We agreed that if the weather was clear again we would head off and try to summit Mitsutoge early, and so we made it and parked the car by 6:30am, not long after sunrise. In the warmer months, there is a car park further up the mountain road, but this is closed from when the snow comes until it clears in spring.

This time we had our crampons with us and that made the walk immensely easier then the one the day before! Mitsutoge has several climbing routes (see here) and we were taking the easier route which is roughly a two-hour climb as we wanted to get up to see the view as soon as possible. It was interesting going up in the snow, the crunching of the crampons was a great soundtrack, and we didn’t see anyone else on the way up.

Like many mountains in Japan, there are huts at the top, which can be booked in Japanese, one with a toilet accessible to the public. Unfortunately, that hut was closed with no explanation, and the other hut always seemed empty, even with the windows open. There are obviously people living up there during winter, I met someone a few years earlier who runs the first hut, and as their dogs were still there, they must have gone down the mountain to the shops in their specialist jeep. They might look like wolves, but they are so cute!

It was a stunning day at the top of Mitsutoge, it took us just under two hours to get to the peak, and the views were breathtaking, one of my favourite views of Mount Fuji. We both got drinks and a vending machine at the top and sat and relaxed to have a snack and watch Fuji.

Mitsutoge isn’t truly a peak in itself, but a collection of three nearby peaks (hence mitsu – three), we spent some exploring the three peaks but were sad to find the final true peak was inside one of the radio tower stations. Being the highest peak in the area (except for Mount Fuji) the transmitters enable Yamanashi to listen to their favourite radio and TV stations. Not the prettiest peak around though.

After sitting around and spending time taking photos for about an hour we decided to head back down again, and did pass a few people on our way down who were making their way up.

For some reason when we got to the car, we decided we weren’t quite done with hiking, and drove a few minutes from where we left the car to park by Tenka Chaya once more and explore the ridgeline to see if we could find any more views. By the time we got to Tenka Chaya, some clouds were rolling in.

This time we hiked up the trail behind the viewpoint and turned right along the ridge line. This time is was quite an up-and-down hike until we finally found an opening with a view. Sadly, by then Fuji had been overtaken by clouds, but we were able to put a Google Maps pin down so we could come back later.

The trails along the ridgeline were quite old, it is clear that paths and stairs had been built many years before, but many have now been washed away and eroded by nature. It makes it quite a challenging ridgeline walk!

After our double hiking morning, we got back to our home before 3 and settled in for a rest. We decided to go out for sunset in case Fuji made an appearance, and put the drone up over the lake. Fuji was shy and only peeked out from between the clouds now and again.

It was also really interesting to fly towards the northern shore and see the ridge and peaks we had visited that day.