藤向堂　Fujisakido

Mt. Takamatsu  (801m)    I participated in Seven Hills Adventure tour again.     The weather was gorgeous.  Mt. Fuji was perfectly visible. However, the path was slippery and covered by piles of snow and ice. It was not the easiest run at all! I need to note every time I run with other people, I feel like I prefer doing so myself. I can feel the nature better that way. But I force myself to do so to keep myself somewhat social. :p We ran to the entrance of the hiking route to Mt. Takamatsu, for 10-15 min. For walking, there are buses available, but it appeared to have a quite sparse time table. I stopped by Sakura no Yu close to the Yamakita station. The place is run by the local government, and looking decent, serving to the local. Also, the Gotenba line is a pretty local line, with a sparse timetable. I would recommend driving to Sakura no yu, and park there for your best convenience.

Mt. Takanosu I used a bus from Okutama Sta. at 7am, got off Kurato-guchi bus stop. Although it was cloudy, already light out, so I did not use my headlight to start the run. There were few other climbers in this off-season, however, there were flocks of so many of monkeys right before the top of Mt. Kurato where exist on the way to the destination. Leaves were covering up trails. Some of them might make visitors lost, the other would hide slippery mud path underneath. Either way, please be careful not getting lost nor falling. It was so foggy that I could not see any view from the top of Mt. Takanosu, but I saw so many pretty fog shaped ices attached to the sideway of plants. I realized Ziploc bag was useless to open my bag of nuts, when I have to take my gloves off to open up, and my hands were frozen.  I would better to buy one of those tiny nylon bags for munches in outdoor. It was so quiet up there. All I met were a handful solo climbers. No Internet connect

Do not forget list Trail run in winter (~18km, no higher than 1800m, expect 7-8 hours) What to wear  - Under pants, bra, town socks  - knit tights  - running socks  - running mid layer (light outer)  - thick outer jucket  - towel for neck  - heat tech shirts  - wind proof pants  - leg warmer  - knit cap  - thick grove Gears  - headlight  - map  - emergency kit, emergency blanket  - camelback full of water  - Wind breaker  - GPS watch  - Charger  - bear bell  - compass Change  - under pants, bra, town socks  - warm pants  - heat tech shirts  - sweater  - outer jucket!  - towel  - wash towel  - facial cream & sun screen  - body wipe Food  - a bar  - nuts Wallet Cell Phone  Pasmo/Suica (for Buses in Tokyo area) Mail my mountain climbing registration to the local police beforehand!!