Placeholder body. Replace this file with the real post -- it is long only so the pinned reading pane has something to scroll.
Getting to the trailhead
The ropeway leaves Asahidake Onsen early. Everything above the tree line is scree and steam vents, and the weather turns without much warning.
Below the ropeway the forest is still dense enough to feel like any other Japanese mountain. Above it, the volcano stops pretending. Sulphur stains the rock yellow and the wind arrives without anything to break it.
Most people turn around at the summit. The traverse starts where they stop.
Day two: the long ridge
The crux of the traverse. No water source after the col, so everything gets carried from the last stream.
The ridge itself is not technical. It is simply long, and exposed for its entire length, and there is nowhere to shelter if the cloud comes in. Every decision about pace gets made hours before it matters.
Consider a pull quote here once the real writing lands.
By late afternoon the huts appear as small dark shapes a long way off, and they stay small for much longer than seems reasonable.
Weather, and waiting for it
Hokkaido's mountains make their own weather and change it without notice. Two of the five days were spent moving; the rest were spent deciding whether to.
A forecast three valleys away is not a forecast for where you are standing. The only reliable signal is what the cloud is doing on the ridge above.
What I'd do differently
A short list, because every trip has one.
- Carry less water on day one and more on day two.
- Start earlier than feels necessary.
- Budget an extra day for weather rather than treating it as a buffer.
- Take the Tomuraushi descent seriously; it is longer than the map suggests.
Getting out
The road at the far end is a long way from anywhere. Plan the exit before the entrance -- the traverse ends in a place with very little reason to have a bus service, and the timetable reflects that.