our time to prep. The old man who was parked next to us was kind enough to let us know that the line was getting too long and that we should hurry up and queue. It took us about 2 hours to buy tickets and finally get on the lift. We paid ¥2,530/person for 2 lifts (Roundtrip). Some people already bought tickets online and apparently, if you have it issued at the convenience stores, you can just line up to the entrance of the lift and save you time. However if you buy it online the same day, you still have to line up at the ticket counter to get the actual ticket so you have to buy earlier.

There was a weighing scale next to the table where people write their hiking plans and I measured the weight of my bag. Mine is 9.5, and Micah’s is 8kg. Kenny’s bag is a whooping 14kg.

8:43 – We took 2 lifts and got off Kurobishidaira (1,680 masl). We found some benches and had breakfast. Kuya Roberto brought a burner and he made coffee for us. We used up half of my 2L water for this so my bag became a little lighter.

9:20 – We started hiking from here and did not take the 3rd lift and arrived at Happo Ike Sanso at 9:40. This was our last bathroom break until we reach Karamatsu hut. (There was another bathroom sign on the map they gave us if you need to go though.)

If you see the one above in the bathrooms in the mountains, it’s a donation box for maintenance of the toilets. This is why I always bring 100yen coins with me.

10:45 – We reached the Happo Cairn (2035 masl)

11:00 – We finally reached the Happo pond and it took my breathe away. This place is still so magical and amazing as how I remembered it from four years ago. Pictures just don’t do it justice.

FOR BEGINNERS, ELDERLY or WITH KIDS:

I suggest you take the full 3 chair lifts all the way to the Happo Ike Sanso. From there it’s only a little bit of hike to the Happo pond. We even saw some people who are not wearing proper hiking gear. Of course it’s much better if you have proper shoes but there is an easy and hard route that you can choose near the bathroom area. Make sure you pick the easy one because it’s mostly wooden boardwalk.

It took us about an hour and 20min from the Happo-ike Sanso to Happo-ike. It was a little crowded and some paths are narrow you have to wait for people in front of you but some people overtake, just be careful of the oncoming traffic. We saw people eating their lunch near the pond and just chilling overlooking the mountain range and clouds.

Beyond this area, you would need proper hiking gears if you want to proceed further.

11:30 – We left Happo-ike and started hiking FOR REAL. Now I know why they say it’s best to come here in Autumn because you see different shades of fall colors during this time of the year.

12:00 – We got really hungry (well I got really hungry haha!) so we decided to find a spot to eat lunch. For the first time I was able to eat in the mountains. I usually bring some onigiri during my previous hikes but most times I wasn’t able to eat them, for some reason I can only eat/drink the jelly energy drinks. This time I brought spam musubi and I think that did it. Who doesn’t love spam musubi + this view?

12:15 – We finished our lunch and started moving. Temperature reads 21°C in this area.

12:52 – We took another break near this area. We saw a few people taking a break in this rocky spot. I remember this place had snow when we went here in AUG 2020.

13:35 – We finally reached Maruyama Cairn. This is how far I was able to go the first time I attempted to climb Karamatsu-dake so this was a big moment for me. I really have to go to the summit this time otherwise I will go home feeling defeated again.

13:50 – We left Maruyama Cairn. Temperature reads 11°C around this area. A few minutes after we left Maruyama Cairn, we saw two Rock Ptarmigans or Raichō / 雷鳥 / ライチョウ which means thunder bird in Kanji. It is the official bird of Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama Prefectures and is a protected species nationwide. It is also classified as endangered species.

The second one was on top of a tree and everybody went nuts taking videos of it. My phone has bad zoom quality so this is all I can manage. It was too far from us and you can’t go too close to disturb them. One of the Japanese hiking etiquette is not disturbing the wildlife because it can disrupt the ecosystem. You will also notice that Japanese hikers are typically quiet while hiking because they are very considerate about their surroundings. I used to think playing music was okay (because then it will keep the bears away) but I was told that this is also not good. You want to enter the mountains as quietly and respectfully as possible. That is the Japanese way of hiking.

15:05 – We took a few more short breaks until we reach the Karamatsu Sanso. It took me about half an hour to check-in, they ask us to choose only one person to check-in for the group because of the limitation of space. I signed and printed the form they asked us to fill up but I forgot it at home so I had to write one again so don’t be like me.

