Hahanoshirataki Falls - Fujiyoshida

 This weekend we took a drive to the Five Lakes area near Mt Fuji to visit a frozen waterfall called Hahanoshirataki. Legend says that this is the place where pilgrims preparing to ascend Mt Fuji would come to wash and purify themselves before they began the trek.

We were a little nervous about the drive because this area had a pretty big snow fall a day or two earlier. The purple grape (our car) has what you might call "toy tires". So were hesitant to drive it in snowy conditions. However, we found that most of the main roads were plowed and clear. 

Our first stop was to visit an ice cave (lava tube - part of the Mt Fuji network of lava tubes). It was quite small, but with the cool lighting inside the ice was pretty impressive.

The forest near the entrance to the ice cave was beautiful with all the new snow. But we had some pretty big hunks fall down all around us. One hit me on the hand. I bit of a sting, but no major injury.

Next we went to Kawaguchi Asama Shrine. This shrine is located at the base of the mountain where you can hike or drive to Hahanoshirataki Falls. We found a rare FREE, public parking lot with an open space! We decided that with our good fortune in having a parking space, we would hike up the mountain rather than drive. Really good decision.

The road was snow packed and quite icy most of the way up. It was even a little tricky to hike up it, but by staying to the sides in the deeper snow we managed to make it up and back with out a fall. (about 2 miles each way)

Along the way we passed a "Glamping" Campground. I don't think I'd like to sleep outside right now, but the view of Mt Fuji was terrific. In the summer this would be an awesome campsite!

Another spot we passed was called Tenku no Torri. Someone has made a little "park" area with a torri that perfectly frames Mt. Fuji. Many people in Japan LOVE a good photo op and this fits the bill! We really lucked out in having such a nice day to see Fujisan.

Finally we made it to Hahanoshirataki. It was beautiful! Pictures are never able to capture the true look. The center of the falls was still flowing but all the edges were frozen solid. I was thinking of walking closer to the frozen part, but not quite sure where the riverbank was....so I opted for safer ground.

There is a smaller falls, Chichinoshirataki, just a little ways further up the mountain. I think there is one more falls above that one. But, the way up is by some very steep and icy stairs and walkways. There are chains along the walkways to help pull yourself over the icy parts, but we were not prepared with microspikes or anything like that, so after we reached the second falls we opted not to go any further up the mountain.

On the way back down the road we came upon quite the traffic jam. Several small cars had attempted to drive up the road and were now stuck in the snow. Add to that the VERY NARROW road and cars coming from both directions - it was a mess. Dad tried to help push out one of the cars, but turning around up there was very nearly impossible. So glad we hiked it!

One of the most impressive things at the Kawaguchi Asama Shire is what they call the Seven Sacred Cedars. These trees are all over 1200 years old. They have the special decorations tied around their trunks. Its hard to capture how tall and huge they are in a picture. Hard to comprehend something that old!

After our snow adventure we were looking to get warm so we stopped at a small restaurant for a big pot of Hoto. Yamanashi prefecture is famous for this dish. (We had some last Thanksgiving when were in this same area.) It was delicious and the place we ate was perfectly authentic - take your shoes off at the entrance with tatami mats covering all the area inside the eating room. The owner was an older Japanese lady who took our order and cooked our food and served it to us. No chairs, just mats with the well under the table for your feet. It felt very local!