The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is one of the world’s most famous mountain sightseeing routes. It crosses the Northern Alps, a range of peaks around 3,000 meters high. The route runs 37.2 km from Ogizawa Station in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture, to Tateyama Station in Tateyama Town, Toyama Prefecture, and its highest point is 2,450 meters. Anyone can travel it and enjoy the magnificent nature and spectacular scenery.
In this series, I describe the route in order starting from the Nagano side. We went in early autumn, just before the leaves reached their peak color.
From Kurobe Dam to Murodo
First comes Kurobe Dam, then Murodo. Along the way you change between buses, a cable car and a ropeway.
The higher we went, the more the leaves had already started to turn and fall.
It was cold. This was early October, and in about a month the route would close for the winter because of snow.
Murodo
Even though we were high in the mountains, there was a spring of fresh water here.
At Murodo the temperature is only about 15°C in summer, and in winter the snow can pile up to 20 meters deep.
The summit of Tateyama came into view.
Walking to Mikurigaike and Jigokudani
We walked for a while toward Mikurigaike Pond and Jigokudani (“Hell Valley”).
Volcanic steam rises from Jigokudani all the time.
