Much like Shikoku, Osaka and Nara aren’t the first places that come to mind when foreigners think about snow or tall mountains in Japan. Despite that we enjoyed a magical winter hike to Mt Hakkyo in the Omine Mountains and spent a magical Christmas Day hiking with friends in the snow – an Aussie dream.
Overview
Mt Hakkyō (八経ヶ岳, Hakkyougatake, 1914) is Kansai region’s tallest mountain. The peak is part of the Yoshino Kumano National Park which has strong connections with Japan’s Buddhist history.
We did this 24.5km hike in winter (Christmas eve!) and stayed overnight in the Ookamitaira Shelter 狼平避難小屋. Those considering doing this hike should be prepared with adequate winter gear including winter rated sleeping bags as temperatures dropped to around -12 degrees overnight when we were there. The conditions reminded me a lot of the winter hike to Miune we did in Shikoku.
Access
Trailhead: The hike starts at the Tenkawa Town Hall in Nara Prefecture.
Suggested Meeting Point: If you’re coming from Osaka or Nara the Lawson convenience stores or supermarkets in Oyodo town might be your last bet for food and supplies.
Travel time: By car: 2.5 hours from Osaka or Nara, Allow extra time to get to the trail head the city as the mountain roads (and convenience store breaks) in Japan always take longer than they tell you.
Mt Hakkyō 八経ヶ岳 Trail Information
Hike time: 14 hours (plan 7hrs up, 7hrs down, be sure to start as early as possible in winter)
Season: Winter (December)
Difficulty: Fitness (Grade 2: Moderate) Technical (Grade 2: Moderate)
Safety Notes: Long at 25km, in the snow and with a pack requires moderate fitness levels. The snow started from about 1000m. In winter you’ll need micro spikes or crampons. If you’re not sure of your fitness or gear hike it in summer. The Mt. Misen Hut at the top doesn’t open in winter so plan to stay at the Ookamitaira Shelter 狼平避難小屋 and arrive early.
Download and print the trail map
App or map? While many rely on navigation apps these days I strongly recommend printing a copy of your hike maps using one of the free topographic map services.
Post Hike Full Notes
Thank you to Katchan for his blog in Japanese which helped me remember all of the details of the hike.
Day 1
We started the hike at 8.15 am from the parking lot of the Tenkawa Town Office. I would definitely recommend starting as early as possible for this hike (meaning you might like to stay nearby) to ensure you get to the mountain cabin early enough.
The start of many hikes are not very exciting especially in winter. After passing under some power lines (which seems to be common in Japan) and after a lot of breaks we eventually reached a cool old building. Snow started to appear on the ground from around 1000m. I really enjoyed trying to communicate with my bad Japanese and some English – as anyone who has lived in Japan knows it can be quite difficult without beer to do.
Overnight:
After another steady 4-5 hours we eventually reached our destination for the night the Ookamitaira Shelter 狼平避難小屋 at around 3pm. We were quite slow due to the heavy packs, terrain and snow on the ground and in total it took 7 hours with regular breaks to reach the cabin.
The shelter is not super large, but is very spectacular, which is why it is important to arrive early in winter to get a spot. It’s always wise to consider bringing a tent between the group just in case. Our friends While Katchan and Kumiko made their special deer stew for dinner, Ellie and I found space on the top floor. The bottom of the hut was full with 7 other hikers. I tried to make a snowman but the snow was just too dry and powdery (not like Australia!). There is another larger shelter further on but it seemed to only open in summer.
Day 2
The next morning we awoke to a magical winter wonderland on Christmas Day. For Australians growing up with Christmas in summer is kind of a big deal! We left reasonably early at 7.30am but were still the last to leave the hut. Our destination was Mt Misen which is on the way to Hakkyogatake.
From the hut the snow wasn’t too deep and we were able to survive with our waterproof shoes and microspikes. In some years or after big storms the snow might become too deep you’d need to use crampons or snowshoes. You might also find the path is hard to follow in snow so having a GPS device to stay on track is a good idea.
You can see from the rime ice and “shrimp tails” (that’s what the Japanese call them) that this area gets quite windy. If you’re not an experienced winter hiker you need to be mindful of weather changes that could get you into danger. It was still cold despite no winchill factor.
We eventually reached the Mt Hakkyō 八経ヶ岳 summit also passing the Mt Misen mountain hut (image below) along the way! All in all this was one of my all time favorite hikes and a great way to spend Christmas with friends. Especially when away from the family. I hope I can get back to this area of Nara and Wakayama some day!
Returning the same way we made it to the Ookamitaira shelter around 11am and finally back to the car park around 4.30pm. As is customary we drove to the nearest onsen which happened to be Dorogawa Onsen 10 minutes away.
Photos of Mt Hakkyō 八経ヶ岳 by Katchan
