To Kamikochi and Back: Part 2

19/04/30 - Day 4

What was originally meant to be a rest day turned out to be my highest mileage day yet. Had a bit of a slow start, because apparently 2 beers is enough to give me a bit of a hangover these days. Got up with the mission of getting a ground sheet and making inroads on the 158. Turns out sports stores in Japan are crap, and only sell ground sheets in with a tent. I guess Japanese people never leave them at home. Ended up getting a rather lovely blue tarp I found at the home center next door. It isn't exactly #swankycampgear, but it will do the job.

Set out towards the mountains, which looked ominously cloudy, foreshadowing what was almost the catastrophic end of my trip. I was trundling up happily enough, when I saw one of those digital signs giving out warnings. It said some fairly confusing things in Japanese, but from what I could gather, the upper part of the 158 was closed for some reason. The only other way through is a toll-tunnel for cars only. Lacking 2 wheels and a motor, I was a tad worried I wouldn't get by.

Got to the nearest information center. The guy there is absolutely lovely, but has no idea what I was talking about. Thankfully he called someone who did. The 158 mountain pass is closed, because it is still completely covered in snow. And it won't open again till the end of may. At this point I'm starting to panic. I really don't want to head back the way I came with my tail between my legs, but it's starting to look unavoidable. In a last ditch attempt to score a lift, I suggest maybe a car could give me and the bike a lift or something... My lovely guy jumps back on the phone. After some quick back and forth excitedly informs me that I can throw my bike on a bus at a stop half way up, as long as I put the bike in a bike bag. Overjoyed that I a) wouldn't have to go home early, and b) wouldn't have to climb the highest and worst bit of the 158 guilt free, I headed back into town to buy said bike bag.

I was so overjoyed in fact, that I pushed through some mental barriers and got even further up than attempt 1. Now camping in a deserted park next to a dam, full of beautiful cherry blossoms with no one but me to see them.
38km + 14km down + 19km back up = 71km! Nice going kid.

19/05/01 - Day 5

Started off the day real early, all packed and ready to go by 7. See I had woken up at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep on account of the nerves starting to grow in the pit of my stomach. From the Dam to the bus stop, I'd have to pass through 9 tunnels, two of which were over 1000m long.

Fear is a funny thing. I was anxious about the tunnels all the way up, cresting into full blown dread as I prepared to enter the first one. They are long, narrow, dark, and a good fifth of the traffic here is giant tour buses lugging people up to the nature. The reality though is often far better than what your fear builds it up to be. I could do with remembering that a little more often in everyday life. Going to work on Monday mornings, big parties with loads of people, doing the dishes... its never as bad as you imagined it would be.

Anyway, I'd come this far, and there was no other way round. I waited for a break in the traffic and took the plunge. Adrenaline kicked in big time, so I didn't stop and flew through as fast as I could all the way out the top.*

After the tunnels, everything was peachy. Well, comparatively so. It started chucking it down with rain, but I was so relieved to be alive that I didn't care. Made it to the bus stop, had a much needed bath at an onsen, then stuffed my bike in a bag to get on the bus. Got to Hirayu, where I dropped off my unneeded stuff and bike at the place I'd be staying on the 3rd.

The next two days I'd be camping up in Kamikochi, which meant another bus into the national park. Everyone at the bottom told me not to bother going with all the rain, but I had no where else to be, so I figured I'd risk it. Things were looking pretty grim, but the rain let up at 6pm, so I seized my chance and set up camp. 2 beers later, I was fast asleep in every single piece of clothing I'd brought, as the temperature dropped to about 2°C overnight.**

19/05/02 - Day 6

Woke up in the National park, glad to see the sun peaking through the clouds. I thought about sleeping and lounging about the tent all day, but it would have been a real sin not to walk around a bit after coming all this way. Ended up hiking about 15km up and down the river, but compared to the daily 45km+ up to this point, it felt pretty easy on the legs.

Where winter meets spring

When I planned this trip, a few people told me I was going too early. Turns out they were for the most part right. Spring takes a long time to make it this far up the river, and had only just really arrived. Snow still sat in the shadows, and none of the spring flowers had yet come into bloom.

As I am alone, I spent the larger part of the day people watching. Kamikochi is an interesting place. Near the center, there are a bunch of ridiculously expensive hotels and lodges for the super rich to experience The Nature™. The paths are flat and easy. Everyone on them is out in their prada and gucci. It really is the wild, cornered off and made safe for easy consumption. Capitalism's commodification of nature, exhibit A.

Spotted these two mad lads
hiking up with full packs AND snowboards

Step 20 minutes outside the center, and it's a completely different story. There you see the real pros, dressed to the nines, ready to take on the mountains. Helmets, ice picks, crampons, #swankycampgear galore. Kamikochi for them is just the first checkpoint on long treks up to the nearby peaks.

I felt under dressed for both camps, so resorted to watching the two tribes mingle and eating a bunch of ice cream.***

19/05/03 - Day 7

Took it even easier today, and mozied on out of Kamikochi at about 3. Good bye, you've been good to me. I headed back down to Hirayu to stay in a fancy ryokan, before charging down to the coast for the home stretch. I've had little internet or phone charge for the last two days, so I haven't been replying to messages, or keeping up with the world in general. It's been bliss. Now I'm back, so I'm writing this. Stay tuned for the final chapter. Who knows, I may not even have to go shopping next time.

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*Anyone who is foolish enough to bike anywhere in Japan will inevitably hit tunnels. Unless there is a really wide hard shoulder, my advice is to take an

aggressive line and make cars go round you wide into the other lane. Unless it is a giant tour bus. Then you hug the wall and pray.

** Thank you Lorna for getting me that giant -10°C sleeping bag! When it first came I thought it was a tad unnecessarily bulky, but now I'm in love. Top 5 birthday presents ever.

*** Of course, I am being rather hyperbolic. I'm sure plenty of visitors were just normal people up for the day to get some fresh mountain air. Kamikochi's accessibility gives everyone a chance to see the Japanese Alps in all their glory without having to invest thousands of pounds in camp-wear.