After Plaza Argentina base camp, we kept doing the same load carrying routine: carry up some team gear, go back down, maybe rest and then move to the higher camp. We had a total of three high camps: camp 1 at 4950m, camp 2 at 5570m and camp Colera at 5870m. While we were climbing Aconcagua the “Polish traverse” route, Colera is also the highest camp of the “normal” route.
The route up to almost 7000m altitude on Aconcagua is a long one. I’ll write about the “world below” (Mendoza and the area) later. Our route, the “Polish traverse” goes up the Vacas valley to the base camp at Plaza Argentina. On the way we had lunch at some roadside restaurant where we met another team (of two + guide) who were going up the “normal route.”
以前行った北アの穂高とは間違わないこと。上越の武尊山は群馬の奥利根にあって北アの穂高よりは高さ1000m程低いが、雪が豊富。今回の計画ではスキー場のシャトルバス使って、スキー場の麓からリフト使わずに山頂に登って、そして下りてからスキー場を満喫する予定だった。予定は予定で実行はまた別物…
川場スキー場に着くまでは予定通りだった。上毛高原まで新幹線で、そこからは直結のシャトルバスで（バスは要予約なので注意）。電車からも晴れ予報がそうじゃないように見えたけど、スキー場に着いたら普通に吹雪だった。それでも上行ってみようと思った。ただ途中で徒歩はご遠慮くださいみたいな標識があったか飽きたか記憶が曖昧が上まで結局リフトで行った。そして上に着いたら登山はしない判断した。
吹雪で視界がほとんどなく、雪の中で道どころか足あと一つすらなかった。さすがに地図でしか見たことない山の、腰ぐらいの深い新雪に、スノーシューがなく踏み入れるほど狂ってはいない。スキー場もあって雪山登山に人気な山かと思ったけど、天気が悪いせいか見かけた他の登山装備の人も皆諦めたと言ってた。
無念ではあったがスキー場で楽しく一日スノボしてた。
If you’ve watched Yama no Susume, then you’ve heard of Mt Tanigawa. It’s the goal of a major arc of the story and an important memory to the characters. I went there in a different season though (in the snow), but didn’t climb the main summit. For no particular reason other than I didn’t realize the summit I was at wasn’t the highest point. Whoops.
Mitake with its ropeway is probably “the” hiking destination in Tokyo. It’s accessible, not particularly high and you still get beautiful views. Oh, and crowds. Of course crowds.
Not the carrier. Not the anime. The mountain. (After which the carrier was named, by the way.) It’s not one of those jagged, snow-capped “cool” mountains. It’s a relaxed, even comfy mountain. At 1400-and-a-little meters high with gentle slopes, it’s a good day’s escape from Tokyo’s chaos.
Just a week after I did my three-day journey along the Jounen range, I went back to the Northern Alps for another round. This time I climbed Mt Yari. At 3180m it’s the fifth highest mountain in Japan, and second highest in the Northern Alps after Hotaka. The Yari-Hotaka ridge is something I’d like to try eventually (it’s famously challenging), but this wasn’t that time.
Uhuru, ami szuahéliül szabadságot jelent, a Kilimandzsáró 5985m magas főcsúcsa. Először a Shira fennsíkról láttuk meg (bár elvileg ha jó idő van, még Arushából is lehet látni), aztán miután megmásztuk a Baranco falat, végig a bal oldalunkon magasodott.
Living in a city for most of the time it’s always surprising just how clear the sky can be and how bright the stars can be once you’re in nature. That struck me at Mti Mkubwa too, the first camp on Kilimanjaro. “Oh, so that’s why it’s called the Milky Way!”
We started the day with a dancing-singing introduction from the porters and guides. It felt like we were at leisure of time, in no rush whatsoever. We woke up “early” of course (compared to when I’d normally wake up) but only left well past eight.
