" Because it's there. "
When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, mountaineer George Mallory replied: Because it's there.
George Mallory's words, later translated into Japanese as "Because there are mountains," are very famous. Most of the time, you don't need a big reason to go hiking or have an adventure.
A spontaneous idea or impulse drives a person to embark on an adventure.
For me, adventure involves a bike. That said, bicycles aren't the main focus, but rather there are situations in which you ride a bicycle within the adventure. Bicycles have the advantage of being faster than walking to places that are difficult to reach or cannot be reached by car. The process of reaching your destination on your own also forces you to focus inward.
This time I went to " Kawakami Makioka Forest Road " This mountain pass road connects Kawakami Village in Nagano Prefecture to Makioka Town in Yamanashi City, and its summit is the famous Oyachi Pass, which will be familiar to any roadie who loves hill climbing. The usual approach to Oyachi Pass is from the direction of Shiozawa City in Yamanashi Prefecture, and I have climbed it several times on my road bike, but this time I thought I would try climbing it from Kawakami Village in Nagano Prefecture.
What drove me to do this was a desire for adventure on uncharted routes I had never been on before, and an interest in some of the best unpaved roads in the Kanto region, known among enthusiasts as " strong style gravel roads ."
The road from Kawakami Village to Ooya Pass is 2/3 paved and 1/3 unpaved, but the unpaved section is long at about 9km. In some places, stones and rocks several tens of centimeters in size are scattered everywhere, making it naturally difficult to ride a road bike.
Also, since I had decided to camp at the top of Oyachidori Pass on this adventure, I rode with two reliable friends who are capable of bikepacking and own adventure gravel bikes.
They say that travelers need companions, and the enjoyment of your trip is multiplied if you have trustworthy companions with you.
We joked around, skipped around, stopped to take pictures, If you ride with friends, you can complete even a tough gravel road of over 10km in no time.
However, the final switchbacks were such a strong gravel road that I repeatedly found myself wondering if I was even near the finish line yet.
Everyone arrived safely at Oyashiro Pass. At this point, perhaps due to the sense of relief, our fatigue reached its peak and we didn't have time to take any photos, so we each set up our tents and rested.
After a short rest and regaining our energy, we set off on foot to the " Garden of Dreams " near Oyadari Pass .
The Garden of Dreams is a scenic spot where you can see the mountains of Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures, including the Southern and Northern Alps, Yatsugatake, and Mount Fuji. It is also famous as a spot for astronomical observation at night.
As I gazed absentmindedly at the setting sun and the gradually increasing number of stars, the fatigue of the day's ride seemed to wash away. After enjoying the starry sky until I nearly caught a cold in the 10 degree temperature, I returned to my tent and fell asleep.
The next day, we started early in the morning and set off to climb Mt. Kinpu , located about 4km from Oyachi Pass .
The mountains seen from an altitude of 2,500m are simply magnificent, making you realize how insignificant you are. There was nature there, far removed from the everyday life surrounded by people and things.
Gravel bike rides and early morning hikes can be tiring, but the sense of fulfillment that comes from adventure is overwhelming and hard to find anywhere else.
The further away an adventure is from reality, the more vividly it stays in your memory, and the more it motivates you to go on the next adventure. Now, where should we go next?
