Trail running the entire mountain range from home to Kutsuki, unsupported. I've been thinking about this run for the past 2 years and I'm very happy to finally complete it in a day that went perfectly as planned! My longest trail run and definitely my largest elevation gain in a day.
I wanted an early start, but yesterday's rain extended till early morning so I set off just before 4am. Plenty of water on the trails: mud, slipperiness, with high risk of landslides, so I took it very easy in the dark. Light came out right when I approached the Hiei summit, with a beautiful sea of clouds over Ohara and Biwako.
The trail lead me smoothly past the Ohara turnoff, even though my body was somehow still sleeping. I enjoyed the views from Mt. Daibi (that I only summited once before), then continued with a good flow all the way to Route 477 where the Hiei ridgeline closed. I had a 5min stop to eat and drink (out of the only 20min that I stopped today). I was feeling good!
I continued on to the Hira ridgeline with a series of steep climbs (50%+ gradients) that brought me back up to higher elevation, but lowered my energy. On the Horai, I was welcomed by a super strong wind, with a real feel temperature of -2C (according to the mountain forecast). Nothing that my jacket and gloves couldn't tackle, but another little stop was needed to recover the morale. In the end, the wind was probably a very good thing because it kept me cool for most of the day!
From Uchimi-yama to Buna-gatake the trails became a bit technical (and steeper) so I had to further slow down. Loved the riverside at Kanaguso Pass: it's a perfect campsite, I should bring my tent there sooner or later. The river was so big from yesterday's rain that the needed river crossings became complicated. I decided to get out of the riverbed in favour of a higher trail...but I got slightly lost...a couple of times 😅 It took me quite a while to reach Buna-gatake, but once there the 360deg view from the top was a great payoff!
After Buna-gatake, the trail North was fun but again far from easy. Many steep ups and downs, in a strong wind. The route eased out after the Hata tunnel, and running became a relief! Gentle gradients up Jatani-gamine, at my first visit, where I happily concluded the Hira ridgeline 😀 The descent to Kutsuki was again STEEP, but the feeling of accomplishment made me flow down smoothly. When I got to the Hira-Hiei Tozanguchi I screamed with happiness: the whole range was done 😁
Splits are:
- Mt. Hiei: 1h:15, 6.4km, 730m, 660Cal
- Yokotaka-yama: 2h:01, 11.0km, 958m, 922Cal
- Mt. Daibi: 3h:00, 16.0km, 1305m, 1268Cal
- Route 477: 4h:22, 22.0km, 1664m, 1730Cal
- Reisen-zan: 5h:27, 26.5km, 2219m, 2247Cal
- Kongen-yama: 6h:01, 28.4km, 2562m, 2486Cal
- Horai-san: 6h:36, 31.5km, 2992m, 2737Cal
- Uchimi-yama: 6h:46, 32.5km, 3032m, 2776Cal
- Hira-dake: 7h:25, 35.0km, 3163m, 2973Cal
- Karasutani-yama: 7h:43, 36.0km, 3293m, 3094Cal
- Buna-gatake: 9h:35, 42.1km, 3891m, 3737Cal
- Tsurube-dake: 10h:05, 44.0km, 4029m, 3888Cal
- Jatani-gamine: 11h:39, 51.1km, 4507m, 4439Cal
- Kutsuki Lawson: 12h:37, 56.5km, 4534m, 4707Cal
Very happy with my feeding strategy: 3,000Cal among various snacks, and 800 grams of mixed nuts (possibly another 3-4000Cal). I ate regularly (nuts every 20-30min and a snack per hour) and basically never felt low. Also, a big pasta dish the night before worked heaps.
This run wouldn't have been possible without my filter: water was available only on the Hiei, at the river on Route 477, on Uchimi-yama, and the river before Bunaga-take. I probably drank 10 litres in total, but had a carrying capacity of just 1L.
All the gear worked just perfectly: single pole, running vest (with the rubbing problem finally fixed in the morning), GTX jacket, Patagonia t-shirt + short pants, gloves, vaseline + sunscreen. No glasses which would have been a nuisance for 90% of the run. Had I to pack again I would bring exactly the same things, which I feel as a great success!
Also my legs worked fine...no muscle/knee pain whatsoever, which is incredible if I think that just 5 years ago I would die with 1,000m of elevation in a day 😅
Finally one off the list of Japanese long trails! https://longtrail.jp/trail.html
P.S. Glad that I managed to hitchike back from Kutsuki: the guys that picked me up were angels!
P.P.S. Given the weather, total number of people seen on the trails: about 10, all only between Horai-Bunagatake, loved it 😬