I was planning to do the Dewa Sanzan hike from Monday 9/13 to Tuesday 9/14, going the traditional route from Haguro, staying a night at Saikan, then taking the bus from Haguro Sancho to Gassan Hachigome on Tuesday morning.
I started checking Google maps for bus times and it kept only showing two times on Saturday/Sunday. I checked the bus website and found this:
https://www.shonaikotsu.jp/english/tourism/haguro_tt.html
It would appear they only run four buses…a WEEK and only on weekends. Does this make sense to anyone? I wanted to avoid the weekend to have a less crowded experience, but is the weekend my only option?
I haven’t even looked at buses from Yudono back to Tsuruoka…but this trend has me worried.
How fucked am I?
3 comments
Checking buses from Yudono, there doesn’t appear to be any according to:
https://www.tsuruokacity.com/yudono
Ffffffffffffffff
Super thin bus schedules are kinda normal in the Japanese countryside. Although this might be the worst I’ve heard of yet. But yea, if you go to remote places, always research bus schedules before making any kind of plans.
I did this hike in 2019. I made a post about the planning portion [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/bidu2y/july_2019_toyama_backpacking_tohoku_fuji_rock_how/) though I’m not sure how much it will help you but I made a big long post so I might as well link it.
Summary of my route: I took a bus from Tsuruoka to Haguro and stayed overnight. I took a bus in the morning to Gassan 8th station and hiked up to Gassan and then down to Yudono. I spent the night in Yudono and took the bus in the morning back to Tsuruoka. I started Thursday in Tsuruoka, hiked Gassan/Yudono on Friday, and went back to Tsuruoka on Saturday iirc.
My first warning is to be careful with English schedules because sometimes, they forget to or are slow to update them. In this case, though, it looks like that’s accurate – you’re going to have to get up early to catch the bus to Gassan 8th station.
Trust me, there is NO crowd. I think there were literally two people on the bus when I took it. On my way up to Gassan peak, I saw approximately half a dozen hikers/small groups and one larger group of about a dozen who were actually doing the hike for the shrine. On my way to and down Yudono, there was similarly a group of about a dozen and then basically a couple small groups and that’s it.
Plan your trip around the buses; here’s the shuttle from Yudono Shrine to the hotel: [http://www.shonaikotsu.jp/tourism/toll_yudono.html](http://www.shonaikotsu.jp/tourism/toll_yudono.html)
From Yudono back to Tsuruoka, there was this: [https://www.yudonosan-stay.com/access/](https://www.yudonosan-stay.com/access/)
I am actually not entirely clear on what happened when I was there (I had injured my leg on the mountain so the rest of that trip is a little hazy as I was focused on, well, not dying) but I think the prices there are for the reservation taxi. The schedule listed, I think, is for the private bus that is much cheaper. But, I could be totally wrong and it did cost me 10000 JPY to get back to Tsuruoka, I really don’t remember. I highly suggest you contact them and clarify.
If you decide to hike, I strongly suggest you download this app and get a topographical map: [https://www.mapple.co.jp/product/mountainmap/](https://www.mapple.co.jp/product/mountainmap/)
Copy/pasted from an earlier comment of mine about Kamikochi but it’s the same app.
>Trail maps: I think there may be printed detailed trail maps available in English but I’ve not found them. I personally use this app called Yama to Takahara Chizu (Mountain and Highlands Map) 山と高原地図 (search this in the app store). Unfortunately, it’s not free (about 500 JPY per map, though you’ll only need one for Kamikochi) and more importantly, it’s Japanese-only. In addition, the maps are only images so you cannot try to copy/paste for translation. If you decide to get the maps (which you should anyway, IMO, as some signs like a big yellow ! are pretty universal, and the terrain/trail information is invaluable). Frankly, I think for 500 JPY, there’s absolutely zero reason not to buy it for something like this. If you download the app, click the first sign 地図を選ぶ and then the grey ドウンロード button at the bottom. This will take you to a list of maps – you want map 38, 槍ヶ岳 ・ 奥穂高 上高地. Click the button at the bottom and then I think the payment method should be fairly straightforward.