亀清旅館の周りは山々で恵まれています。忙しい日々から離れて山登りをするのが人気です。沢山のお客さんがやはりハイキングブーツでお越しになります。私どもも登山が大好きで、お勧めのコースを紹介します。

長野市の里山、1917mの飯縄山が信仰の山で、山頂の神社で戦勝の神でもある飯縄大明神を祀り、武田信玄や上杉謙信が集まった。天狗の伝説もあり、登山道に十三佛の仏像があります。善光寺平を聳え立って北信五岳の一つである飯綱山はこの戸倉上山田温泉からも見える。

私達は9月中旬の平日、天気は晴れのち曇り、その朝のお客さんの見送りしてから行ったわけで、午後1時ごろから登った。最近は東北信の色んな山（飯縄山より高いのも）を登ってますが、登山口から頂上までの標高差は飯縄山の約700mが一番大きい。一の鳥居からの距離が約2.5㎞と言う事は、勾配がかなりきつい。往復4時間の目安で、私達は約3時間だったからもっとのんびり登ったら周りの景色をもっと楽しめたかもしれない。それにしても展望スポット毎に飯綱高原を見下ろしたり、善光寺平を見渡ったりするのは気持ち良かった。頂上に着いたら切りだったから何も見えなかったけど、晴れている日は北アルプスが絶景だそうです。

下記にて写真で紹介します。

Kamesei Ryokan is located in Nagano Prefecture, and we are blessed with being surrounded by mountains and hills, making our area a paradise for mountain climbing and hiking.  Many of our guests escape civilization by heading to the alpine heavens, and show up at our inn wearing hiking boots.  We love exploring the mountains, too, and would like to showcase some of our favorite courses.

Nagano City's hometown mountain is Iizuna-yama.  The 1917 meter-tall peak towers over the city.  It is one of the 5 Major Peaks of Northern Nagano Prefecture.  The shrine at the top honors the Shinto god of victory in battle, and hence was revered by warlords of the Sengokujidai (Warring States Era), like Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.  There are fables of a Tengu (goblin) living on the mountain, and the main course is dotted with 13 Buddhist stone figures related to 13 stages in the afterlife.  Iizuna Mountain looms large, both mystically and physically (it is even visible from our onsen town Togura-Kamiyamada).

The day we climbed it was a mid-September weekday and the weather was partly cloudy.  We started after lunch, and only came across a handful of other climbers.  Lately we have been climbing several area peaks, some even taller than Mt. Iizuna.  However, this was the most strenuous climb we've done so far, with over 700 meters in elevation gain in a distance of around 2.5km.  Guide books say to plan on 4 hours round trip -- we did it in just over 3 hours.  Perhaps we could have enjoyed the scenery more if we had climbed at a more leisurely pace.  But the peaks we did have looking down on the plateau down below and the Zenkoji Plain in the distance were certainly gratifying.  By the time we reached the summit it was encased in fog, but on a clear day the views of the Northern Alps are supposedly spectacular.

Following are pictures of our climb.

十三佛の仏像が点々していて、神秘的な雰囲気。登山道は写真の通り、かなりな勾配。足元を注意しながら登る。One of the 13 stone statues lining the path and lending the course a spiritual feel.  As you can tell from the picture, the trail is quite steep.

コースの半分点で馬に関わっている不思議な広場。馬は山のここまで登れる?! Around the half-way point is a small clearing with horse-related memorials, curious as it's inconceivable horses could make the climb to this stage.

大きい岩で、表面の真ん中が少し凹んでいて、習字の硯みたい。しかしい、天狗は書道をやるのかい?　Large rock with a natural depression in the surface, like the rubbing stone used in calligraphy.  I can see the size resembling something a tengu goblin would use, but as far as I know, tengu don't practice calligraphy...

Crossing the saddle to the actual summit 鞍を渡って本山頂へ

飯縄山の名前の由来は下に暮らしていた人々の飢饉時に天狗が山から採れた飯を持って行ったと言われた。「飯砂」と言っていて、それが飯綱に変わった。Legend has it that during a famine, the Tengu brought lichen as food for the people below, from which the name "Iizuna" originates.

アクセス

車で、亀清から善光寺経由で「バードライン」で大座法師池を越えて、一の鳥居苑地まで、36㎞、約60分。　交通機関は戸倉駅から長野駅まで（25分）＋Alpicoの戸隠へのバス、「飯縄山登山口」下車（47分）　注：実際の登山口は一の鳥居苑地・バス停から別荘地を1㎞（約15分）歩きで、そこにも狭い駐車場はあるけど、一の鳥居苑地でトイレもあるし、お勧めです。

注意点

最後の四分の一は木影がないので、帽子と日焼き止めを。トイレは一の鳥居苑地のみ。携帯トイレを買えるし頂上近くにそれを利用できる小屋があるが…　水は水場が途中にあるけど、特に夏に十分持つように。登山口はこの一の鳥居からにしましたが、戸隠側（ちびっこ忍者村近辺）にもある。標高が少し高いけど、距離があるので登る時間はほぼ一緒。

立ち寄り湯

飯縄山の天狗伝説を考えると、近くの牟礼温泉「天狗の館」がお勧め。

ACCESS

By car, from Kamesei Ryokan drive to Zenkoji Temple in central Nagano City then take the "Bird Line" highway up Iizuna, past Daizahoshi Pond to the Ichi-no-Torii Park; 36km, approx. 60 min.  By public transport, take the train to Nagano Station (25 minutes from Togura), then Alpico's Togakushi Bus to the Iizuna Tozanguchi stop (47 min.).   Note that the actual trailhead is a 15 minute / 1 km walk through a neighborhood peppered with summer homes.  There is limited parking there, but the Ichi-no-Torii Park / bus stop area is recommended as there is a toilet.

CLIMBING NOTES

The last quarter of the hike has little shade, so be sure to take a hat and sun lotion.  The only toilet is at the above-mentioned park.  You can buy a disposable potty bag, and there is a privacy shed near the summit for using one, but the public toilet is much more ... civilized.  There is a water spring half-way up the mountain, but be sure to take lots of water.  I drank 2 liters, and it was a relatively cool day.  The trail is also popular in the winter, although I can't fathom how the trail would be with snow.  It's also supposedly popular with children as young as 5 or 6, but I'm sure the pace would have to be slower to accommodate them.  We climbed from the Ichi-no-Torii trailhead, but another option would be to start from the Togakushi side near the Kids Ninja Village.  The trail is longer, but starts at a higher elevation and takes around the same time.  For a post-hike onsen, with the mountain's Tengu theme, I would suggest Tengu-no-Yakata down in nearby Mure

 

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