朝、立川から6時50分の奥多摩行きに乗り、終点でバスに乗り継ぐ。東日原に降り立ったのは8時半だ。道標に従って進むと、老婆が住まう人家の庭を通ったりして登山道に入る。杉の植林の中など、1時間ばかりはひたすら登りが続くが、徐々に視界も開け、後は至って平坦な山歩きとなる。ここからはまさに快適なプロムネで、所々で紅葉も目を楽しませてくれる。
ところが11時頃に長沢小屋に向かう斜面の辺りから、左膝側部の筋が違和感を訴え始め、遂には足を引きずるようになった。元々僕は右膝不安を抱えていて、必ずそこが悲鳴を上げるので、負荷を左脚中心にして登っていたのだと思う。登り降りのペースはがっくり落ちたが、それでもこのルートはほとんど平坦路なので、先に進むことに絶望感はなかった。「こんな快適なルートは滅多ないよなあ」などと話しながら蕎麦粒山をめざす。
結局山頂に着いたのは13時を少し回っていた。見晴らしもパノラマとは行かないが悪くない。ここで休憩・昼食を取ったが、予定より1時間以上遅れている。ざっと行程の半分であることを考えると、進もうが戻ろうが下山は早くて18時の計算になってしまう。内心「良くない」と思う。
下りはきつかった。左足をあまり曲げないようにして痛みを回避するのだが、両手のポールを支えにして老人歩行みたいな状態だ。難渋しながら登山口に辿り着いたのは16時。ここからは車が通る長い林道ということでやや安心する。林道に出たところにはトンネルがあって、その先も探索してみると、造りかけの道が無残にも土砂崩れや落石で、ちょっと手が着かないことになっていた。斜面に三頭のカモシカを発見したが、あわてて去って行く。
林道を降り始めると、周囲の紅葉が見事で、その上富士山まで遠くに見え感激する。この道は紅葉狩りドライブには最高だ。しかしこの時期の午後は短く、17時には日没となり、徐々にかすかな月明かりだけが頼りの暗い夜道歩きとなってしまった。
普通の足でこの林道下山に2時間はかかるので、とにかく長い。それでも時間があと1時間でも早ければ快適な散策の締めくくりになるのだろうが、日没後は辞めた方が良い。不安を押し殺し、手探り寸前の状態で歩き続けながら、僕は「次回来ることがあったら、荷物は何も持たず、重さ5キロくらいの小型折り畳み自転車を背負子に、ここを一気に駆け下りるのがベストプランだ」と空想していた。川乗橋バス停に出たのは18時30分近くだった。僕らはヘッドランプの用意もなかったので、今日が曇天だったら絶望的なことになっていたと肝を冷やす。因みに林道の入口は一般車の乗り入れができないよう閉鎖されていた。
素晴らしい山歩きのルートと、紅葉ドライブが楽しめる但し乗り入れできない林道、そして自分の脚力の限界を確認できたトレッキングだった。
A friend of mine suggested me trekking Sobatsubuyama mountain in Okutama. Originally, the plan was for the next week, but the splendid weather forced us to make a quick decision to visit sooner today. The route was said to be 14kilometers total taking about 7.5 hours, and I hesitatingly thought it was excessive considering my leg condition, but in the end he convinced me as he would manage it being an expert of trekking.
We took 6:50 train from Tachikawa for Okutama in the morning, and then took a bus. We got off at Higashi-Nippara around 8:30. Following the signpost, we went through the small garden of a private house where an old lady lived, and then started the mountain pass. For about an hour, it kept elevating initially in the planted cedar forests, then the view gradually opened up. The rest was such a comfortable walk on the pass mostly flat in the mountain spotting trees here or there in autumnal red color.
[photos 1, 2]
Around 11 o’clock in the uphill toward the shack Nagasawa, the tendon in the side of my left knee gradually started expressing difficulty, and I was then dragging the leg. Usually, my right knee is the problem that always cries out in a stressful walk, the thus I guess I balanced to weigh more on my left leg in the climbing today. The pace of uphill/downhill obviously slowed, but still the pass was pretty much flat in the most part, and I did not feel hopeless going forward. We talked to each other how wonderful this trekking route was as we head for the top of Sobatsubuyama.
It was actually past 13:00 when we arrived at the summit. The view was not bad at all though it was not panoramic. We rested there and had lunch. We were late by one hour than planned. We had made roughly the half of the entire route, which meant it would be 18:00 earliest when we finish this whether we went forward or back. “It’s not delighting”, I said to myself.
[photos 3,4]
Steep slopes were painful going down. I tried to avoid bending my left leg, and I had to depend on the poles in both hands like an old man. With much patience, both of us (my friend later confessed me that he felt as if the caddy of a mediocre golf player), we finally arrived at the wide forestry road: the end of the mountain pass at 16:00. It was relieving because the road ahead of us was for vehicles. We saw three deer on the slope that quickly ran away noticing us.
The colors of the surrounding mountains were beautiful as we went down the road, and we even saw Mt. Fuji to our excitement. We thought the road was ideal for a drive for autumn color hunting. Unfortunately the afternoon does not last long enough in this season, and at 17:00 comes the sunset. Afterward, the road was vaguely lit only by the weak moonlight.
[photos 5, 6]
It takes 2 hours normally to go through this forestry road, and it is very long. If only the time was earlier by an hour, this would have been a comfortable finish of a randonnée, but one should avoid a walk in the dark. Suppressing the feeling of insecurity, and almost trying to sense things in front invisibly, we continued our walk. I was chewing my bright thought that was to bring nothing but a light, folding bicycle of about 5 kilograms next time I come here to trek, and I can enjoy a fantastic, fast run down on this road. It was 18:30 when we reached the bus stop of Kawanoribashi. If cloudy, this walk would have been hopeless with no light. By the way the gate of this road was closed for general vehicles except for the construction.
Discoveries of a wonderful route of randonnée and a beautiful road to drive for autumn color hunting but not allowed were indeed the achievement of this trekking other than confirming my limitation.
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