Komagatake Volcano

Two weekends ago, Kyle and I joined the Hokkaido International Outdoor Club on a camping trip to Lake Onuma and Komagatake Volcano.

The Lake Onuma camping spot.  It was beautiful, but very windy.  In the night we had a few thunderstorms.

Getting to Komogatake was a long trip-- 4-5 hours by car because the volcano is at the southwest end of Hokkaido.  Leon took a wrong turn once or twice, and we ended up driving on some one-lane gravel roads.  Of course, this being Japan, these roads are on the map. Here Kyle and Leon plot the way back to the highway...

while I look out the window.  It was a lovely detour.

We arrived to find this sign stating that the camp site is closed.  We were worried, but Leon found the campground manager and confirmed that we could camp.  The campsite closed sign actually was referring to the part of the campground under the trees where many large branches had been falling.  The open areas of the campground were still open.

We arrived at our camp before dark and had plenty of time to set up camp and cook dinner.

The sunset was lovely and constantly in flux because the strong wind was blowing the clouds across the sky.

Here is photo of our tent.

The next day was the same as before- windy with clouds blowing fast across the sky.

Here is a view of the campsite in the morning.  You can see from left to right: the camp bathroom, the camp kitchen/dishwashing area, our tent, the kitchen tent and everyone else's tents.

The volcano is one of the most active volcanos on Hokkaido and the path up was built on freshly erupted material.  The rocks and sand are not very cohesive, so water gullies right through.  Here, the gully was a few feet deep, closing off part of the trail.  I, as a geologist, was very excited.

We couldn't see much of the volcano itself from the top because most of the area was roped off for safety.  The wind was very strong and cold.

Finally, here is the view from the top looking towards of Lake Onuma.

That's all for now,

-Bre (and Kyle)