A lot of my hiking endeavors began with me thinking to myself, "Hmm, that thing would be cool to do," and last November, I thought to myself, "Hmm, traversing the entire Japanese Alps would be cool." I got super into planning a traverse of Japan's Alps for exactly two days before I gave up,
Japan’s Most Dangerous Hike: The Okuhotakadake – Nishihotakadake Traverse
The most dangerous thing you will encounter on most hikes in Japan is probably dehydration or perhaps one of the giant Japanese hornets if you're unlucky enough to catch one on bad day. However, the number one killer of hikers and people in the outdoors is not bears, snakes, ax-murderers, or even
Hiking Yarigatake (槍ヶ岳) in Japan
Name: Yarigatake Japanese name: 槍ヶ岳 Location: Kita Alps (北アルプス) Summit elevation: 10,433 ft / 3,180 m Elevation change: 6,991 ft / 2,131 m Round-trip distance from trailhead: 17.6 mi / 28.4 km Round-trip time from trailhead*: 12 hours Difficulty: Strenuous Water on trail: Yes Trailhead
Hiking Okuhotakadake (奥穂高岳) in Japan
Name: Mount Okuhotaka Japanese name: 奥穂高岳 (Okuhotakadake) Location: Kita Alps (北アルプス) Summit elevation: 10,470 ft / 3,190 m Elevation change: 6,627 ft / 2,020 m Round-trip distance from trailhead: 12.8 mi / 20.6 km Round-trip time from trailhead*: 10 hours Difficulty: Strenuous Water on
Hiking Tateyama (立山) in Japan
Name: Mount Tate Japanese name: 立山 (Tateyama) Location: Tateyama, Toyama (富山県立山町) Summit elevation: 9,892 ft / 3,015 m Elevation change: 2,017 ft / 615 m Round-trip distance from trailhead: 3.5 mi / 5.6 km Round-trip time from trailhead*: 3 hours 30 minutes (from Murodō) Difficulty:
Hiking Mount Tsurugi (剱岳) in Japan
Name: Mount Tsurugi Japanese name: 剱岳 (Tsurugi-dake) Location: Tateyama, Toyama (富山県立山町) Summit elevation: 9,839 ft / 2,999 m Elevation change: 7,283 ft / 2,220 m Round-trip distance from trailhead: 10.6 mi / 17 km Round-trip time from trailhead*: 10:55 moving time / 12:02 total time
Big In Japan – How I Got Featured In A Japanese Newspaper
Long story short, I'm hugely famous in Japan now and will probably never be returning to the America (or even leaving this volcano filled island). Here's how it happened: I've just spent three hours dragging myself through 4,000 vertical feet (1,200 m) of boulder field to the saddle beneath
Hiking Mount Kasa (笠ヶ岳) in Japan
Name: Mount Kasa Japanese name: 笠ヶ岳 (Kasagatake) Location: Gifu, Japan (岐阜県) Summit elevation: 9,505 ft / 2,897 m Elevation change: 6,233 ft / 1,900 m Round-trip distance from trailhead: 13.54 mi / 21.79 km Round-trip time from trailhead*: 11 hours 30 minutes Difficulty: Strenuous Water on