Daisetsuzan 2019: Wandering through the clouds

Having come down from the slopes of Mt Asahidake due to bad weather, I stopped at the rest area by the steam vents for a couple of minutes before doing some more hiking. Although I couldn’t see very far due to the thick clouds that had engulfed the entire area I wanted to get at least another hour or two out of my day at the mountain so I set off to explore as much as I could. I started by going around the trails that connect the ropeway station with the path up Mt Asahidake. On the Daisetsuzan map this is labeled the G1 trail.

There wasn’t too much to see in terms of wildlife that day, but I did catch sight of a chipmunk stuffing his cheeks with food.

Some of the paths I walked were flooded due to the recent rain. I managed to avoid getting soaked with some careful footwork and thanks to some wooden blocks that had been left on the trail. After a while I had traversed just about every route on the G1 trail and I then went over to a pond where the G1 trail connects to the G2 trail. The water of the pond was cold so I guess there wasn’t any magma flowing underneath that part of Daisetsuzan.

I decided I’d hike for some distance along the G2 trail and then turn around when I felt I had gone far enough. The G2 trail leads up to the Susoaidaira Plateau, though I wouldn’t get there before turning around. I crossed a stream and was steadily climbing higher as I hiked along the trail. The clouds were still limiting visibility and for quite a while it felt I was all alone out in the wilderness. There had been no recent bear sightings in this part of Daisetsuzan but I my eyes and ears open just to be safe. After some time I ran into a group of three ladies who were hiking the opposite direction from me. One of them tried to give me some sort of notice about something further along the trail. I couldn’t tell specifically what she was trying to say, but I figured that was a good indicator to only go a little further up the trail and then turn around. A few minutes later I reached what seemed like a good spot to call it quits and then I started my way back.

Eventually I caught up to those ladies and passed by them. A light rain was now coming down.

Back by the pond that connects G1 and G2 I could barely see a large group of tourists up on a small hill. I believe that hill normally has a good view of Mt Asahidake but today there would be no views of the mountain for them or anyone else. When you travel for extended periods you’re bound to have days where the weather just doesn’t cooperate.

When I was back on the G1 trail I decided I was good to return to the ropeway station. My legs were really tired from hours of hiking and there was no sign of the weather improving, so it was time to call it a day.