Hiking one of Japan’s 3 Holy Mountains: Hakusan (白山) in Ishikawa Prefecture

Hiking one of Japan’s 3 Holy Mountains: Hakusan (白山) in Ishikawa Prefecture

[Music] after moving out of our apartment in ishika prefecture this is our first stop on a road trip around Japan Haku sun or Mount Haku is the highest point in Ishikawa prefecture and also one of Japan’s Three Holy mountains we went camping woke up before the sun to hike saw a few surprises at the top and it was a great way to kick off our 3-we road trip around Japan we had been lucky enough to have a view of hakkasan and the surrounding Mountains from our apartment for the past couple of years so reaching the summit had been on our bucket list for a while this hiking Weekend begins on a rainy evening though as we drove to the ichin no visitor center on the base of hakusan starting to rethink our decision to go camping weather aside the camping at each no is really nice since it’s convenient has bathrooms and a huge parking area on this night though everyone who was in the parking lot was just sleeping in their cars we would have done that too if our car hadn’t been full of bikes and Luggage see this is the campsite and I think it’s anything in this Peach orangey color the rain was supposed to clear up when the sun went down but it got harder since all of the ground was saturated and covered in puddles we finally decided to set up our tent in the covered dishwashing area we didn’t want to bother anyone since it’s a public space at the campground but since no one else was using the camping area by the time the sun had set we figured maybe it would be okay there are people camping in their car in the parking lot but there’s no one in this whole campsite so we are being kind of nuisances and we put our tent up in this shelter where you’re supposed to wash dishes I wouldn’t do this if there were other people because it’s a public space but this is kind of saving our night so we’re going to be out of here before the sun comes up so hopefully it doesn’t bother anyone I was really really close to just telling Zeb let’s not do this you did tell me that yeah it’s 3:50 early mornings can be rough but I find that before an adventure like this or a long bike ride it’s always easier to get up because of the excitement you have about the journey ahead cicas are such a symbol of summer in Japan and it was cool to see the cicada coming out of its shell and letting its wings dry here as we got packed up we brushed our teeth ate some quick peanut butter on English muffins for breakfast and started the 20-minute drive up to the trail head the rain had stopped but the Mist left behind in the early morning made the winding narrow drive up feel mysterious and exciting okay it’s 5:00 a.m. the sun is kind of up but the clouds are out uh so it’s kind of nice Keeps Us protected from the Sun we’re going to start hiking if you drive yourself during Peak months you have to stay parked at eachin no and take a shuttle bus up this to the Betto Dei trail head the schedule is on the hakusan website and I’ll link it in the description there are a bunch of trail head options to hike to hakkasan Summit but Betto Dei seems to be the most popular no matter which route you take you have to fill out a hiking registration form before starting your track luckily this is really easy to do in person since they provide paper forms even in English that request basic information about your group this includes your planned route equipment you’re taking and emergency contact information hakusan is volcano and the hike is strenuous so they want to make sure you’re prepared and have your information in case of an emergency finally we started our hike on the Sabo shindo Trail at 5:00 [Music] a.m. the weather turned out really nice I mentioned earlier that hakusan is one of Japan’s Three Holy mountains the other two are tatama a nearby Toyama prefecture and Mount Fuji which is probably Japan’s most well-known Landmark we’re only a mile and a half maybe like 2 km in there’s already a bathroom in a water fill up spot very convenient hakusan means White Mountain and with all the precipitation that Ishikawa prefecture gets it’s covered in snow for much of the year as the snow melts this mountain becomes an important water source for the rivers and surrounding area the four main rivers that flow down from hakusan are the tadori Sho nagara and kzuu rivers speaking of water I was grateful that there were a few places to refill water on the trail so we only carried a bottle each and didn’t have to worry about hiking in with water for the full day oh look at this I didn’t know we’d get a view of this waterfall from here the Buddhist priest t show is said to have been the first person to Summit hakkasan back in the year 717 Tao is also an important figure for the religion shugendo which combines parts of Buddhism Shintoism and Mountain worship and at the end of my last video we actually visited the shirama Heime Shrine which is the head Shrine for the 2,700 Haku Sun shrines across Japan we got so lucky with the weather this morning I was really worried about it after last night with all the rain and the clouds are protecting from the Sun a little [Music] bit you can even spend the night here if you were reserve a spot in advance in fact there are several places to stay on the mountain besides camping down in ichinose like we did which I’ll get to in a bit this mountain sits within hakusan National Park which is spread across Ishikawa fukui gifu and Toyama prefectures the national park was created in 1962 and in 1980 it was designated a UNESCO biosphere Reserve there are over 250 varieties of alound wild flowers that bloom during July through September there’s a wide variety of animals and birds that call this mountain home as well including maacs seao deer weasels song birds and Raptors and even the Asiatic black bear [Applause] where we started we’re going to stop here and eventually go here and then back the scenery changed dramatically as we climbed higher and higher unfortunately the rainclouds from the night before were lingering blocking the view of the surrounding mountains but it did add a cool element of mystery as we climbed into the Mist [Music] finally we reached Maro Visitor Center in Lodge which is here at the base of guinga Min Peak the highest of Haku Sun’s Three Peaks I was surprised by how much was going on at this Lodge they even got wine up here we could celebrate I am very impressed by the amount of toilets that they’ve had on this not only is it a comfortable place to rest and escape the elements before heading up the final climb to the summit the Maro Lodge is also a place to stay eat shop and a post office we bought some pens here to commemorate the hike and I was so surprised that a post office existed here maroto is operated by the hakaan tourism Association and there are separate buildings with lodging plus six private rooms in the nearby hakusan rroo it’s a good one this one also I think or this one is cool too oh we should get a memorial badge I like this one of course I bought some postcards to take home admired the cute stamps and even watched the mail start its daily delivery Journey on the back of a dedicated hiker we ate a snack here before heading up to the summit at goena snack time now [Music] to stay here you have to call to reserve by phone at least 3 days in advance but space can be limited you can also camp at nrio sanso just south of the main peaks of hakaan windy up here just outside the Lodge at the start of the trail to the summit is the okia shrine part of the shirama Heim Shrine grounds they have or amulets for good luck to protect ERS on their [Music] Journey it was crazy how much the weather changed on our hike as we climbed at the base it was tropical with the typical humidity of a Japanese summer that had me sweating through my pants up here though I was grateful for my rain jacket to cut the wind and even found myself wishing I had gloves [Music] that’s snow tomorrow is August and there’s snowing that’s so wild I was so surprised to see snow still here on July 31st in Japan there’s a hiking Loop the OE meery course that takes you past a few of the small volcanic crater lakes here at the summit as well as to the highest peak go inam at 272 M there’s a lake initially since the visibility was so poor we figured we would just hike out to one of the lakes and then start The Descent since we were so close we decided to just finish the loop and go to the summit despite the clouds blocking the view and I’m so glad we did we weren’t really able to see the Lakes unfortunately and the wind was really Fierce there are seven small lakes up here though and usually there are vibrant teal blue at least based on the photos at one point the fog was so thick that it was hard to tell where the trail was which was a little spooky we made it though and it was so fun to reach the summit of hakkasan at last on a clear day you can see out to some of the surrounding mountain ranges including hakuba surui tayama norikura and onake [Music] there it [Music] is there are also Sunrise Summits led by Shinto priests when the weather is nice on these days drum will sound at maroto lodge an hour before the sun rises then the priest and any early Rising hikers will climb to the summit and face the sunrise to pray for peace and safety on the trails as they welcome the new day we weren’t able to be there early enough for this Sunrise Summit ritual but we could still get an omikuji or Fortune at the summit Shrine here honestly the hardest part of the hike was getting back down I’ve never wanted checking poll so badly because halfway down my quad muscles were shaking cycling doesn’t really transfer well to hiking like I thought it might but of course it was worth it the clouds started to clear and the weather warmed back up as we got farther back down the trail it was cool to see the clouds Blowing by to reveal new views of the mountains [Music] I think this Switchback section into the gorge was the prettiest part yeah look at this that’s cool we even saw the postman walking back up to the post office on our way down it’s so cool now we’re back in the jungly bit it’s so it’s point8 left yeah we go out and around my poor little leggies they are hurting hakusan is in the southern part of Ishikawa prefecture so if you’re wanting to get here but you don’t have a car you can take a bus from the East exit of kazawa station to the ich no visitor center there’s then a shuttle up to one of the main trail heads I’ve read that the bus ride to the visitor center takes about 2 hours and costs 2,100 Yen if if you are taking public transportation just be aware of the final bus to return to kazala station during peak season the bus leaves the Betto Dei trail head at 1:30 p.m. but it takes at least 3 hours on average to descend from the summit it feels so good to be back on the bridge from here we started driving out of ishala prefecture for the first time on our road trip the next destination would be in the tohoku region in the north where we had plans to go camping biking and enjoying some big summer festivals you can subscribe to see those upcoming videos once I edit them and thanks so much for joining me [Music]

