Kirigamine and Tateshina late fall mountain adventure

[Gunma Boarder 14]

I posted some of these pictures on the "Guess Where This Is" thread and got some requests for a trip report so here it is.

 

My friend and I took a trip to climb Mt. Tateshina in Nagano prefecture a couple of years back. We started the trip by climbing Mt. Kurumayama which you can drive almost to the top of (hence the name　車山？） .　We made it in time to watch the sunset from the peak. For how easy it is to get to, the views are amazing.

 

This is a picture of the shrine at the peak and Mt. Tateshina as well as a few other mountains in the Yatsugatake range.

 

As the sun began to set.

 

Do you like our beautiful frost artwork?

 

The last rays of light on one of the most unique mountain ranges in all of Japan. You can also see the top of Kurumayama Kogen Ski Area on the left. The peak is only a few meters above the lift!

 

For staying warm nothing beats dancin!

 

Yes that was Mt. Fuji in the previous photo.

 

I can never quite capture the true beauty of mountain sunsets but here are my best attempts.

 

 

After this we were both freezing and decided to head for the warmth of the truck. The direction of our decent let us enjoy the sunset until all color had left the sky.

 

Both of us were in the money saving mood so we had decided in advance to sleep in the truck. We found a parking lot away from the lights of passing cars and sat down to a good meal of canned chill and cold beer. The deer calling to each other in their haunting voices over our music played at low volume made for an interesting night.

 

In the morning we didn't have to go far to get a nice view. We opened the truck window and..........

 

It was really hard to get out of the sleeping bag, but we used this view as inspiration to get going! We decided to once again climb Kurumayama (It's really easy!) to see the sunrise from a higher point. The peak didn't disappoint.

 

I believe these are the central alps, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

The South Alps. From left to right Mt. Kaikomagatake, Mt. Kita, Mt. Aino and Mt. Senjogatake.

 

Mt. Fuji and the South Alps with Chino City and Suwa City below.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I love Fuji (the view.....I detest the climb).....its one of the things I miss most about moving from shonan to sapporo

[seemore 66]

nice photos