Hiking matters #740: Mt. Aso, the fabled volcano in Kyushu

The pandemic interrupted my hiking journeys, including my quest to climb the Hyakumeizan or the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan, leaving my count stuck at 33 from November 2019. Fortunately, I was able to revisit Japan by early 2023, and later that year, I was back for more.

The ‘comeback’ begins in Kyushu, which has played host to some of my earliest Hyakumeizan trips from 2016-17. I actually climbed three of Kyushu’s mountains in one trip: Kuju, Kirishima, Kaimon, but was unable to climb Mt. Aso, closed at the time for volcanic activity, and Mt. Sobo, which just seemed so far. Fortunately, Mt. Aso had reopened since and I lost no time to visit, accompanied by my Tokyo-based friend Jeion Paguio.

From Kumamoto, we took the train to JR Aso Station, stayed in a nearby guesthouse, and took the bus the next day to the Furubochu Trail Head to climb Mt. Aso. Starting the hike at 0755H, we were immediately greeted by the sight of azaleas in bloom! The rest of the hike was through volcanic gravel, and  steam rising from the surrounding craters was a sight to behold. By 0938H we were at the 1506-meter Nakadake peak and by 0959 we were at the summit, known as Mt. Takadake, rising to 1592 MASL.

From the summit, it was a quick descent back to the trailhead, but we were not done yet, as we had to undertake another long ride to get to our next destination, Mt. Sobo.