Hiking & Adventures: Mt. Kawanori

Mt. Kawanori (川苔山 / 川乗山) is a mountain in the Okutama Range, located in westernmost area of Tokyo Prefecture. It's one of three famous mountains in the range, the other two being Mt. Gozen and Mt. Mito. In early January, I joined a small meetup group and together had a fun winter hike up the mountain.

The mountain's name comes from the words kawa (川, river) and nori (苔, moss), I assume due to all of the mountain streams, ponds, and waterfalls that can be seen throughout the climb. Although we did the hike in winter, I could easily imagine how green and mossy the trails must be in the spring and summer months. With an elevation of 1,363.3 meters, there was light snowfall on the ground at certain parts of the hike but this didn't affect our climb in any way. Much of the trail didn't have any snow.

The total ascent time took us 3-4 hours with a couple quick stops and a lunch break at the summit. The descent took us 2-3 hours. The hike was awesome, I really enjoyed it. Once on the actual trail, it's a really nice atmosphere. You can hear the mountain streams and see a few waterfalls throughout. On of the most impressive features is Hyakuhiro Falls, a 40-meter-tall waterfall, which was partially frozen during out hike.

The trails were very quiet and there were very few people hiking the day we went. When climbing Kawanori-san, it's all about the natural environment. There are no benches or obstructive signs on the trails, there are no shrines or temples to stop at, there is no restaurant or food stalls at the top.

A bit too cloudy to see Mt. Fuji, but the views were still great

To get there, we first took a train from Shinjuku to Okutama Station. We then planned to take a bus to Kawanoribashi bus stop, but due to some unforeseen delays had to take a taxi instead. On the day we went, you couldn't take bus or taxi directly to the trail head as the road ascending up was blocked by a gate. I don't know if this gate is closed year-round or only in winter. Also worth noting, is that the very first part of the trail was closed due a damaged bridge. These factors meant we had to walked farther up a paved road for awhile before finally reaching the hiking trail. I mention the gate and closed trail because this may change how you reach the trail if you are reading this and plan to go yourself. Coming back, we trail down the other side of the mountain and ended up at Hatonosu Station, from where we returned to Tokyo.