御嶽山 - Ontake - 10/11/2024

My Experience: As my first hike of my 2024 hiking season, there were some positives and negatives. I arrived back in Japan on October 7th with the first 3 days raining. Eager to get started hiking and enjoying the outdoors, I loaded up the van and headed out the evening of the 10th, sleeping in the van until the following morning. I drove further up the mountain parking in the lot for the Nagano Prefectural Mt.Ontake visitor center "Yama Terasu Otaki". (県立やまテラス王滝(御嶽山)) which sits at about 1800 meters

At first in researching the area, it did not appear there were restrooms at the topmost parking lot, so I stayed further down the mountain (and further down the trail) here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dKcjoqHcoPbMWLgn8 which is about halfway between the town of Otaki and the Mount Ontake visitor center. This location is about 1200 meters. Considering the following day and hike that I had some acclimation symptoms (severe dry mouth and headache), I will most definitely either stay at the top-most parking lot or hike the Kodo Path in its entirety, starting from the town of Otaki.

The hike itself was not that bad from a difficulty perspective however closer to the top and even prior to reaching Otaki, fatigue started kicking in. I still completed most of my goal for the hike which was Kengamine and beyond also making it to the mountain hut that I had originally booked a stay at, Ni no Ike Hutte. Thinking maybe eat, hydrate a bit, I had some lunch (the famous Tan Tan Men) from Ni no Ike Hutte but eventually could not shake the mountain sickness, and without headache or mountain sickness pills (Acetazolamide (Diamox)) I decided to head back down the mountain.

Overall, this is first time I encountered the feeling and experience of altitude sickness in Japan. Attributing a bit of it to having only been there about 4 days since my arrival and not enough acclimation time. I will however see Ontake again!

Mountain Huts & Lodging

• Ni no Ike Hütte 二の池ヒュッテ | +819043681787 | https://www.ninoikehutte.com/
• Ni no ike Sansou 二ノ池山荘 | +819046687000 | http://ninoike2905.com/
• Go no Ike Hütte 御嶽五の池小屋 | +819076122458 | https://www.gonoike.jp/
• Ishimuro Sanso 石室山荘 | +819088739761 | http://www.ontake-ishimuro.com/index.html
• Nyonin-dō 女人堂[木曽御嶽山山小屋] | +819083291385 | https://ontake-nyonindo.jimdofree.com

Volcano Demographics: 

- Volcano No. - E66 

- Volcano name - Ontake San 

- Geologic code - Q3m 

- Main activity period - Chibanian (Middle Pleistocene) - Holocene 

- Activity period / recent activity - From 0.78 Ma. 

- Latest eruption - AD 2014 

- Volcano type - Composite (compound) volcano - Caldera, Composite (compound) volcano 

- Representative rock type - Intermediate Main rock type - Basalt, Andesite, Dacite, Rhyolite 

- Height above sea level - 3067 m (Kengamine) 

- Location (Prefecture) - GIFU, NAGANO 

Record of eruption & disaster:

• 28 Oct 1979: Phreatic eruption (Jigoku-dani): Ash fallout. 1 injured. 
• 18 & 25 Apr 1980: Small eruption : Ash fallout. 
• 14 Sep 1984: Debris avalanche caused by flank collapse due to the Nagano-ken Seibu Earthquake ("Ontake-kuzure"). 29 fatalities. 
• May 1991: Small phreatic eruptions (Jigoku-dani): Ash fallout only around the crater. 
• Mar 2007: Small phreatic eruptions (Jigoku-dani): Ash fallout only around the crater. - Sep 27 2014: Phreatic eruption (Jigoku-dani): Ash fallout. Pyroclastic flow. 63 fatalities and missing people. (Source: GSJ) 

About: Mount Ontake (御嶽山, Ontake-san), also referred to as Mount Kiso Ontake (木曽御嶽山, Kiso Ontake-san), is the 14th highest mountain and second highest volcano in Japan (after Mount Fuji) at 3,067 m (10,062 ft). It is included in Kyūya Fukada's 1964 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. Mt. Ontake is located around 100 km (62 mi) northeast of Nagoya, and around 200 km (125 mi) west of Tokyo, at the borders of Kiso and Ōtaki, Nagano and Gero, Gifu. The volcano has five volcanic crater lakes, with Ni no Ike (二ノ池) at 2,905 m (9,531 ft) being the highest mountain lake in Japan. Ontake is a major sacred mountain, and following shugendō practices, actors and artists have gone to the mountain to put themselves into trances to get divine inspiration for their creative activities. 

Ontake was thought to be inactive until October 1979, when it underwent a series of explosive phreatic eruptions which ejected 200,000 tons of ash, and had a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 2. There were minor non-explosive (VEI 0) phreatic eruptions in 1991 and 2007.[5] On Saturday, September 27, 2014, at around 11:53 a.m. Japan Standard Time (UTC +9), the volcano erupted with a VEI of 3. There were no significant earthquakes that might have warned authorities in the lead up to the phreatic eruption—caused by ground water flashing to steam in a hydrothermal explosion. The Mount Ontake volcano eruption was an extremely rare phenomenon which made it difficult to take precautionary measures. At the time of the eruption, several hiking parties were undertaking ascents and descents of Ontake, with emergency descents having to be undertaken in the presence of ash clouds and falling rocks. 63 people were killed; five bodies were never found. The Japan Self-Defense Forces began carrying out helicopter searches for missing people after the eruption. (Source: Wikipedia - Mount Ontake) 

Geological Summary: The massive Ontakesan stratovolcano, the second highest volcano in Japan, lies at the southern end of the Northern Japan Alps. Ascending this volcano is one of the major objects of religious pilgrimage in central Japan. It is constructed within a largely buried 4 x 5 km caldera and occupies the southern end of the Norikura volcanic zone, which extends northward to Yakedake volcano. The older volcanic complex consisted of at least four major stratovolcanoes constructed from about 680,000 to about 420,000 years ago, after which Ontakesan was inactive for more than 300,000 years.

The broad, elongated summit of the younger edifice is cut by a series of small explosion craters along a NNE-trending line. Several phreatic eruptions post-date the roughly 7300-year-old Akahoya tephra from Kikai caldera. The first historical eruption took place in 1979 from fissures near the summit. A non-eruptive landslide in 1984 produced a debris avalanche and lahar that swept down valleys south and east of the volcano. Very minor phreatic activity caused a dusting of ash near the summit in 1991 and 2007. A significant phreatic explosion in September 2014, when a large number of hikers were at or near the summit, resulted in many fatalities. (Source: Global Volcanism Program) 

Websites for more about the Kodo Spiritual Journey:

• The Japan Alps - https://thejapanalps.com/en/activities/ontake/
• Go Nagano - https://www.go-nagano.net/en/trip-idea/id19786
• Otaki Experience - https://otakiexperience.com/ontake-pilgrimage-trail/

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