After a busy week and some rainy weekends, my husband and I were happy to have a great weather last Saturday – sunny yet not too hot for a walk. Hence, we decided to go for a hike in Mount Takao. Although I have been there already last year, our hike was another new experience.
From Nishi-Kasai station, we took the Tozai line going to Nakano. Then we changed to Chuo Rapid line going to Takao. From Takao station, we took the Keio-Takao line to Takaosanguchi. The whole travel was about an hour and a half. Another possible way is to come straight from Shinjuku via Keio line.
Since Mount Takao is near central Tokyo, it is usually bombarded by local and foreign visitors which makes the trip like a pilgrimage. It is one of the favorite places of locals to do koyo or autumn color appreciation. But for some reason, last Saturday was not that too crowded. From the seven suggested hiking trails, we took the Number 6 trail which is a 3.3-kilometer hike going to the summit. This trail was challenging for me because of the stair-designed pathways since me and the stairs are not really good friends 🙂 But it was all worth it because of the impressive view that we saw as we walked along.
My final hurdle was conquering the long stairs going to the summit. And after 237 steps, I made to the top of Mount Takao!
On our way back, we took the Number 4 trail going to the Chair Lift station. My husband and I took the lift going back. The 20-minute ride was a bit scary yet amazing. We did not have any safety bar or seat belt which made it a bit risky but the view from the lift gave us another beautiful perspective of the area.
Before we headed to Takaosanguchi station, we made a quick stop and tried some sweets sold in the area. We bought a freshly-made maju (rice steamed cake stuffed with sweet beans) for 100 yen each and had some free tea with it.
