Eniwadake (1319m), Shikotsu-ko, Hokkaido
The day started with beautiful sunshine, and a little cloud on the mountain tops. Our host at Lapland gave us a lift through Shikotsu Kohan and along the lakeside road to the car park at the foot of the mountain. Across the water on the left we could see the profile of Tarumaesan and Fuppushidake which we had climbed the day before.
Before our host drove off, we checked the times of buses back to the village where he would pick us up later and take us to an onsen.
I was a bit anxious about the route - it looked steep and we had heard about some stretches where ropes were needed, and the summit had a "danger" sign on the map! We entered our names in the book at the little wooden kiosk beside the car park, wondering what adventures lay ahead before we would sign back in again. Then, around 9 am, we set off.
The track gradually began to climb, taking us past flood defences at first, then more steeply as the trees closed in above us. It became a dark tunnel with the path following a trench between the trees, then climbing over roots and around tree trunks, all the time getting steeper. It was really just a long woodland trail on a 45 degree slope! The closed ranks of conifers lower down gave way to attractive deciduous forest - the opposite of many hillsides in Europe. We spotted signs on the trees indicating (in Japanese) the 4th and 6th stages. These were also marked on the map, giving us an idea of our progress.
A short rocky stretch was made easier by a fixed rope. We felt we were getting on fine, and must be approaching the open bit to get a view. Then suddenly we started on a really steep section with a series of fixed ropes, that seemed to go on and on. But for the ropes, these earthen slopes without footholds would have been unclimbable. The main difficulties were in scrambling up over the overhanging roots of trees, where we had to change ropes. But we did it! A short distance further on we emerged, a bit shaken, at the rocky viewpoint. It was around 10.30, and we had taken 90 minutes, much quicker than the 2 hrs 20 mins marked on the map.
There were a few other walkers sitting on the natural rock terraces, taking in the panorama. Up above us the summit was shrouded in cloud, but there were good views across the slopes. Fumes were rising from the deep gash cut out of the mountain by water - many of the volcanic peaks seemed to have a crater eroded away like this. We had been climbing up the wooded ridge to the right of this channel. The path continued up on the rocks around north side of the crater, and we continued on, unsure how exposed it might become.
In fact it was pretty straightforward hiking. There were no perilous bits, with woodland cloaking the crags and protecting the route. At a couple of points, we could get a view off the cliff edge to the left. On a Scottish mountain at this height, this would be a bare windswept ridge. Here, we had a steady climb up, step by step, on rocks and roots.
We never quite got into the mist which hung around the top. We reached a rocky outcrop at the top of clifes where a sign and rope barred the way, indicating that the summit was closed as too unsafe. So we had no choice whether to risk it or not, and had to settle for this outcrop as (not quite) the "top". It made a good spot for lunch, with plenty of rocks to sit on, looking down across the crater below and with the real summit emerging now and then about 100 feet or 30 metres higher up to our right. A handful of Japanese walkers were up there as well, on their own or in pairs.
We relaxed and opened up the foil packages containing rice balls, which our host had provided. Catriona picked her jam one first, but when I opened mine up I was shocked to find it full of little grey worm-like shapes, and cried out. Upon more careful examination, it looked like they were probably tiny eels, but for once on this trip I couldn't bring myself to eat them. We each had our jam rice balls, before taking a few photos and heading back down.
Then it was a matter of walking back down the summit ridge the way we had come, dodging this way and that around the trees. Back at the viewpoint, a crowd of women sitting in the sunshine seemed intrigued by Catriona being able to speak Japanese to them. They asked if we were married, which was flattering for me but quite the opposite for Catriona!
We'd been trying to keep ahead of an older man, but as we approached the steep section with all the ropes we didn't want to be rushed, and asked him to go first. Then we edged down slowly and it wasn't as difficult as we expected. We felt relieved and triumphant.
After that it was pretty straightforward, but it seemed a long way down through the forest, steep and dark in places, with the same roots and rocks we had clambered up in the morning. Interestingly no attempt seemed to have been made to clear away branches where opportunities existed to open up viewpoints along the way. We realised we might just make the 2.09 bus back to Shikotsu Kohan, and speeded up. We made sure this time that we signed ourselves back in to the logbook, and made it to the bus stop comfortably. It had taken us 5 hours to climb up and back down again, at a good steady pace. The map indicated a total of 3 hrs 50 minutes to the top, and 2 hrs 30 mins to descend, i.e. 6 hrs 20 mins altogether.
Back in Shikotsu Kohan, we had time for a coffee at a restaurant beside the lake, as the cloud closed in and it became quite chilly. We'd been given directions to a hotel and conference centre just across the river to the south, where we enjoyed another relaxing onsen. Not before I had been given a firm reprimand by a fellow bather for forgetting to take off the outdoor sandals which I had changed into after the walk!
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