Nishizawa Gorge

 Hiking in Nishizawa Gorge has been on my list of things to do for over a year. Last fall the MWR office offered a trip to do this hike and I tried to sign up but before I could get on the list they had to cancel it entirely. It turns out that during a big rain storm a section of the trail was washed away and so the entire trail was shut down until repairs could be done.

Finally it seemed that the trail was open. The MWR office offered a tour on Oct 30th and I immediately signed us up! However, dad is not a fan of going on MWR tours and begged me to cancel it. So I did. Instead we went to hike it on our own this weekend. 

Saturday was PERFECT weather - cool, cloud free, and sunny! The hike is a 10K loop with the uphill half of the hike following closely along the bank of the Fuefuki River and the downhill half following an old railroad track.

Right from the start of the hike the scenery was AMAZING. I'll post pictures, but they just can't do it justice. There is no way to capture the whole scene of the river and the big fish swimming the blue-green pools, the waterfalls around every turn, the mountains with some leaves starting to change color, the high bridges (including a couple of suspension bridges) with their incredible "see through" decking, and the intense feeling of walking on a trail with 100+ foot drop offs.

That describes the main trail - but we didn't know (probably best I didn't know or I would NOT have gone) was that the trail has not yet been repaired. But in order to make it possible to hike the loop, they have created a temporary section of trail that bypasses the damaged trail. The bypass involves a vertical climb up a steep mountain side. It begins with a standard 20 foot metal ladder rigged up to the side of the mountain. Once you get to the top of the ladder, there are "footholds" cut into the side the mountain that move in steep switchbacks up to the top. 

From my perspective, it went on FOREVER. I kept thinking we were getting close to the top but it just kept on going. Sorry we don't have pictures of this part of the hike - it was not the time to take a picture, if you know what I mean. I just kept breathing deeply and moving up, mostly with 3-4 points of contact all the way. Scariest thing I have done, maybe ever!

Next to that climb, walking over the super high bridges with metal webbed "see through" decks was only slightly scary. Enjoy the pics and come and do it yourself some day. This place is not to be missed!

After the hike we stopped at the Hottarakashi Onsen. I love that onsen because of it's amazing view of Mt Fuji. Kimball took this pic before we went in, but once you are in the onsen, you are sitting on the hillside overlooking the valley and the Fuji with a light breeze - its awesome!