Hoosan Hike (鳳凰山)

Here are some pictures from my hiking trip to Hoosan. Hoosan is a mountain which actually consist of three separate peaks and is located in the Minami Alps mountain range. Of the three peaks, I only had enough time to get to one of them on this trip. The three peaks are Jizodake (地蔵岳), Kannondake (観音岳), and Yakushidake (薬師岳). The peak I made it too was Yakushidake and has an elevation of 2,750 meters. From the summit of Hoohsan, you get an excellent view of Mt. Fuji and the rest of the mountains in the Minami Alps to include Kitadake. Hoosan is also different from the rest of the mountains in the Minami Alps in that it was formed from granite rock giving it a greyish white appearance.

Me at the summit of Hoosan on Yakushidake.

Unfortunately, the day did not start off well for me. The road that I had planed to take to the trail head was closed and I did not know any alternate routes. Lesson learned. Be a little more prepared next time. I ended up having to park my car at an earlier rest area which added a great deal of distance to my hike, but I wasn’t about to go back without a hike.

The trails leading to the first mountain were very good. They were clear and amazingly smooth. I was loving life at this point.

The first mountain peak I hit was Sentoboshiyama (千頭星山). No spectacular views as it was all tree covered. It mainly just serves as a checkpoint.

After Sentoboshiyama the trail started getting rough. The trail dipped down into a saddle. There were many places the trail was overgrown and other places where the trail was almost non existing. There were quiet a few times that I unintentionally found my self off the trail and had to find my way back to the trail. In some places, the only way you could tel you were on a trail were the ribbons tied to the trees and spray painted rocks. There is a good reason why I was the only person on this section of trail.

After reaching the top of the ridge line, the trail finally improved a lot.

My first rest stop was a mountain cabin. Here they had areas where you could camp as well as fresh water. I decided to stop here for some lunch.

At this point I was now officially on Hoosan. As you get closer to the summit, you see more and more huge granite boulders along the trail.

As I approach the summit, the peak is nothing but exposed granite rocks. It really is an amazing site to see.

The views from Yakushidake were simply amazing.

Mt. Fuji is clearly visible from here.

From here, you not only get a great view of Mt. Fuji, Japan’s highest peak, but you also get a great view of Kitadake, Japan’s second highest peak.

As much as I would have loved to stay up there longer, I knew I had a very long hike back to the car. In my way back down the mountain, I turned one last time to say good by to Hoosan.

Here is the Strava link to the hike.

http://www.strava.com/activities/204818245