So in the morning, instead of having to take the train to Tateyama Station, Aoki-san very kindly drove me up there from Toyama. But first, we stopped at Dentestu-Toyama Station as I needed to drop off my luggage there to use the luggage forwarding service. Very useful, by the time you finish the Alpine Route, your luggage will be waiting for you! About 15-minutes before reaching Tateyama we stopped at a rest station which happened to have a little petting zoo with ponies! However it was too early in the morning to feed them^^ the ponies seemed to be sleepy too.
To go through the alpine route, you make use of 6 vehicles to ascend and descend great distances. First was a ride up a funicular from Tateyama Station to Bijoudaira, where you change to a trolley bus.
While on the 50-minute bus ride, you pass by sights like this thick giant cedar. The higher up the mountain you to, the fewer tall trees you see
From the bus, you can also get a glimpse of Shoumyou Daki, a powerful waterfall, and the tallest in Japan at 350m.
In the morning, the weather was a tad cloudy; so much of the mountain was shrouded in fog and low clouds, with the view of the peaks obstructed.
But don’t you think it makes the mountain look somewhat mysterious? Though thankfully in the afternoon the weather cleared and scenery became nicer.
Even children are taught from young to love the mountain, I heard that almost all elementary school students in Toyama will visit Tateyama and climb it with their school. I did see quite a few groups of children with their striking yellow caps today!
There still is snow in late July, though much of it has melted.
This is what the tall towering walls of snow representative of Murodo become in summer!
Ptarmigans/snow grouses, are called raichou (雷鳥) in Japanese, the literal translation being “lightning/thunder bird”. They got the name because in order not to be eaten, they come out only during bad weather (thunderstorms/rain), so when you see lightning or hear thunder, chances are that you’ll be able to see the bird (: These are a protected species in Japan.
Start of the hiking route at Murodo. It was very cloudy this morning; the peaks were all obstructed by clouds! All the stones here are from the mountain, the alpine route tries to be as environmentally friendly and energy-conserving as possible, reducing the amount of extra items being brought into the mountains. All forms of transportation run on either electricity or hybrid gas, and cars are not allowed past the starting points (Tateyama Station and Ougisawa Station)
Murodo is 2,450m above sea-level. The weather up here is extremely different from the sweltering city below. But don’t think I’m some loser who didn’t take into account the temperature difference, I love cold weather and have a high tolerance for it! (As long as it’s not sub-zero!) And I think it was about 13deg this morning, perfect chilly weather~ The scarf and my hair kept me warm and cozy~♥
Right before setting off, there’s a basin with flowing water.
Really cool and refreshing water, which is the melted snow from Tateyama. It’s invigorating and delicious! ♥
Fields of flowers and grass. The little yellow “flowers” (known as pentapetala) are actually classified as trees! Because when you examine them under a microscope, you can see rings, formed in a way similar to rings of bark in trees.
The white blocks beyond are actually snow! Having never seen real snow before, while riding the bus up I was thinking for the longest time how fascinating it was that there were very white rocks on the slopes of the mountains! Even now, people still go up to ski!
A pond nearby called Mikuraga Ike, the center is liquid but the edges are still frozen!
It’s sometimes referred to as the god’s kitchen; as apparently, all mountains in Japan have a place called “Murodo” which was believe to be the place where the gods sit. And since on this mountain, the pond is nearby, they call it the god’s kitchen.
Road into the clouds~
With Kikyo-san at the Murodo hiking area starting point after we made a round. He had business-related matters to attend to, so I’d be on my own from after this. Nevertheless, it was great having company, he was a great guide!
Going back into the terminal at Murodo, you can write wishes on pieces of paper, hang them and hope they’ll come true. It is believed that the closer you are to the stars, the more likely your wish will be fulfilled. Tateyama is quite high up~ ♥
I didn't really have anything to wish for, just world peace.
With a yama-girl.
This is how the view is supposed to be on a clear day in summer, blue skies and visible peaks in the background. A pity I didn’t get to see it, but the low clouds really fascinated me!
Hoshi no Shizuku, the most popular souvenir food found only at Tateyama. You can’t buy this past Murodo. It’s almonds covered with a milky coat, really delicious!
Saying farewell to Kikyo-san.Now I'm back to being #aloneinthemountains!
First glimpse of Kurobe Lake.
A block of snow.
After Murodo, all the following vehicles descend towards Kurobe.
Cable car just happened to pass by at that moment!
View from Kurobe Daira, the next vehicle would be the cable car above!
I always find myself drawn to keychains, even though I probably don’t have anymore places to hang them^^
Right now I think I’m on a Chopper frenzy, there’s limited edition Tateyama x Chopper/One Piece keychains!
View from while on the cable car~
Gorgeous lake~
On Kurobe-daira, 1,828m above sea level. The white in the background are frozen streams! The bottom layers are melted and flow, but the top remains frozen.
While exploring the area around Kurobe-daira, I saw another drinking basin!
Being ever-adventurous, I hiked around for a while before heading back as my shoes kind of broke^^
Lots of pretty blooming flowers at this part of the mountain.
Sometimes I really felt like I could reach out for the clouds! Especially at Murodo, where they were really low and thin, floating a small distance above.
Cable car down to Kurobe-ko. The sign inside says: “Respect Tateyama, love Tateyama and be grateful for Tateyama’s beauty”. And I think all the efforts have paid off, the place is still well preserved, you do not see litter anywhere, people don’t step on grass where they’re not supposed to.
After getting off the cable car, to continue along the route, visitors walk across the top of Kurobe Dam.
Here’s the beginning, on the side of the lake. If you want to, pleasure boat cruises across the lake are also available.
In the afternoon, the weather was starting to clear up, but it was still a tad cloudy.
On the other side of the walkway, you can see the powerful discharges of water!
On days of good weather, you’re supposed to be able to see rainbows, but since today was cloudy and a bit rainy, no rainbows.
But that doesn’t reduce the grandeur of discharges!
Today, there were a lot of children and seniors travelling along the alpine route.
Another view of Kurobe Lake.
Standing at 186m, the Kurobe Dam was a major project for Japan after World War II; so much so that there was even a novel written about it, which was made into a movie.
The stream in which the dam discharge flows through.
Great scenery needs to be accompanied by great weather. The dam is really a spectacular sight!
After walking to the end of the dam, I walked for a few minutes in a tunnel to reach the terminal to take the trolley bus to Ougisawa. The trolley bus travels mostly underground, under the dam. In the middle, you cross the border of Toyama and Nagano (: Most of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route lies in the Toyama Prefecture, but the end station, Ougisawa, is in Nagano. From Ougisawa, you can either take a bus to Shinano-oomachi where JR trains run, take a taxi or ride your own car.
This was the place where I was to pick up my luggage after using the forwarding service at Dentetsu-Toyama Station earlier in the morning. It’s right beside Shinano-oomachi station.
Took a train from Shinano-oomachi to Matsumoto, my next stop on this trip!
