A hearty hello to all of our loyal readers around the world!
2024 has been a late bloomer of sorts, with the summer seemingly taking forever to end and the cooler weather being significantly delayed as a result. The autumn leaves peaked a week later than usual and have now mostly fallen. Another season in Kamikochi is coming to an end.
Essential Info for Closing Day, 2024
As in past years, we’ve had many many questions about the end of the season. We’ll touch on a few key points here.
Visiting on Closing Day
Many of our readers have expressed concern about visiting on November 15th, which is the last day of this (and every other) season. You may indeed visit on this day and hike around the park at your leisure. Just be sure that you’re back at the Bus Terminal to catch the last bus out.
Bus Times
Both of the major bus lines serving Kamikochi list their final buses as departing at 17:30 in the evening.
For detailed info, please consult the websites of Alpico (Kamikochi –> Shinshimashima en route to Matsumoto) and Nohi (Kamikochi –> Hirayu Onsen en route to Takayama)
If you prefer to avoid long cues as people rush to board their buses, you may wish to catch an earlier bus. Just sayin’…
Closing Ceremony
Following tradition, Kamikochi’s closing day will feature a Shinto ceremony known as the 閉山式 (heizanshiki) to offer thanks for safe passage through the mountains over the course of the season. For a better idea of what to expect, please consult this post about last year’s ceremony.
Current Conditions
As the above photo of Taisho Pond shows, we’ve been getting some frosty mornings of late. On Sunday the tenth, temperatures ranged from -6℃ to 8℃ at midday. Hats and gloves are a must and judicious layering of outerwear is highly recommended. You may wish to shed a layer of clothing if you get warm walking in the sunshine or add a layer if you find yourself in a chilly stretch of shadows.
With that, we conclude the first in a series of end-of-season posts. We’ll be back soon with a report on the final day as well as a season recap.
Thanks as always to the fine folks at Five Sense, and especially to bloggers Sakura and Natsu for sharing the images used in today’s blog.
To all of our readers, stay warm and have a wonderful week.
Sources of Information:
Nature Guide Five Sense, Kamikochi blog: https://fivesense.guide/blog/
