Kyoto :: Atago San 愛宕山

On Saturday, Thaddeus and I hiked up and down Atago san, the second highest mountain in the Kansai region at 924 meters tall. All in all, the hike, rest, and playing around took us around 6 hours, so it's definitely a day trip from Kyoto (but we did have enough time to go out at night!). Getting there was a bit complicated, since the bus that goes directly to the start of the trail only runs early on in the morning and stops running around 9am. We woke up a bit late that day, so we ended up taking a JR train and then a bus to the trail. Luckily enough, our little detour put us right in front of a couple small shops that we decided to explore, and through our own brilliance and navigational ability (i.e. sheer dumb luck), we accidentally stumbled upon the Arayashima bamboo forest!

Unfortunate note: In my haste to not miss my morning bus on Thursday, I neglected to pack sneakers for the climb. So I did the entire hike in my ratty, old, worn out Converse that I really should have thrown out a year ago but have held onto for sentimental value. Suffice to say, my feet still hurt from all the sharp rocks and gravelly trails and uneven steps. And that pair of Converse is well and truly dead. RIP. If you decide to hike Atago san when in Kyoto, don't make the same mistake I did.

The ascent

Going up Atago san was a struggle. Probably one of the most tiring experiences in my life (retzev for Krav Maga is also very up there). The hardest part of the ascent took around 30-45 minutes to complete, and it was basically intensive stairs without pause (except I paused...a lot) until we got to a small shrine set into a decaying tree stump overlooking the valley. The views were fantastic, especially since we could see Kyoto from the shrine, but by that point my legs were very much ready to throw in the towel. Thankfully, the climb leveled out quite a bit, and even there were still some parts that were steep, all in all I wasn't gasping for air much past that point. 

View from the shrine! Kyoto is off to the left, and you can see the layer of fog covering the valley. PC Thaddeus Lee

The trail and the mountain were quite beautiful. Breathtakingly gorgeous (although the breathtaking part might have been the physical exertion). It was a misty and foggy day, so starting about halfway up we walked straight into the fog layer. It's hard to describe how otherworldly and surreal it was. 

Somon, a huge black gate that signifies the entrance to the temple (which was still quite a ways off) 

Wow, Kat actually took some pictures herself!

Beware of Nazgul

All along the way there were small shrines with stone statues that are protectors of travelers (I think?) and checkpoints with signs encouraging us. Most went along the lines of "Have fun!" and "Good luck!" with varying effects on my mood depending on how tired I was at that point and how low the number was out of 40.

Definitely my favorite checkpoint. 本当に「お疲れさまでした」

Once we reached the top, we hung around for a bit, sketched, and marveled at the existence of vending machines at the top of the mountain. The temple was quite simple, but amazingly serene with the mist floating in and out of the rooms.

I wouldn't have minded some of that sake. PC Thaddeus Lee

The descent

We decided to go down a different way than we went up, following a guide from the Lonely Planet book on hiking in Japan. It was quite a bit more treacherous and dizzying going down the smaller, less traveled side trail, but also fantastic in its own way. I definitely felt like I was a hobbit traveling to Rivendell more than a couple times. 

Once we got off of the mountain, we followed the road to another trail along a stream that connected with a river (whose name I've forgotten and am too lazy to look up). The water was amazingly clear, and we went for a swim in one of the swimming holes! The water was chilly but felt oh so good after the long and sweaty hike.

PC Thaddeus Lee

We didn't see anyone at all going down, a bit of a change from the steady stream of ojii-sans and obaa-san we saw on our way up the mountain. 

Eventually, we found our way back to civilization and settled in for a 50 minute bus ride back to the apartment. It felt so great to sit down and not move.

If any of y'all are every in Kyoto, consider hiking Atago san! Thanks for reading, and DFTBA.