Route name: Karikura ridge (狩倉尾根)
Mountain: Ryogami-san (両神山)
Map sheet: 27 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]
Time: 9-10 hours
Difficulty: Exposed scrambling
The area around Mt Ryogami is one of the Tokyo
region’s best adventure playgrounds. It’s a popular mountain, on the list of
the hyakumeizan (百名山);
and both its eastern hiking trail and the Hacchō
ridge (八丁尾根) to the
northwest, with its endless chains, are always busy at weekends. But very few
venture off these main courses.
What most people don’t realise is that the mountain
can also be climbed by several variation routes, navigating over and around
steep and exposed pinnacles, often requiring a belay or a rappel.
The Karikura ridge is probably the most challenging of
them. It could properly be called the mountain’s west ridge, but there is no
marked trail on any maps; and trust me, you won’t see anybody else until you
reach the summit.
Getting
there:
You’ll
need a car for this itinerary, as there is no public transport to the start of
the route. First head to Chichibu (秩父) in
Saitama, and from there you need to take route 140. Stay on this road as it
winds its way up the Arakawa river, past the roadside station at Ōtaki (大滝), and keeping right at the fork just after
Ōtaki. After a few more kilometres you’ll come to the dramatic Raiden Todoroki
loop bridge (雷電廿六木橋).
Continue
alongside the Okuchichibumomiji lake (奥秩父もみじ湖) until
you come to a junction with a tunnel on your right. Take this right turn
through the tunnel onto route 210. Stay on route 210 as it winds its way up an
increasingly stunning gorge, surrounded by limestone walls. In the upper
reaches of this road, you will pass concrete factories with mounds of lime,
disused houses and infrastructure from the days when this area was a major
mining operation for concrete production.
Eventually
you will reach a sharp bend with a lay-by, near an old mining facility. Park in
this lay-by.
Description:
To access the Karikura ridge, walk back down the road you’ve driven up for several hundred metres.
Your mission is to get up onto the ridge above you on your
left, and there’s no perfect place to do it, so just pick the easiest location
you can find and start hiking/scrambling up. You will soon reach an abandoned
wooden building, which is interesting to explore a little.
Above
here it is consistently steep, but there are plenty of trees where you need
them. You may need to deploy your rope in places too.
After
a couple of hours, you should reach the top of the first peak on the ridge,
known as Antenna Peak (for the old radio antenna that graces it). Take a short break here as you are about to start the
Karikura ridge proper.
The
descent off the back of Antenna Peak is very steep, and I’d recommend
rappelling the final section just to be on the safe side. From the col,
continue up the ridge on the other side.
Things get more narrow, exposed and rocky, and the views all around are quite thrilling. You will cross over the 1625m Karikura peak, and after several hours you will come to the Karikura Yari pinnacle.
There
are several places along the way where a rope is prudent. The first is a horizontal traverse
across a knife-edge rock ridge. It’s not overly difficult, but the exposure is
immense.
After
that you’ll need to climb a rather steep face followed by more scrambling to
regain the top of the ridge.
Eventually
you will leave the exposed ridge behind, and at the top of the Karikura ridge
you will hit the main ridge running south to north, and join the hiking trail.
Follow this trail all the way to the summit of Mt Ryogami.
Descent:
The
day is not over yet though, and you still have a long way to go before you
reach the car, and this will involve traversing the Hacchō ridge. Continue over
the summit to the north and after about 30 minutes of map time you’ll reach the
minor summit of Mae-higashi-dake (前東岳). From here you are onto the Hacchō
ridge, and several hours of continuous up and down over polished limestone with
countless chains.
The
two main peaks along the Hacchō ridge are Higash-dake (東岳)
and Nishi-dake (西岳) and, once past those, another half hour of
scrambling will bring you to the Hacchō Pass (八丁峠).
From
the Hacchō Pass take the signposted descent trail that drops off into the
valley on your left.
After
descending for about 40 minutes map time, you will get down to the road.
Continue walking down this road and in about another 30-40 minutes you will
reach the lay-by where you left your car.
Summary:
An
exhilarating circular scramble over the top of this fine hyakumeizan, with
around 7-8 hours on consistently steep and exposed terrain. Bring a 30m rope
and a selection of slings for protection as needed.
***
NEWS ***
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