The difficulty of this hike makes it very interesting. It's not a simple walk in the woods especially as you get closer to the top. The last 2 kilometres involve a lot of rock climbing. It's not an easy trail and it isn't hard to go down as the path is very narrow with sudden falls on both sides where the trail follows top of the mountain ridge. There are huge rocks sticking out of the ground that have to be climbed. Vertical walls of 10 metrres in height are common. Fortunately, in places like that chains are attached to the rocks to make climbing possible for anyone.

Views are breathtaking. We went there in October when the leaf foliage was at its best. At some points the peak of Mt. Fuji can be seen. The first stage is in the thick forest and the path follows a stream for a while. The second stage is also in the forest, but not so thick anymore making it seem very spacious. The views begin when the trail reaches top of the range.

Unfortunately, we never reached the top. It is necessary to start the hike in th eearly morning to reach the top of Mt. Ryogami and back. We started around noon and were forced to turn around at about 3 o'clock. We were 1100 metres from the top and it would've taken us another 2 hours climbing all the rocks that seemed to be bigger and bigger the closer we got to the top. The last 2 kilometres are the most dangerous and walking it at night without a flashlight could've been fatal. We didn't have a tent either to spend the night there, and so we turned around very satisfied nevertheless.

A month later a man became missing on the trail and hasn't been found since. I also found out from teachers at my school that every year people go missing there.

We're going to try again in the spring. Maybe then we'll be more lucky and reach the top.

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