REPORT

Despite typhoon No. 7 approaching the mainland, here in Hakuba the Mountain Day national holiday was blessed with clear skies (pictured). I spoke with a hiker who took advantage of the Kurobishi No. 3 Pair’s early morning operation and rode the lift up at 4:30 a.m. They told me, “When I arrived at the Kurobishi parking lot in front of Cafeteria Kurobishi at 2:30 in the morning, it was already almost full.” Furthermore, there was a line of people more than 50 meters long at the ticket gate of the Happo gondola base station before it began operation at 6:30 a.m.
[Happo-One Nature Trail・Mountain Climbing Course]

As I departed from Happo-ike Sanso at around 7:00 a.m., the air temperature was a cool 15°C and the light southerly wind felt nice. The views of the Ushiro-Tateyama Mountain Range rising before me, as well as those of the clouds hovering near the tops of the mountains to the east were magnificent (pictured), and even Mt. Fuji was visible! The flowers of mid to late summer were also peaking along the side of the trail.
[Happo-One Nature Trail・Wooden Boardwalk Course]

As I arrived at Happo-ike around 8:15 a.m., the three major Hakuba peaks stood out against the backdrop of the bright blue sky and were vividly reflected on the surface of the water. I overheard people commenting on the beauty of the scene and mentioning that they had seen this view before on a promotional poster. I observed many people heading up the trail in the direction of Mt. Karamatsu after taking a short rest near the pond. (*The water shortage that had plagued the Karamatsu-dake summit hut is resolved Wednesday, 8/9.)
[Happo-One Nature Trail・Happo-ike]

I had a conversation with the mother (pictured, back left) of a family from Shizuoka Prefecture, who told me, “I love your site! It took us around five hours with stops to drive here to Happo. We come almost every week in winter, but this is our first visit to Hakuba in summer.” As the temperature rose, the mountain was temporarily enveloped in clouds, but the sun came out again later on.
[Happo-One Nature Trail・Happo Cairn to No. 3 Cairn]

　　
[Happo-One Nature Trail Opening Information]
＊Business Period … 6/3 (Sat.) & 6/4 (Sun.), 6/10 (Sat.) ～ 11/5/2023 (Sun.)
＊Business Hours … Happo Alpen Line will open at 8:00, on 7/8 to 7/14 at 7:30～, on 7/15～7/17、7/22、7/23、7/29、7/30 at 6:30, weekdays from 7/18 at 7:00. Kurobishi No.3 Pair will open at 8:15～ on 7/1 to 7/7,  on 7/8 to 7/14 at 7:45～、7/15～7/17、7/22、7/23、7/29、7/30 at 4:30～、 weekdays from 7/18 at 7:15.
＊Fees … Round trip use of the Happo Alpen Line / Adults JPY3,300, Children JPY2,100 → Advance Discount Tickets Adults JPY2,950, Children JPY1,800! (No need to exchange tickets! Go staraight to the Gondola), Kurobishi Line / Adults JPY1,900, Children JPY1,140

＊This report is updated once or twice a week.
＊To Visitors Requesting Original Data of Our Photographs

reported by Snownavi