立山 (弥陀ヶ原) - Tateyama (Midagahara) - 10/21/2024

NOTE: This write-up is posted out-of-order in the activity listing. GoDaddy websites blog module apparently will not allow me to reorder this prior to my 2025 postings.

My Experience: Coming over from Norikura the previous day, I stayed the evening in Keisui 緑翠亭 景水 in Omachi which was an unexpected goldmine of an onsen. I had private bath and amazing Japanese, western-style room (meaning Japanese tatami mat floor and floor table however single, western style beds with a spectacular private bath area on top of regular large onsen area the hotel offered. From here the next morning drove to Kanden Tunnel Electric Bus (Ogisawa Station) 扇沢駅 taking the electric bus through the mountain. Super cool ride as there is one area the bus goes through with massive amounts of water falling through where they explain when they first created/blasted through this section of the mountain, a river was basically flowing through the rock. In the end they obviously engineered through this section.

Once through, the bus arrives at the Kurobe Dam where you de-bus then have to walk up a series of steps to arrive at the dam area. If you have difficulty breathing, walking stairs...this is not for you. Once you arrive outside dam area, you walk across dam and if you purchased the additional ticket, you can take the Kurobe Ropeway up the mountain to Panorama Terrace (黒部平パノラマテラス)  where you will switch to the Tateyama Ropeway and ride up to Daikanbo 大観峰(だいかんぼう) where you will take final stage of trolley, if I can recall correctly to the other side of the mountain and to finally arrive at Murodo-daira 立山室堂平(むろどうだいら). 

From here all we did was the walk around the main areas and lodges which are all on well defined walking and hiking "walkway". Its not a trail technically. This was essentially my first visit here to "recon" the area for future hike. I will try to return in Fall 2025 to hike but instead will approach from Toyama side this time, I believe

There are many hiking routes and many lodges of which you can book stays at as well. I can foresee doing a multi-day hike with multiple lodge stays in the Fall of this year (2025) for sure.

Demographics:

• Volcano No. - E57
• Volcano name - Tateyama (Midagahara)
• Geologic code - Q3m
• Main activity period - Chibanian (Middle Pleistocene) - Holocene
• Activity period / recent activity - From 0.22 Ma.
• Latest eruption - AD 1949?
• Volcano type - Composite (compound) volcano - Caldera, Pyroclastic flow plateau, Lava flow
• Representative rock type - Intermediate
• Main rock type - Andesite, Dacite
• Height above sea level - 2621 m (Kunimidake), ca. 2630 m (Murodoyama)
• Location - Latitude (WGS84)36.5711E. Longitude (WGS84)137.5894
• Active volcano name by JMA - Midagahara

Record of eruption & disaster - 704: Eruptive activity?

• 9 Jul 1836: Phreatic eruption (Jigoku-dani).
• 10 Jun 1839: Phreatic eruption? (Jigoku-dani).
• 8 Apr 1858: Landslide following the Hietsu Earthquake, forming dammed lake. Destruction of Tateyama Hot Spring. 30 to 40 fatalities.
• 23 Apr 1858: Many fatalities caused by debris flows (breakdown of a natural dam formed in 1858).
• 7 Jun 1858: Many fatalities caused by debris flows (breakdown of a natural dam formed in 1858).
• 11 Sep 1946: Phreatic eruption?? (Jigoku-dani).
• 23 Oct 1949: Phreatic eruption?? (Jigoku-dani).

Additional comments - Tateyama Caldera is an erosional not a collapse caldera. 

(Source - Geological Survey of Japan)

About: Mount Tate (立山, Tate-yama, IPA: [tateꜜjama]), also known as Tateyama, is a mountain located in the southeastern area of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the tallest mountains in the Hida Mountains at 3,015 m (9,892 ft) and one of Japan's Three Holy Mountains (三霊山, Sanreizan) along with Mount Fuji and Mount Haku. Tateyama consists of three peaks: Ōnanjiyama (大汝山, 3,015 m), Oyama (雄山, 3,003 m), and Fuji-no-Oritate, (富士ノ折立, 2,999m) which form a ridge line. Tateyama is the tallest mountain in the Tateyama Mountain Range (立山連峰, Tateyama-renpō).

The Oyama Shrine is located on Oyama Peak.

Mount Tate was first climbed by Saeki no Ariyori, during Japan's Asuka period. The area was incorporated into the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park on 4 December 1934.

The kanji name for the mountain is 立山, Tateyama in Japanese, which means "standing (立) or outstanding (顕)" and "mountain (山)," respectively. The Toyama Prefectural Government uses the name Mount Tateyama as an official translation of the Japanese mountain.

The mountain is primarily composed of granite and gneiss. However, located along the ridge and plateau, about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of the summit, there is a small andesite-dacite stratovolcano.This volcano has an elevation of 2,621 m (8,599 ft) and has minor eruptions, the latest occurring in 1961.

Tateyama is located in southeastern Toyama Prefecture. At the base of the mountain is the town of Tateyama which is accessible by train from the prefecture's capital city, Toyama. Public transportation takes climbers and tourists as far as the Murodo Plateau Station at an elevation of 2,450 m (8,038 ft), where individuals may climb to the peak on foot. This location allows for the formation of snow and its accumulation, forming glaciers. These are the only glaciers identified in Japan so far. (Source: Wikipedia)

Geological Summary: Midagahara volcano is a dissected andesitic-to-dacitic stratovolcano on a plateau surrounded by high peaks of the North Japan Alps. The granite-and-gneiss peak of Tateyama lies immediately to the east. Formation of a 4-km-wide erosional caldera was followed by repeated eruptions of lava and pyroclastics forming the Midagahara plateau that was later dissected by the Yukawa river. Holocene eruptions have been restricted to small phreatic explosions that formed craters. A minor historical eruption occurred in the 19th century. An earthquake swarm took place in 1990. Hot springs occur in seven locations on the floor of the poorly defined erosional caldera. (Source: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program)