Getting Drenched at Mount Kawanori
Okutama is home to my favourite kind of mountains, covered in waterfalls and cascading streams, and lush green from Spring through to Autumn when the leaves turn beautiful reds and golds. Mount Mitake is the most famous of the mountains there, which up until last weekend, was my favourite mountain in all of Japan. This all changed when I met Mitake’s big sister Kawanori last Sunday. Kawanori is like Mitake, but BIGGER. Bigger cascades, bigger waterfalls, and more challenging and fun trails. Sorry Mitake, you will always remain close to my heart, but you have been eclipsed.
How it all started...
Having said all this, our meeting was far from perfect. As the day of our hike approached, the Hike To The Clouds team watched the weather forecast with worry. The weather had been unusually changeable, and it seemed that the rainy season could start early. The night before the hike, the forecast said that there might be some fine rain, but most of the day would be clear. Deciding it was safe, we packed our rain gear (just in case) and headed out. Fine rain my ass. A few minutes after arriving on the trail, the rain started coming down. IT WAS NOT FINE (in both senses of the word). We all really wanted to see the famous 40m waterfall though, so we decided to walk to the falls and reassess once we got there.
The hike to the waterfall takes roughly 1 hour 30 minutes. The trail took us along and over large streams and brooks with gushing falls tumbling over mossy rocks. It is one of the prettiest hikes I have ever been on. Though the trail isn’t steep, making it a great trail for beginners, there are a lot of bridges without handrails and some narrow and rather precarious ledges to walk along made even more dangerous by the rain. The rain eased off, but the team was unusually sombre. We all waited and watched each other carefully, as we each crossed bridges and ledges, a sense of unease setting in despite the beauty we were surrounded by.
Now, I already told you that it takes around 1 hour 30 minutes to get to the waterfall. But in our tiredness, we had read the map wrong. We had read 45minutes... This led to more anxiety. “Shouldn’t we have reached it by now?”, “There is no way we have passed it, right?” “We must be walking too slowly”, “Will we make it to the summit in time to get down before dark?!”. We were all incredibly relieved when we eventually heard the sound of the falls.
Relief
Arriving at the falls was like arriving at the peak of a mountain. Our anxiety and worries were overtaken by awe and exhilaration. We had made it, and it was so worth it! We didn’t care about getting wet as we had already been drenched on the way. We climbed over the rocks and moved closer to the falls, allowing the sound and vibrations to flow through our bodies.
Our hike was not over yet though, we knew that we couldn’t stay long if we wanted to get to the peak in good time, and we already thought we were running a little late. After taking photos and replenishing with snacks, we decided to brave the next part of the trail. And we knew from the reviews that it wasn’t going to be easy.
The ascent
The next part of the trail was tough. Rocky sections with chains, and trails so steep we needed ropes to help us up. The team’s morale took another dip. Luckily the first steep section only lasted 10 minutes or so. The trail ended up being a mix of long flat sections followed by short but steep inclines. It was getting to the point that we didn’t know whether we were covered in sweat or rain, it was not comfortable. I kept telling myself that if I could get through one of Kayla Itsines HIIT workouts, I could get through this no problem. I don’t know if it is because we Brits don’t seem to mind the rain so much, or because I just really loved the mountain, but despite it all, I was feeling motivated and energetic.
Another member of our team was not feeling the joy though. As most hikers know, there are a lot of factors that go into how well you are feeling on a trail. From what or how much you ate the night before, how much sleep you managed to get, or even what time of the month it is (and that doesn’t count just for women). It isn’t all about fitness. Even the fittest of hikers can have a bad day on an easy mountain. Every hike a different team member needs extra support, and that is one of the great things about hiking as a team. We are there for each other. On some hikes, I feel like I wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for them. This time I got to give the support back. We made sure our teammate took plenty of breaks, had enough fueling snacks and water, and gave words of encouragement, support, and motivating promises of beer when we got back.
We made it up to the summit in good time. We took some time to dry off, put on some dry layers and eat our onigiri before taking pictures and admiring the cloudy view of the surrounding mountains. The team were feeling a lot more relaxed knowing that we had plenty of time to get back down before sunset.
Curiouser and curiouser
5 minutes after leaving the summit, the sun suddenly decided to shine. The dull woods suddenly turned technicolour. It was magnificent! It seemed like it would be an easy walk down with the birds singing around us. Then the strangest thing happened. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw white. Turning, I saw the path behind us had been swallowed by a thick mist. It was such an eerie sight to see half of the forest covered in mist while the other half was still clear and sunny. The mist kept crawling forward like a living creature and soon we were engulfed.
All at once, we were thrown into a scene from a horror movie. The forest became still and silent. The air cooled and the hairs on my arms started to stand up. Then suddenly… my husband started acting out horror scenes. It is always good to have a comedian in the group at times like those.
After about an hour of walking through the mist, the forest became clear again. It felt like the trail was never-ending, but we picked up our pace and made it back to Hatonosu Station without problems. In all, the hike down took us just under 3 hours. Our whole hike took around 6 hours.
In spite of our exhaustion and the bad weather, nothing could take away from Mount Kawanori’s beauty. The hike was an experience we will never forget, and we will definitely come back with the whole team on a sunnier day to experience it all again. If you would like to visit Mount Kawanori it is easy to reach. Take the train to Okutama Station, then the bus right outside the station to Kawanoribashi. The trail begins on the opposite side of the road to the bus stop. Hiking up to the waterfall and back is a great route for confident beginners, just make sure that you have checked the bus timetable. If you miss the bus, many hikers have used the local taxi service and say that it is not too expensive to get to and from the station.