Hiking in Japan is beautiful, and we finally got to hike a mountain on our bucket list! After moving out of our apartment in Ishikawa Prefecture, this is our first stop on a road trip around Japan. We hiked Hakusan (白山), the highest point in the Hokuriku region, and also one of Japan’s 3 holy mountains that make up the Sanreizan (三霊山).
I’ll talk about how what route we hiked, how to get there, where to camp, and more about the Hakusan National Park area!

My hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/12024334326

Hakusan Hiking Guide: https://hakusan-guide.or.jp/
Traffic schedule for driving to Hakusan: https://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/hakusan/tozaninf/peak2.html
More about getting to the mountain: https://hakusan-guide.or.jp/access
Hakusan Geopark: https://hakusan-geo.jp/en/
Hakusan City’s Hike Guide: https://www.city.hakusan.lg.jp/otherdata/sightseeing/hakusan/index.html

Jump to:
0:48 – camping at Ichinose
2:19 – morning of the hike
3:32 – hiking registration forms
4:01 – Bettodeai & Sabo-shindo trailhead
4:47 – Hakusan National Park & hiking history
8:31 – Murodo Lodge
10:43 – Oike meguri lake course
12:22 – summitting Gozengamine (御前峰)
13:52 – descending
15:37 – how to get there

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🇯🇵 More videos about Japan Cycling here:
Bikepacking Japan’s Amaharashi Coast: https://youtu.be/VIFvovFUGB8 Cherry Blossom Bike Route: https://youtu.be/YqQJQW4w-64
Gravel Cycling in Wakayama Prefecture: https://youtu.be/weifAuHdJ0Q
Week-long Bike Tour Kanazawa to Matsumoto: https://youtu.be/OOgtL6N20mY

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