After the success of our hike up and down Tanigawa-dake a month or so earlier, my friend Jamie and I decided to tackle somewhere a little lower in altitude. We settled on a walk leaving Musashino Itsukaichi station, up Hinode-yama, and down the other side to Okutama. Whilst we had to take an early turn back to civilisation on Tanigawa-dake, the heavy rain didn’t put us off when crossing Mitake-san and heading down the other side.
Although the Tanigawa-dake scenery was far more spectacular, this trip was more successful in terms of completing the mission we set out to achieve. The walk up had some steep patches, even though Hinode-yama is only 900 metres. I think I mentioned earlier that for several months, autumn seemed to never stop – and this day was no different with vibrant maples out across the mountains. After it started raining, there were not many people around, so a mountain path without running into the many other hikers usually around was a pleasant change.
Once safely down the other side, we found the Okutama Onsen, a hot spring with an outdoor bath overlooking the Tama River. It was quite busy – I guess that given the weather, everyone was happier sitting in a hot spring rather than being up a mountain.
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