(燕岳) Mt. Tsubakuro Hike

One of the most beautiful mountains in the northern alps with a mountain hut right at the ridge, looking at the gorgeous Tsubakuro summit one side and the distinctive summit of Yari on the other side. 

Budget: JPY9,420 (~USD89) from Tokyo

• JPY4,820. Two days' worth allocated with Seishun 18 ticket. (if from Tokyo)
• JPY3,600. Roundtrip bus. (JPY1,800 one way)
• JPY1,000. Tent fee.

Hike Date / Difficulty (Elevation: 2,763m / 9,065ft)

• June 4-5, 2022
• Difficulty: 3 out of 5.
• Route below is around 9.4kilometers, with an elevation change of ▲1,433m/ ▽1,433m
• Map Link

When to Go
Probably throughout the year, but the official hiking season is around April to late October.

Special Notes 

• Weather forecast: English / Japanese. 
• Mountain huts.
• Paid: Enzansou. Reservations are required. It is online, just go here.
• Free. Enzansou turns into an emergency hut in winter. There's a small door to the side facing Yarigatake. 
• Camping. JPY1,000 per head. Reservations are required. It is online, just go here. Water is also NOT free, and is JPY200 per liter. (This is pretty rare, I have not seen a place where camping has a reservation system, but probably a requirement for 2020 due to the covid19 pandemic)
• Trailhead: Nakabusa Onsen (中房温泉). 
• Parking lot. There are three parking lots, here's the google pins for the first one. 
• via Train. The earliest train to Hotaka Station. Bullet train. JPY10,930, 214 minutes, earliest will get here at 09:50am.
• Local trains. JPY4,210, 322 minutes, earliest will get here at 10:21am (Seishun 18 ticket can be used, in which case it'll be JPY2,410 one way).
• Bus. A bus comes from Hotaka Station (穂高駅) to Nakabusa Onsen (中房温泉) (JPY1,800 one way). For 2020, it runs from July 15 til November 3. Website here, schedule below.

Bus schedule Hotaka Station (穂高駅) < >Nakabusa Onsen (中房温泉)


Itinerary
Saturday

• 04:49am. Train, Iidabashi Station (near Tokyo Station) to Hotaka Station.
• 10:21am. ETA: Hokata Station.
• 11:10am. Bus, Hokata Station to Nakabusa Onsen.
• 12:05pm. ETA: Nakabusa Onsen. Start hike.
• 11:00am. Start hike.
• 03:35pm. ETA: Summit.
• 04:00pm. Back at Camp area. Rest.

Sunday

• 06:00am. Start hike.
• 08:40am. Back at Nakabusa Onsen.
• 09:00am. Bus, Nakabusa Onsen to Hotaka Station.

Actual Log
We rented a car, drove early Saturday, stayed in Enzansou, and went down Sunday. It was a pretty flexible day. 

There were three parking lots, and the first two were full so we parked at the third one. 

We walked a little bit to the official trailhead. 

The onsen at the trailhead. 

The first leg of the hike were some gentle switchbacks. 

Quite a gentle ascent. 

And lots of sandy trails. 

Which is from the rocks throughout the hike. 

Kassen-goya. 

There's a... cable? going up Kassen-goya. 

There were snow sections after Kassen-goya. 

Up the ridge, it was predominantly snowy. 

There was a point close to the hut that let me know I can take spikes off (which I didn't put on haha)

Almost to the hut. 

Whoa. 

Whoaaaa. Yarigatake's spear!

The summit of Tsubakuro. 

Walking around the hut. 

Right outside the hut is the tent area and the daruma statue. 

The dolphin rock in between the hut and the summit. 

Walking to the summit. 

Darn that was a long walk still apparently. 

Last push!

Summit!

View of the hut from the summit. 

One of the distinct rock formations. 

Walking back, we had a gorgeous view of Yari in the background. 

A rainbow! Can you see it? 

Looking out the summit from the hut. 

Dinner at the hut. 

Breakfast at the hut. 

Yari at sunset. 

Tsubakuro at sunset. 

Heading back down. 

Huge ice cream! It was more of quantity than quality, but we were glad to have ice cream at the end of a hike.