by diddy » Sun 28 Jul, 2019 10:03 am
Hi all - I'll be in Japan for a few weeks in mid-late October.
I'm considering two separate trips:
The first trip is the Daisetsu-zan grand traverse in Hokkaido. I am wondering about conditions and route-finding in case of snow cover. I thought to ask here for advice as most of the information I can find on the internet is for not very experienced walkers. The Lonely Planet guide says walking is ok until the end of October. Has anyone here been there at that time of year? What are the chances of winter conditions?
I am very experienced in mountain conditions — mountaineering, winter walking in remote areas — and I am very fit and a good navigator in those conditions. For this walk I am prepared to take snow shoes and ice gear (crampons, walking axe) if necessary or prudent. I'm happy to carry the gear to give myself a safety barrier for varying conditions, but also happy not to carry too much if it's obviously overkill. But I can't really find any information of anyone doing the walk at that time of year, and how it might compare in route-finding and conditions to other walks (eg Overland in winter, or Athurs traverse in winter, etc).
The second trip is to do a 2-day or 3-day trail-run of the Tate-yama to Kamikochi walk in the Northern Alps. That is a fair bit further south, so it seems like a lower risk of snow cover, and the trail and route-finding seems fairly easy (apart from some minor scrambling). There are also a lot more huts and bail options if conditions change.
Again, can anyone give an idea of how this might go in 2 days running (trail running with a light pack)? How would it compare, for example, to running the Overland over two days with a Pelion stopover (similar distance and terrain, and I have done this in June conditions)? Two 35km days.