Against my better judgement and advice from fellow Redditors, I traveled to Tsuruoka yesterday to attempt the Dewa Sanzan trek—something I’ve wanted to do for many years. I left my stuff at the station, save a backpack, and hopped the bus bound for Haguro. I got off at the base and made my way up the steps. It was fine. Not much to see in the way of views, but reading all of the shrine descriptions was fun (I dropped some coins at the one for the gods of brewing).
I stayed the night at Saikan, where I was almost completely alone except for a small group consisting of two old parents and their middle aged daughter. While I thought this would mean I would get some tranquility, the walls were paper thin (naturally) so when they woke up at 4AM and stated having loud discussions, I heard every word. I reciprocated with some Dragonforce, since if I must wake up, I might as well rock out. I should say at this point that I never have high expectations for mountain huts or temple lodges, but this place seemed to have a particular drop in quality compared to reviews from years ago. Many go here for the amazing Buddhist food, but it was pretty mediocre. I’ve had much better in places like Oku no in and elsewhere.
I knew in advance that there were no buses from Haguro to Gassan during the week, so I tried my hand at hitchhiking in the morning, but the only people visiting Haguro were day trippers coming to pray. Nobody was attempting the pilgrimage hike.
Now, even if there was a bus to Gassan, that would still not help me getting anywhere after arriving at Yudono-San, as a previous Redditor pointed out, buses stopped running from there to Tsuruoka over 5 years ago. My question is: why? The main appeal of the Dewa Sanzan hike for me was going up Gassan, then over and down to Yudono, and indeed, this is what many have extolled as the best part of the hike. The problem is that it has become impossible without hiring expensive private transportation, and renting a car does not solve this problem, because if you drive yourself to Gassan’s 8th station and hike to Yudono, you will still have to go back and get your car. So your only options are to do the mountains separately or just hike back and forth. Normally I am not at all opposed to hiking round trip (as I often do in the Alps), but the appeal of this trek for me was the spiritual journey from present to past to future. Going back after finishing the three mountains seemed antithetical to the purpose of the journey.
In conclusion, I would not recommend anyone do this trek as the spirit has been largely lost IMO. Alternatively, I highly recommend Oku-no-in in Wakayama if you want a spiritual experience, and basically anywhere in the alps if mountaineering is your thing (Kamikochi, Tateyama, and Hakusan are great options, to name a few).
Take care!
4 comments
So you knew the buses weren’t running this week (but would next week) and were shown options getting back to Tsuruoka from Yudono, but you decided not to go when the buses were running because…?
When I hiked up to the Gassan shrine and mountain hut, I spoke with the guide briefly. He does over a dozen hikes with a dozen people every year (edit: he’s a Shinto practitioner(?) and the groups he leads are specifically up to the shrine at Gassan and then down to Yudono). It’s certainly not the most popular hike (religion in Japan isn’t like in the West) but people still make the journey.
Did you call the hotel at Yudono to ask about the bus or options getting back to Tsuruoka from Yudono? Why didn’t you wait until the buses were running to make this attempt? You could have gone directly to Gassan 8th station from Haguro.
I understand very well your frustration as it was a massive pain for me to plan my trip around the sparse schedules but it seems you really set yourself up for failure.
I literally did this hike two years ago and covid is covid but when things get back to normal, whatever that may be, people will continue to go on this hike. It’s hardly “dead” as you say.
Ya know, it feels a bit early to sound the death knell for a centuries-old pilgrimage route just because the bus connections are a bit dodgy. Come on now. I dare say that if there’s anything that’s happened in the modern era that *has* compromised the pilgrimage, it’s the existence of a car park near the mountain in the first place. Or, y’know, only hiking between two of the mountains instead of all three, for that matter?
[There is, incidentally, a bus](https://www.shoko-travel.jp/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/shuttlebus2021.pdf). It’s seasonal, so not quite the regular route as in pre-2017, but that season *does* include mid-September. And sure, it’s a lot more expensive than a regular bus, but it’s still a fraction of what a taxi would cost.
To further rebuke any “it’s covid” comments, I should say that I have travelled extensively to over 30 prefectures since the pandemic started, mostly funded by the Go-To Travel campaign (work remotely and get paid to travel? Yes, please), so my points of comparison are within sample. I have also visited many places in Yamagata that have been bustling with tourists. Dewa Sanzan was the most dead of any place (even Ibusuki had more people).
When I say “dead” I mean devoid of people and services, which for many is a GOOD thing. I especially enjoyed how dead Yakushima was when I visited there for a week, but in that place a car is required, so my expectations were different.
Yeah, Wakayama rules. I just did that hike a few weeks ago