Fall Colors in Azumino

What?
Mount Hikarujo or Hikarujoyama (光城山) is a 911 meter peak that is connected with a more or less flat plateau to Mount Nagamine or Nagamineyama (長峰山) that tops 933 meters. The whole area is a perfect practicing ground for beginning hikers and has some great viewing spots of the Japan Northern Alps. The best of them is at the small plain at the peak of Mount Nagamine. In autumn, the forest displays all the colors you could possibly imagine with the season.
Where?
Located in Azumino (安曇野市) in Nagano Prefecture (長野県), the hike is pretty accessible, though the trailhead that we used is kind of inconveniently located between Tazawa Station (田沢駅) (a 35 minute walk) and Akashina Station (明科駅) (an hour walk) on the Shinonoi train line (篠ノ井線). If you are in the possession of a car, the distance between downtown Matsumoto (松本) and the large parking lot of the trailhead is a mere 20 minute drive.
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Explore Azumino! Snow Monkey Resorts

A friend who shared with me adventures like the waterfall hike of Yatsubuchi-no-taki and other memorable hikes in the like of those of Mount Miune and Mount Yake, made his long awaited reappearance in Japan – if only for a week or so.
We arranged to meet up in Matsumoto. We’d go to an onsen, visit the Shinshu University campus for nostalgic reasons and dish up some old stories of when we were young over a beer or two (or 15).
But it would be a shame to pass on this opportunity to spend another hike together.

This year it has been very warm for a very long time, and even now it might have been feasible to tackle one of the many high mountains in the Japan Alps. We however couldn’t foresee this though, so we chose a low altitude mountain that was guaranteed to be without snow this time a year. We’d climb up to Mount Hikarujoyama and continue our way to the peak of Mount Nagamine and hope for cloudless views on the Northern Alps range.

As it was just a regular Thursday we were flabbergasted to see the pretty spacy parking lot at the trailhead almost completely full of cars. We speculated a special event or something like that, but it just seems this spot is highly popular with the locals.
Maybe not just that – we kind of completely lost sight of the specialty of the season: the koyo viewing, or the enjoyment of the changing of the color of the leaves.

Our pace was very leisurely. While we definitely did not start late, it must have seemed so for the many locals as everyone we encountered was already going down. The way up was steady but not tiresome at all, and the path was beautifully lined up in every imaginable autumn color, occasionally opening up for some misty views of the mountains surrounding us.

Before we knew it we were up the mountain. Obviously, the good company eases the pain, but in essence this mountain is not hard at all and perfect for beginners. From here, our way would be a plateau walk to the viewing point of Mount Nagamine.
I was a bit disappointed that there were multiple concrete roads accompanying most hiking paths. Slow traffic however allowed us to enjoy the forest in which we continued to the fullest. Again, before we knew we arrived at our target for the day.

Short & gentle hike up.

A forest path along the way.

The peak at Mount Nagamine is adorned with a sensible wooden viewing tower, but unfortunately also with an abominable paper clip like monument in the process of decay.
We left both behind us though to enjoy lunch at one of the many benches with a wide vista of the small plain with viewing plank before us, and the impressive Northern Alps range in the distance. While the mist never fully lifted, the scenery felt like an ancient Japanese painting with a clear fore- and background, but with a misty haze in the middle.

After a while we decided to go back and make the best of the concrete roads by having a coffee at the eatery at the top of the mountain.
After this we continued via the many roads towards the parking lot. Again, before we realized it the hike had come to an end.

The hike up Mount Hikarujo is a very easy one and perfect for beginners. In Matsumoto there is a huge load of information about mountains topping 2000 and 3000 meters which can be very intimidating. But rest assured that lower peaks can also have their charms – if you choose the season wisely.