Feeling the need to escape the built up area Located about 50 kilometres from the centre of Tokyo is Mt. Takao. Depending on the train you take from Shinjuku station the journey is one and a half hours (local train) or 45 minutes (semi-express). I had heard that it got busy at Mt. Takao, with over 2.5 million visitors each year that’s an understatement, I thought it would be a good idea to get an early start.
There are eight designated trails on Mt. Takao with the paved trail one being the most popular and the other 7 trails varying in difficulty and length. There is also a cable car and chair lift that takes people to two thirds of the way up the mountain. I decided on the 3.4 km trial 6, winding up a river valley, past a temple and a steep climb to the summit of Mt. Takao.
Arriving at the summit of Mt. Takao (designated as one of the "100 Fuji Viewing Spots in Kanto." These areas have been selected because they offer a particularly fine view of Mt. Fuji) I heard a rustling in the bushes beside me and saw the biggest earth worm I’ve ever seen moving down the slope. Once I’d drawn myself away from the worm I was rewarded with a view to the south of Mt Fuji and the Tanzawa mountains. A video is available on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZYXL9D7lHk).
There are eight designated trails on Mt. Takao with the paved trail one being the most popular and the other 7 trails varying in difficulty and length. There is also a cable car and chair lift that takes people to two thirds of the way up the mountain. I decided on the 3.4 km trial 6, winding up a river valley, past a temple and a steep climb to the summit of Mt. Takao.
Even arriving at the station at the bottom of Mt. Takao at 8 am there were lots of people beginning to gather. I quickly headed up the path to the bottom of the cable car and started up the trail.
As soon as I left the formed path and entered the cedar dominated forest with the sound of water running down the valley my decision to come to Mt. Takao was rewarded as I was taken to a place a million miles from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. It was good to be in the bush again, part of the way up the trail you come across a hospital nestled into the side of the hill, what a great place to recuperate. You are reminded though of those less fortunate with a shrine to babies that never were.
Stopping to admire the trees and the river valley I was reminded of the crowds with groups of people heading up the trail past me even at 8 in the morning. There is a little temple nestled at the base of a water fall with cedar trees all around and Yamane spawning in the river it was a great place to be.
Shortly after leaving the temple you come across this maze of cedar roots exposed by the many many feet of people seeking escape in the forest.
