the breathtaking karamatsudake peaks

ever heard of "100 famous japanese mountains (日本百名山)"? the list was actually from a book written in 1964. although the book was really based on the author's personal choice, i guess based on how old it was and that it won a national award, the list persisted and has quite become a holy grail for japan mountain hikers.

the topic of this blog entry is sadly not part of that famous list. although most peaks along the mountain ridge where it is part of is included in the list, this mountain seemed overlooked. in this entry, we will explore the beauty of the overlooked mount karamatsu.

facts
mount karamatsu, also known as karamatsudake (唐松岳), is a 2696 meter high mountain straddling between the nagano and toyama prefectures. this mountain is part of japan's "northern alps" along with very famous mountains which were included in that 1964 book. now that close proximity offers a 360 degree panoramic view of those other mountains makes karamatsudake attractive to many climbers.

we took the easiest trail which passes through the happo pond when we hiked this mountain last july. i have previously written the beginning and the end parts of this trip as seen below, this entry now is the meat and juice of the whole trip, the path to the summit.