Hiking
Mount Yōtei
羊蹄山
Roundtrip Route from Kyogoku – 京極コース
Distance: 10.5kms
Elevation: 1582m
Time: 9 hours
Difficulty: 9/10
Best Time to Visit: June to August
The Hike
This hike will always be seared into my memory as the hike from hell. There is no one to blame for this except for myself though. I picked the hardest route as it was closest to the pretty campsite I wanted to stay at. I also went in very unprepared, having convinced myself that I would be fine without the same gear most people take.
I took the Kyogoku Trail (京極コース), located on the northwestern corner of the mountain. It’s not particularly easy to find information in English on this one, but if you have google translate on it’s possible to find a couple of pages about it. Here is the towns tourism page. It suggests the hike is doable in around 7 hours, but that the course is crumbling. I’m not sure I could’ve realistically done it in that kind of time and done the loop of the top. I did the hike in early September, after there had been a lot of rainfall.
There aren’t any toilets on or near the the trail, so I recommend going to the Michi no Eki (道の駅) before heading there. The trailhead is through a field that is privately owned, so the car park only has around 10 spaces. Here you need to sign in and register your name and how long you intend to spend. From my research it seems if you are located in Japan you may be sent a postcard after you complete it. On my hike I only saw a couple of other people, though I did go on an overcast day.
Before getting to the trailhead is the best time to admire the mountain, as you won’t see much of it again while you climb up. The brush at the beginning is tall and thick, but easy enough to get through. Unlike all the other hikes I’ve done in Japan, there is little to clearly guide the way except for the numbered markers. Nothing has been done to the trail to make it easier to walk, and I found myself often climbing up using the grooves from other hikers.
There are also a lot of warnings for bears on this trail, so it’s always important to be vigilant and make sound. I brought a bear bell with me on this one, but I also tend to sing loudly and make other noises. As the hike wore on this became much harder as singing and climbing don’t particularly go hand in hand.
From around the 4th station, or around 40% of the way up, the hike was almost completely in fog. It was still much too warm for snow, but I was slowly covered in a film of moisture as I kept going. I began to understand why there were so many gloves in the box with the sign in, as I had to do a lot of climbing.
When I reached the top there was still no visibility, so I am relying on pictures to see the crater on the inside. I did a loop of the top and then an extra little loop because I got lost trying to find my trail back down. I was glad I brought a lot of food with me, as in the end this took me nearly 9 hours from start to finish.
The way down was when this hike truly took a turn for the worse for me. I was already tired when I began my descent, and the station markers became a point of stress when I’d see I still had 80% of the way to go. The trail had become much wetter and slippery, and I slid down the mountain at times. When I finally reached my bike at the trailhead I was covered in dirt and had lost a few of the trinkets I’d had on my bag before.
My campsite was down the hill near a big onsen, so I rolled on down and treated myself to a bath and some curry. I had meant to continue cycling the next day, but when I woke up the next day my muscles were so stiff I could barely move. Even after 2 more days I was still in pain, but could ride again. Unless you enjoy a hard time I’d definitely recommend trying a different course for Mt Yotei, though I did feel very proud of myself afterwards.
Getting There and Accommodation
Kyogoku is not as easily accessible as the start points of the other routes, requiring a car or bus to get to. As I travel by bike I picked this location solely because of it’s proximity to a cheap campsite next to an onsen.
Special Notes
Definitely make sure that you’re prepared for this one going in. I wished many times along the way that I’d taken some of the gloves at the beginning. Better clothing wasn’t really an option for me then, but I would wear clothes I didn’t mind soiling, and make sure anything I didn’t want to lose was well secured to me.
Stay safe and enjoy your journey.