We reserved for 1 night stay with 2 meals for ¥16,000 (¥1000 cheaper if you choose the adjacent building) and you have to choose what time you would take your dinner and breakfast upon check-in. I did not even consider the time of sunset and sunrise this time so we just choose whatever was available. It worked out in the end but I wish we got a later time for breakfast so we can go see sunrise at the summit.

**Making reservation for this hut was really hard and I had to check their website multiple times a day to wait for cancelation. Especially during the weekend we chose to go because it’s the last weekend before they close for the season. We even thought about hiking to the hut and beg them to let us camp. However, they ask everyone to secure a reservation beforehand especially on peak season. But we got lucky and was able to get 2 spaces for our tents and 2 hut reservations in the end. It was really packed that day.

After checking in, we went to our room , cleaned up and changed clothes. We left our stuff outside our room because we are not allowed to take it inside. There were 4 bunk spaces(?) 2 on the left (up and down) and 2 on the right. Each one can fit 5 people. They assigned us a female only room. There was also a hanging rack and hangers to hang your clothes.

***Use of toilet is free if you stay in the hut but otherwise you have to pay ¥300. (Also if you use beyond 8am the next day after you check out). They also have a sink with cold water if you want to brush your teeth.

Sunset was around 17:15 and our dinner was scheduled for 17:40. We had plenty of time to enjoy looking at the view while the sky changed it’s colors from orange, pink, to blue and violet until it got dark. It was really amazing. I just can’t help but feel grateful for the beauty shown in front of me.

17:40 – Our time to eat dinner is limited because there will be another group who will eat on the different time slot so they ask us to leave by 18:10 so you gotta be really quick. Well, I was so hungry that I devoured that plate REAL QUICK they didn’t even have to tell me to do so.

18:45 – We got ready for bed. Temperature inside the hut was 19°C so it was comfortable enough to sleep. However me and my friend had stuffy nose at night so it was really hard to fall asleep. We were both tossing and turning till around 23:00. I tried everything, ear plugs, eye mask, changed position of head, even tried sitting and elevating my pillows..NOTHING WORKED. (My doctor gave me medicine for stuffy nose after a week though so I’m gonna try if it works next time.)

OCT 14, 2024 / 04:50– We woke up and got out to see sunrise from behind our hut. Sunrise time was calculated at 05:15 and our breakfast schedule was 05:30. It was still dark when we went out and the temperature was 5°C. I was really glad I brought my gloves. The view of the stars was amazing, I’ve never seen stars that bright and so close.

The sunrise from this place is one of the best I’ve seen in my life. Mt. Fuji even decided to show up. Since we have breakfast at 05:30, we can’t really go to the summit and watch sunrise there so we just watched it from behind the hut. The view is still nothing short of amazing.

6:30 – We quickly ate our breakfast and at 6:45 we are already on our way to the summit.

07:04 – Aaaaaaaand finally we reached Karamatsu-dake. We spent about 45 min here taking pictures and just admiring the view on top.

We were laughing so hard while taking this picture because someone said, “Why are we even smiling, we’re not even facing the camera?” “DON’T SMILE!” ….and yet we kept on smiling it’s kinda automatic.

7:50 – We started heading back to the hut and had breakfast (again!) and coffee, because you know coffee is life. I used to bring drip coffees on my hikes but this time I brought instant coffee (Nescafe Gold from 7eleven). It was decent and was enough to wake me up and above all, SUPER LIGHT.

I also bought 500ml water for ¥500 because I ran out of water and a t-shirt with Karamatsu-dake logo for ¥3,000 (I think?) Buying t-shirts from huts has been my collection lately.

While we were having our coffee, there was an incident involving a lady who hit her head near the hut and they had to call a helicopter. This is why I got an outdoor/mountain insurance because I want to be prepared in case something like that happens to me or any in my group and we need helicopter rescue. I use Yamap insurance, it’s so easy to set-up if you already have an account on the app. You can also enroll the whole group for as little as ¥580 for 7 days or ¥5840 for a year. For me it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.

