Traveling with Yuki Chan: Train for Hiking

In order to prepare for the hiking trip on Obon Holidays, we went to one of the nearest Mountains for hiking training. Departing from Shinjuku, there is the Semi-limited Express Train by Keio Line which goes directly to Takaosanguchi Station(高尾山口駅). It took almost an hour to arrive Takaosanguchi Staion. As my husband is carrying Yuki Chan, we took the cable car to facilitate our ascend to the peak.

On the cable car (6 minutes ride)

Hence, we hiked for around 45 minutes to reach the peak. Along the way, there is a temple (Yakuoin) and statues of the mountain gods (Tengu). Basically, there are plenty of staircases during the hike.

Yakuoin 薬王院

Tengu with long nose (left) and crow beak (right)

Takao San is about 600 metres tall

After having lunch at one of the restaurants at the peak, we took the longest trail to descend (about 2 hours). The descend was slippery and muddy on some parts. However, we enjoyed the nature with sounds of cicadas. There is a small shop near the train station which sells delicious soft cream. Though the shop seems to be famous for their Sake Manju 酒饅頭, the Sake Manju there is not our cup of tea. The day after the hike, we both got muscle pain on our calf. It was a long time since we last hiked so we felt superb!