As part of my trip in summer (beginning of August) I will be spending two nights in the area of Hirayu Onsen and one more night in Matsumoto. I plan to travel by bus. I will arrive in Hirayu Onsen on the first day in the afternoon (my Ryokan is actually closer to Shinhotaka Onsen). So the next day will be a full day there. I will also have time on the third day since I do not necessarily need to be in Matsumoto before the evening.
For my plans: I wish to do a bit of hiking in the area. I usually do up to medium difficulty day hikes and I have hiking boots, no climbing though. I am interested in both Shinhotaka ropeway and Kamikochi. But I am not sure if it is possible to do both. I have considered several ways to it and I would like to ask which ones are doable, depending on time.
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* My favorite is to get to Shinhotaka ropeay in the morning, hike to Kamikochi and take the bus back to my Ryokan in the late afternoon.
* Second possibility is to get to Shinhotaka ropeway up and down, then take the bus to Kamikochi, do an easy hike in the area and then go back by bus (this could also work the other way round)
* Third possibility is to do only one of those on my full day and the other on the next day before continuing to Matsumoto.
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So, which of those would be preferable in your opinion?
1 comment
You specifically mentioned no climbing and I’m not sure it that means rock climbing or you don’t do elevation changes. Anyway, the hike from shinhotaka to kamikochi is about 4 hours with 600 meter descent according to my trail map. You can see some pictures of the trail:
https://kshouse.jp/takayama-e/takayama-topics_e/hiking-kamikochi-shinhotaka.html
I don’t see it here but I swear in previous research on this trail, I saw pictures of ladders (up/down for steep inclines), which would not be unusual.
If you’re going in summer, you should be prepared for the weather, but also keep in mind that it will be fairly cool near the top, maybe around 10C. Be sure you are prepared accordingly.
Have you possibly considered staying overnight in Kamikochi? You could send your luggage to Matsumoto before you depart and take a day pack, then you could stay somewhere like https://www.m-kamikouchi.jp/tokuzawalodge/ which might give you the best of both worlds, so to speak.