Tekaridake
光岳
2.591 m
Two day tour, 03.-04. May 2013
3. May 2013
I passed Fuji-san and entered Minamialps from the east side.
After getting off the highway, I drove 2 hours on a small mountain road. It already was dark, and I saw one wild pig, several Tanuki and three Kamoshikas. When I almost reached the big dam and parking area, the road was closed. Fortunately, another car followed me and the driver told me, that we can just move the construction signboards apart and then pass this area without any problem. He continued driving up the valley in front of me. I guess he worked at one of the mountain huts. The sky was clear and the stars shined very beautiful.
It was chilly, around 5 degree, nice weather in the early morning. Several other hikers already arrived and after a short talk with two mountain-guides, I started the hiking tour.
Walking up the valley and after passing the big lake, we have to cross the river on a long hanging bridge. It was swinging while I passed it. Then the way crosses a small ridge and followed a mountain river valley. Several times I crossed the river on small hanging bridges, it was an enjoyable and pleasant walk. Then the climbing started, lead through a forest with many Azalea-blossom up until entering the snow area at about 2.000 meters.
I put on my crampons and continued straight up the mountain. From there it became more difficult to find the trail, still a lot of snow remained and no trail-marks visible. But using the map and continuously climbing strait up, I reached Chausedake-mountain hut smoothly.
From Chausedake mountain hut it is just a short walk to Chausedake. The weather was great – blue sky – and a strong wind was blowing. From Chausedake I followed the ridge until 希望峰Kibouhou。After that peak I soon recogniyed, that I missed the parting of the way and walked left in stead of keeping right side on the ridge. Lucky I recognized it before entering the forest; I walked back and needed to search for the parting and the correct way for about 20 min.
Basically, it is easy – we need to follow the ridge again, keep as much on the top as possible. The path and all signs still covered by snow and the way leads up and down through forest over several peaks.
Finally, it leads goes down to saddle which is about 2.200 m. It was 5:00 pm and I was pretty much tired when I set up the tent. For dinner I ate ramen (Chinese noodle) and a pack of rice. Both I cooked with melted snow. I collected the snow near my tent in a forest and was surprised that the melted water tasted same as fresh needle tree. I guess the snow spend a long time on the tree before falling down and accumulating there.
The night was about -5 degrees cold. I could hear strong wind on the mountains but the tent was placed in a valley behind the ridge. The wind passed above me and didn’t bother to much. Still I could feel the cold, even in the thick sleeping bag.
4. May 2013
I got up in the morning and put on my hiking boots which I placed in the tent but it did not prevent them from freezing. I adjusted the frozen shoes and cuffs as good as possible and started the climb.
From the tent the trail went up directly to the mountain top, soon I stepped out of the forest and could enjoy the great view. After reaching the top of Tekari-dake, I meet more and more other hikers which stayed in the mountain hut. The top was completely covered with snow, a bit behind the peak there is Tekarirock which was the end of the tour. Before descending I walked to イザルケ岳 Izarukedake, from where the view to Fuji-san and other peaks was good.
Back at the tent, I prepared breakfast – again ramen – packed my things and started the way back. Up and down again – long and more and more tiring.
My toes started to hurt and each step was more and more painful. At a beautiful spring below a big rock, I filled up the water canisters. The mountain water was really delicious; then I slowly walked back down.
When I reached the car at 5:00 pm, my feet hurt so much that I was afraid to take off my shoes and socks. Everything was swollen, several big blisters on heels and toes. One of them already burst, two toes colored dark-blue/red. Autch, this will take a while to recover…
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Five days later one nail was about 80% off, another was half a cm higher with lots of bloody water below. I decided to cut it off to accelerate the healing process. With a medical knife (scalpel) I placed four cuts around the toe-nail, then lifted it a bit and it easily went off. The hole looked horrible, but I think it would get off anyway sooner or later. This weekend I will have a rest, but the next I want to go to mountain again.
3. May 2013
畑薙第１ダマ Hatanagidai 1 dama, 5:30 am, 935 m
茶臼岳 Chausu-dake, 12:30 pm, 2.604 m
希望峰 Kibouhou, 1:30 pm, 2.500 m
Sankichidaira, 5:00 pm, 2.200 m
4. May 2013
Sankichidaira, 5:30 am, 2.200 m
光岳 Tekaridake, 6:20 m, 2.591 m
光岩 Tekariiwa, 6:25 m, 2.590 m
イザルケ岳 Izarukedake, 6:50 m, 2.540 m
茶臼岳 Chausu-dake, 11:20 pm, 2.604 m
畑薙第１ダマ Hatanagidai 1 dama, 5:00 pm, 935 m
