大桁山・鍬柄岳・御堂山(群馬)
2026年11月1日 (日)日帰り
Last Sunday was another clear day between typhoons approaching Japan and I decided to go to Midoyama, a peak I have postponed twice fearing the leech there.
Initial route follows an abandoned mountain road for nearly 2 kms before the real climb begins.First junction is reached in 30 minutes and I decided to take the left fork for the observation point of Jiji and Baba rocks.Walking on the saddle covered with trees the trail drops and skirts around a rock face before climbing back to the first observation point. The first view was amazing under the autumn skies but the rocks were back-lit against the sun. Pretty soon a group of hikers from Tochigi joined and we helped each other in taking pictures.
There was a faint trail going further which offered a view with a different angle.
While the group stopped for a snack time I went back to the bunki/ junction and continued for the second observation point. Though a little far- it offered a perfect view of the strange rock formations with perfect lighting for pictures.
After enjoying the views under warm sun I went back to the ridge to short climb to the peak of Mt Mido. There were no open views and got down soon to the junction. As per plans of doing a loop hike I continued towards the takaishi pass. Here the route gets tricky. Ribbons are hard to find and there are many faint routes going crisscrossed . It’s best to follow the saddle climbing over small peaks instead of using the maki-michi. Guess not many use this route and I met nobody. I could see Myogi mountains peeping through trees while I descended to the pass. Second peak of the day was just a short straight climb from Takaishi pass which also offered no open views. The supposed observation point little further also offered no open views so I quickly returned to the pass. Soon after I started the descended the trail hits a forest road and I thought the trail would it for an hours walk back to the village road. That was the folly. After an easy walk the trail disappears drops and follows a rocky stream. RIbbons are scarce and one has to jump over bigger rocks, walk in the narrow stream and keep looking for the next ribbon just not to get lost. There are some paths going up the mountain - but one has to follow the stream all the way down.
My suggestion is avoid doing the loop unless it’s absolutely necessary.
ぐんま百名山 77
