Mt. Kinpu day-hike with my brother

Yep, that’s me looking all happy smiley. This was last Saturday when I went for a day hike with my brother to Mt. Kinpu.

Right now, I’m sitting in my bedroom at my parents’ house in Tokyo feeling rather miserable. I went into the city hoping to get some shopping done, only to come back with nothing completely overwhelmed by the number of people, things, and sounds. Too many stimuli. Sensation overload.

I thought writing about my trip to Mt. Kinpu last Saturday with my brother would calm me down a bit. So here I go:

I think it’s my third time in Mt. Kinpu. I’ve been there with my friends, my father 3 years ago and my brother this time. It’s become one of my favorite places to go for a day trip because it’s close by, accessible, it’s easy but the view is still great.

We left home at around 6:30am and arrived at trailhead next to Mizugaki Hut at approx 9am. There’s a big car park and a bus stop for those coming via public transport and also people with their crashpads who came for the climbing, not for the hiking.

We knew that there were going to be some snow left so I bought a pair of crampons for 2000 yen (20USD) on Amazon the night before and went in with my non-waterproof trail shoes.

It’s an easy 30 mins walk to the Fujimidaira hut where the trail splits into two ways - to Mt. Mizugaki and to Mt. Kinpu. After the hut, we put on our crampons.

We spent about 3 hours amongst the trees until we were on the ridge and we had a 360-view of the surrounding peaks - Mt. Fuji, Yatsugatake, and the Southern Alps. We met a man in his 70s who took a picture of the two of us together.

“Oh, I wish I were young like you two!” he said and told us about his adventure to Mt. Blanc when he was 22, more than half a century ago.

There were quite a bit of snow left along the ridge but because it’s such a popular route, there was no need for us to wade through deep snow to open up a trail - that had already been done for us.

Awww!

We’re siblings :)

Oh…

I had completely forgotten how reflective snow is. Going up there without a pair of sunglasses was very stupid and painful. My brother lent me his while we made some hot instant cup noodles for lunch.

It’s mostly me in the photos because my brother is the one with the camera but I also got to use his fancy camera which was super fun. (Considering getting myself a proper camera after my iPhone freezing to sleep in the cold)

The way down was just too much fun. It was a lot of sliding, falling, slipping and screaming. Kind of like skiing but with your shoes. We were soaked and exhausted but had a wonderful day that makes you want to say, “damn, I’m actually so glad to be alive!”

Ok, I’m feeling a lot better now. If you’ve read this far, whoever you are, thanks. Hope this reminds you of your own nice memories with your loved ones.