9:05 – We said goodbye to the view in front of us and started our descend. But the view going down is still so amazing as if we are seeing it for the first time. We really got so lucky with the view.

11:05 – We are back at Happo Pond and we got about a minute of awesome view before the cloud blocked the view. But we are still grateful because we already got good shots the previous day and this day was just for personal admiration. Something we would like to keep in our memories. For me that 1 minute was so special because it was a reminder that nothing lasts forever and we should appreciate everyone and everything we have while they’re still in our lives.

11:15 to 11:25 – We took a mini lunch break a little past the pond area and then arrived at Happo Ike-Sanso around 12:00. We took a cable car from here because we’re kinda tired at this point. (I think We paid ¥500(?) each for one way ticket.)

12:25 – We got ice cream from the Pilar Cafe & Restaurant and the view here was also amazing. It’s a nice reward after a hike.

13:30 – We finally got back to our car and cleaned up. We were gonna go to Mimizuku Onsen because a lot of people from the Hiking Group recommended it but we couldn’t this time.

What I packed in my bag (Total 9.5kg):

• 2L water in pet bottle + 500ml in my tumbler (with lots of ice).
• Sleeping bag (650g)
• Rainwear (Top and bottom)
• Sleeping necessities (Inflatable pillow, ear plugs, eye mask (next time I’ll bring the heated/scented ones)
• Extra T-shirt (I didn’t use because I bought a tshirt from the hut with Karamatsu-dake logo)
• Alcohol spray and non-alcohol wipes
• 1 set of trekking pole (Wasn’t able to use this time)
• Headlamp
• Garbage bag
• Tin mug
• Fleece Jacket & Down Jacket (I’ll bring a lighter one next time)

Below are the things that I put in individual ziploc in case it rains:
(I didn’t bring a rain cover for my bag because it’s supposed to be water resistant but I’m OC.

• Medicine (For headache, stomach ache, motion sickness)
• Change of clothes for the night + another set for the next day hike (Set of undies, socks, towel, t-shirt and top)
• Insta360, anker charger and cables
• Snacks, spam musubi, instant coffee, jelly drinks (2)
• Toiletries (powder sheets / fem wipes / toothbrush / facial cream / deodorant / sunblock / Mosquito repellent : I didn’t use)
• Hiking gloves, winter gloves, Beanie, heat packs

I didn’t bring a slipper this time because it won’t fit my bag anymore and I didn’t want to add more weight but they had slippers at the hut for free if you’re staying at the hut.

I highly recommend this bag because it definitely feels like the almost 10kg weight I was carrying is nothing compared to when I carried a 10kg on my Nabewari Hike using another bag. My torso is short and this bag really fits my back so well (it’s adjustable too!). But of course I still think that you should go to the shop and ask the staff which bag fits your body better. I tried on multiple bags and put weights inside before I found the right one for me. I chose this size because I don’t want to overpack and I felt like this way, I know when I’m going over my limit.

When my stamina and strength improve, I plan on buying a bigger one for multi-day hikes because right now I don’t think a tent will fit.. but for now, this one will do and I also love the color!

Honestly, I doubted myself a little if I can really reach the summit this time because I wasn’t able to do it before.. but I did it. I worked hard for the past two and a half months training- I started walking.. then jogging and running before work just to improve my stamina and I’m happy with my achievement. I’m ready to take on a new one!

Hiking and being in nature is my therapy and this hike is one of the best I’ve ever done in my life and hopefully you can enjoy it next hiking season too!

Mt Karamatsu

#Summit04 Karamatsudake / 唐松岳 / 2,696 masl
(Nagano OCT 13&14, 2024)

DAY 1
(From Kurobishidaira (1,680 masl) to Karamatsudake Chojo Sancho
Total Distance: 5.8km
Total Time: 5 hours 50 minutes (Total Breaktime about 2 hours)
Elevation Gain: 988m

DAY 2
(From Karamatsudake Chojo Sancho to Karamatsudake)
Total Distance : 445m
Total Time: 19min

Descend:
(From Karamatsudake to Happo-ike Sanso)
Total Distance 5.1km
Total Time: 5 hours and 40minutes (Total Breaktime about 2 hours)

Yamap Course link HERE.

Thanks for reading!
#MarieJournals