(高畑山) Mt. Takahata Hike

This dandelion growing on the wall sideways is probably my favorite urban wild flower.

Budget: JPY2,340 (~USD22)

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 982m / 3,222ft)

April 2020, May 2020.
Difficulty: 2 out of 5.
Route below is around 8.2kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲828m/ ▽776m
PDF Map Link
I would recommend you do the Mt. Takahata (高畑山) to Mt. Kuratake (倉岳山) route though.

When to Go

It seems that the ideal time to go is autumn, which is likely around end of October to November given that the pond will probably reflect bright red leaves.
Spring, on the the other hand, has gorgeous greens, so it's still a pretty nice place to go.

Special Notes

There are plenty of springs that you'll have to cross, so if it's raining, maybe don't do this hike.

Itinerary

05:37am. Train, Nakano Station to Torisawa Station. You'll likely have to transfer once. In my case, I transferred at Hachioji Station.
06:58am. Arrival, Torisawa Station. Start trek. There's only one exit. Once you exit, turn right, and keep walking on the main road until you see the sign on a small wood sign pointing to Mt. Takahata - but in Japanese. (高畑山) The official trail head is a gated place (picture below), and you just have to open the small door and close it. Here's the google maps pin. If you look it up on satellite mode, you'll even see the gate.
08:10am. Arrival, 分岐. You'll have the option to skip Mt. Takahata and go straight to Mt. Kurotake. In this case, I continued on to Mt. Takahata.
09:30am. ETA: Mt. Takahata-summit. No benches, just choose your rock if you want to stay here. Take an hour lunch break, back trail. You can continue on a bit to Mt. Kuratake, but at the fork, turn left and go down.
11:50pm. ETA: Yanagawa Station. Once you are seeing the end of the trail, look up your google maps to check the train schedule, as trains come every 30 minutes.

You'll see this sign while walking on the main road.

The entrance is at this little triangular door.

The Adventure Log.