78 — Utsugi-dake 2864 m
21 October 2021
Startpoint: Top of the Komagatake Ropeway
Endpoint: Kurokawadaira Temporary Parking Lot
Distance covered: 21.7 km
Time: 8h 36
Vertical gain/descent: 1013 m
Weather & Visibility: Cold and clear
Good For: Stellar views of the North & South Alps &Ontake-san, all day ridgeline hiking as you can take the cable car up
The Ina area is stunning, surrounded by mountains, plenty of shrines and temples, and the best cherry blossom scene I have ever seen at Ina castle. The first time I came to this area was with my mountain Buddy Mat. I was happy but a little mountain etiquette ignorant. I remember almost stabbing a local with my ice-ax when I was swinging my backpack around in the gondola. Mat would explain politely that one should take off a backpack and place it on the floor between the feet when in a Gondola. It was June but there was still so much snow that we didn’t make it all the way to Utsugi that day. Thank god because that meant that I had to come back. In my memory, Nagano was classy, stylish, polite, outdoors, exclusive, and super amazing and I thought Hokkaido is less of this but turns out that Hokkaido is different but as cool. Returning to this area made me see that it is actually not so different and that the Nagano people are also just people.
I met not another soul the whole way between leaving the cable car area and Utsugi on this cold October day. During my last hour in the dark, I met a group of four energetic mountain men packed with tents and sleeping mats for the night. The traverse was long but gorgeous. I was luckily passing a narrow ridge around dusk and when it turned dark I was already on the lower slopes. The moon was full and it was super lovely to be out there in the dark.
