Mt. Misaka-Kurodake 御坂黒岳 • Mt. Tenjo 天上山
2024-03-09
Location: Yamanashi Prefecture
Date Captured: 2024-03-09
Date Published: 2024-06-17
Last Modified: 2024-06-18
Hiking route: Kawaguchiko Station 河口湖駅 -> Kogamasao Memorial Park 古賀政男記念公園 -> Fujiyama Twin Terrace FUJIYAMAツインテラス -> Mt. Misaka-Kurodake 御坂黒岳 -> Kogamasao Memorial Park 古賀政男記念公園 -> Mt. Tenjo 天上山 -> Kawaguchiko Station 河口湖駅.
Mt. Fuji galore.
There are several mountains named Kurodake in Japan, so sometimes people call this one Misaka-Kurodake, since it's part of the Misaka mountain range 御坂山塊 in Yamanashi. I started at midnight from Kawaguchiko Station and aimed to reach Fujiyama Twin Terrace before 6:00am to watch the sunrise. The trail was not particularly difficult, but I went the wrong way at some point and wasted 30 minutes crawling back to the right path (you can see this part on the track below at around 1287m elevation). I rushed up the trail and managed to arrive before the sun rose, but missed the nightscape view. Nevertheless, the view was spectacular.
After spending over an hour on the terrace enjoying the scenery, I headed for Mt. Misaka-Kurodake. The view here was even better, spanning from Hakone to the west to the Southern Alps to the east. Mt. Fuji of course stood prominently above all others. Unfortunately, the price to pay for this stunning view was a seriously steep descent down towards Lake Kawaguchi. There were many ropes along the way, but the soft, melting snow made the already narrow trail super slippery.
Since there was still plenty of time left until sunset, I decided to climb another mountain, Mt. Tenjo near Kawaguchiko Station. Partly I also wanted to capture the city night view that I missed earlier, and Mt. Tenjo was not far from the train station so it was quite convenient. Here you could take the ropeway to Tenjoyama Park, but I wanted to be a purist. Do bring spikes if you climb in the winter; I saw several people falling on their butts because of the icy trail!
