手白沢温泉 - Teshirozawa Hotsprings

スノーウォークがしたいと登山エキスパートの友人に話したら、日光の奥の温泉に行こうとプランを組んでくれた。2年前に膝を痛めて以来、山歩きは控えていたので初の復帰トレッキングということになる。東武日光線で鬼怒川温泉に朝10時に着き、バスで女夫渕温泉まで(1540円)入る。そこから先は車の乗り入れは禁止で、八丁ノ湯と加仁湯に宿泊する客には送迎サービスがある。それ以外は歩きで入山だ。往路は川沿いの遊歩道を歩いた。登坂はないに等しいが雪道なので加仁湯まで2時間強の道のり。ルートはすでにずっと足跡があるので迷うことはない。我々が目指す手白沢温泉は加仁湯のさらに先で、標高も1500m近くなるのでそこはほぼ一本調子の登り道だ。このエリアへの訪問は二人とも40数年ぶりだったので、すべて様変わりだった。

I told about my desire of a snow-walking to a friend of mine who is a mountaineering expert, and he made a plan to visit a hot spring deep beyond Nikko. I have refrained from climbing since I damaged my ligament a couple of years ago, therefore this was actually the first recovery trekking for me. We arrived at Kinugawa-Onsen station of Tobu-Nikko Line around 10:00 in the morning, and took a bus for Meotobuchi-Onsen. Further beyond, no cars are allowed except shuttle services for those staying at Haccho-no-yu or Kaniyu lodgings. Other visitors have to walk all the way, and we took the hiking road along the river. No real climbing but it will take about 2.5 hours to Kaniyu in the snow. It is least stressful as there are footsteps in the snow that you can simply follow. Our destination, Teshirozawa-Onsen, is further up with the altitude of almost 1500m to cost you some 40 minutes more of going up. Both of us once visited this area more than 40 years ago (individually), and everything looked totally different!

Approaching Kinugawa-Onsen
左に男体山の山並み

Kawamata Lake 川俣湖

Meotobuchi-Onsen Bus Terminal
女夫渕温泉のバス終点

Such a mean behavior stealing a portion of interest from the guide display!
案内板の欲しい所を破り取った許しがたい輩の仕業

Frozen Waterfall - 凍結滝

八丁ノ湯 Haccho-no-Yu

手白沢温泉 Teshirozawa-Onsen

Indoor Bath - 内湯

Outdoor Bath - 露天風呂

 手白沢温泉は19年前に改装したそうで、昔の山小屋風の面影はなく旅館に近い雰囲気だ。宿泊費はこの時期で14,500円となかなかの金額だ。到着早々、我々は風呂に浸かって冷えた身体を温めた。硫黄の臭いがうれしい内湯はかなり熱く感じられたが、翌朝入った時にはそれほどでもなかったので、こちらの調子次第なのかも知れない。風呂上がりにどっと疲れが出た感じで、夕食まで居眠り状態だった。全館暖房で、就寝時は部屋が暑くて汗をかいてしまい、結果あまり良く眠れなかった。夜中は敢えて16℃くらいまで温度を下げるか、部屋ごとに調節が出来るとありがたいと思う。
翌日9時過ぎに宿を出て、帰路は林道を行った。ここを通過する車はふたつの宿の送迎バスくらいなので、気ままな散策という感じで歩ける。しかしほとんどずっと下り道だったので、急峻ではないが往路にすると不可があるのかも知れない。
今回の旅で夏の計画をひとつ思い付いた。次は日光沢に泊まり、そこから鬼怒沼と湿原を歩き、八丁ノ湯の丸ログハウスにも宿泊したい。新宿から鬼怒川温泉に直通乗り入れ特急もあるので、女夫渕までは自転車で頑張るというアイディアも可能かも知れない。

Teshirozawa-Onsen lodging was renovated 19 years ago that now looks more like a standard "ryokan" than a classic mountain lodge. The fee was somewhat expensive 14,500 Yen per night incl. 2 meals. We immediately took bath after arrival as our body was chilly enough in the long walk. The water in the tub was quite hot but good with sulfur smell. Outdoor bath wasn't hot as the outside temperature was below zero. The entire lodging was air-conditioned and it was rather hot while sleeping as I was sweating. It should be lowered to 16 degrees or so, or it would be nice if controllable in each room.
We departed around 9 in the next morning, and took the wider traffic road ("Rindo" = forrest road). The actual vehicles were only the shuttles of two lodgings, therefore we enjoyed a relaxed walk. As it was basically a downhill all the way which indicated going up the opposite direction might build up your fatigue.
I had a good idea of next visit this time, which is to stay at Nikkozawa and have a whole day hiking to Kinu Marsh and Moor. I would also like to stay in the Haccho-no-Yu log house. Coupling it with a bike ride up to Meotobuchi may be possible and exciting, too.