Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama

Masaki picked me up about 10:00 this morning and we drove to Lake Yogo in Shiga prefecture. We parked the car, changed, and made the 10 minute ride to the opposite end of the lake. It was a perfect warm-up ride with low humidity, and beautiful temperatures. The breeze was refreshing. Here you can see Lake Yogo, or our starting point. This is looking down from the peak of Mt. Shizugatake.

Then we started to climb Mt. Shizugatake... I've been on this route with Masaki before to the top of the mountain. It's not a high mountain at all (422m or about 1,200ft) but it is VERY steep. We had to drag and push/pull our bikes up the entire 1.4km hiking trail (there are wood steps built in to give you an idea of how steep it is).

Used by wayfarers, merchants, warriors and monks these footpaths have been traversed by tens of thousands of people for over a thousand years, so this is a very special place in the history of Japan (and in a region where a very large number of decisive major battles and wars were won and lost throughout the country's violent history).

At the top is a rest area where a gondola comes up to from the other side of the mountain. We met many elderly people hiking the mountain. Young people don't hike in Japan. They were all astounded to see us with our bikes at the top of the mountain.

Normally we would ride our bikes back down another meandering ridge trail to the lake, then to the car and head home, but this time Masaki had the idea in his brain to go over to Yamamoto Yama (Mt. Yamamoto) which was clearly visible ..."over there". "Over there" meant we would have to take a hiking trail another 7.5km (4.7mi) up and over three more mountains before getting to the peak of Yamamoto Yama (elevation 324m or 975ft). Again, it really isn't a high mountain at all, but it splits the valley where Kinomoto City is, and Lake Biwa which is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, and the third oldest lake in the world. You can read about Lake Biwa here. This photo is what Lake Biwa looks like from the top of Shizugatake.

Shizugatake is a very interesting mountain because it is the site of an ancient battle where a huge number of soldiers were killed (20,000 soldiers vs. 8,000 on the other side battled).

The Battle of Shizugatake was a battle in Sengoku period Japan between supporters of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobutaka. In May, 1583, a former general of Nobunaga's named Shibata Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on Shizugatake which was held by Hideyoshi's general Nakagawa Kiyohide. Sakuma Morimasa attacked on orders from Shibata Katsuie, and Nakagawa was killed, but the fortress' defenses held. Hearing that Hideyoshi was coming with reinforcements, Sakuma ordered his men to break the siege lines and prepare to defend themselves.

Hideyoshi's army pushed Sakuma's forces into a rout and pursued them back to Shibata Katsuie's fortress at Kita-no-shō (downtown Fukui City, right in the area we always park our car to go shopping) in Echizen province (the old name for Fukui Prefecture, where I live). They seized the castle but not before Shibata lit the keep on fire, killed his family and committed seppuku (typical as being caught by the enemy was until the end of WWII the biggest disgrace possible).

Hideyoshi's chief seven generals in this battle earned a great degree of fame and honor, and came to be known as the shichi-hon yari or 'Seven Spears' of Shizugatake.

There are several places that depict this battle, with ojizo-san to commemorate all the fallen soldiers. It is a very special place in the history of the area.

We hemmed and hawed about going to Yamamoto Yama because it looked like we would have a LOT of up-down hauling of our bikes. And we did. And my heels got ripped apart in my shoes. And my quads, and calves and hamstrings, and basically every muscle in my lower legs will be screaming in my sleep tonight... But we made it. To the top of Yamamoto Yama.

That mountain is not high at all (and John Salisbury Steak is probably laughing at the elevation right now), but I think he too would be amazed at how steep the trails are and how much hauling you have to do to get up those little mountains (and across four just to get to that one!) This picture depicts the exact route we rode/walked from the top of Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama (furthest peak).

The spots we could ride from Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama were heavenly! They remind me very much of my Heisenji Single Track rides before the downhillers found it and destroyed it with their fat tires, high speed, and heavy breaking. The soil was firm, yet smooth, not a lot of rocks or tree roots, so aside from some spots being steep, it was a pleasure to ride. Here you can see a great example of what the ridge hiking trail was like (when we weren't hauling our bikes UP UP UP the steep parts!)

Just before the final ascent on Yamamoto Yama (1mile up of hiking with our bikes on very steep mountainside) we saw another trail that came up from Lake Biwa Side and went down the other side to the Kinomoto side. There was a sign that said that this trail was used as the main route for the school children to hike to school every day. It was used for at least 40 years and... just thinking of all these little kids going over a mountain to school, then over again to go home, through rain, heavy snows... it boggles the mind. This was from about 100 years ago so you can easily imagine what they wore back then and how open they were to the elements... Amazing what "people of yore" were capable of doing without our technology...

At the top of Yamamoto Yama there used to be an old castle. This castle apparently was built back in the 1100s. There were various areas that had been flattened out and signs showing where the castle was, but nothing was left. We believe it was probably a wooden fortification built with the trees on the mountain. The picture here you can see is how the fort was apparently designed. Very interesting indeed.... You can see some more photos of the flat areas where the castle existed on this website and also some larger photos here.

We rested up in this area for a while, and then rode back down the trails to the flatland, then several kilometers to Kinomoto City where we stopped in and visited a friend of Masaki's mother's who is 87 years old and extremely healthy!

The wind on the way there was very strong so it was slow going but we made it.

She made us eat cakes and drink lots of tea while we chatted. The cakes were good but the sugar zonked us on the last 5km back to the car against a very strong headwind. We only had breakfast today and munched on beef jerky that Pandasu brought when she came to visit. Amazingly (not really) the meat kept us from feeling hungry completely. It was wonderful not to be trapped in the constant thought of food, even though we hadn't eaten lunch. But after the cakes, we were both dehydrated, sleepy, exhausted and quite hungry.

On the way back, we found that the road we wanted to drive was closed due to landslides, so Masaki went around the DO NOT ENTER! barricade and we zipped off on an old side road that took us up and over another mountain and back down again to the Fukui side valley where we hopped on the expressway and returned.

After a quick coffee, Masaki headed home. I cooked a steak dinner with salted cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce, and fried some sprouts in the steak juice. It was quite satisfying. I need to head to the shower now, as I have six hour helmet head and bug repellent skin, but it was worth it.

We did it. And we won't do it again.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I didn't take my camera today, so these photos are linked to existing ones on the internet just so you can see what it was like.