Catie on the go: hiking Akita Komagatake

Andy & I have been itching to get out walking since our fun hike in Chuzenji. Andy has been hanging around the local outdoor shop reading maps and guides and I’ve been combing the web for good places to go. Since we are dependent on public transportation, our choices are limited somewhat. We decided to try climbing Akita Komagatake, the highest peak in the neighboring prefecture of Akita. The peak is at 1,637 m (5371 ft), but there is a weekend bus running to the main trailhead at 1305 m (4281 ft). We caught an early morning shinkansen for one stop, then jumped on a bus entirely populated with other adventurers. The bus ride was about an hour up to the trailhead.

The walk was beautiful! Even though the peak of fall foliage is 2-3 weeks away in the lowlands, it was just about perfect at elevation. We walked up past the crater from the 1970 eruption and continued winding up the steep slope getting great views of the mountains across the valley down to Lake Tazawako. Catie was a trooper and hiked almost all the way up herself. This was pretty amazing, since most of the trail consisted of adult knee high rock or wooden steps. We didn’t quite make it to the peak because Catie “ran out of coal” (her words, not mine) and it got super windy and cloudy all about the same time. Plus, we wanted to make sure we caught the 2:40 bus and not have to wait until 3:50 PM, so that we’d get home at a reasonable hour. In spite of not quite reaching our goal, it was a nice hike and we all enjoyed ourselves!