石老山ソロアドベンチャー - 雨と危険の中で見つけた静けさ
The Call of the Mountain
Sometimes the best adventures happen when conditions say “stay home.” October 20th, 2025 - rainy, foggy, cold. Perfect weather for staying indoors with hot tea. Instead, I found myself boarding a bus from Sagami Lake Station (相模湖駅), heading toward Mt. Sekiro (石老山), armed with 2 bottles of water, a 500-calorie lunch, and a pair of gloves that would prove to be my best decision of the day.
Route Overview
登山ルート概要
- Mountains Visited: Mt. Sekiro (石老山, 702m) → Mt. Shinonome (東雲山, 620m) → Mt. Daimyojin (大明神山, 511m)
- Date: October 20, 2025
- Weather: Rain and fog throughout
- Start: Sagami Lake Station (bus departs every 30 minutes)
- Duration: 2 hours ascent, 1.5 hours descent
- Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced (especially in rain)
- Trail Conditions: Rocky at first, then clay and soft sand
- Technical Requirements: Rope climbing sections (2x up, 3x down)
- Encounters: Completely alone except for 1 person near observatory on return
Preparation - The Decisions That Mattered
準備 - 命を救った装備
What I Brought:
- ✓ 2 bottles of water
- ✓ 500 kcal lunch
- ✓ Gloves (THE most crucial item)
- ✓ Proper trekking shoes
- ✓ Weatherproof clothing
That decision to bring gloves wasn’t random - it turned out to be the difference between confidence and terror on those rope sections. When rain makes everything slippery and you’re gripping a rope over a steep drop where “if I fall, I will break many bones,” gloves become your lifeline.
The Journey Begins - Into the Silence
登山開始 - 静寂の中へ
The bus dropped me at the trailhead. Rain falling steadily. Fog obscuring the mountain. Not a single other hiker in sight. Most people would turn back. I felt strangely calm.
The trail started with rocks - solid, predictable, manageable even in rain. Then it changed. Clay. Soft sand. The kind that sticks to your trekking shoes with every step, forcing me to stop 2-3 times to scrape it off with branches. The mountain was testing me from the start.
The Ascent - 2 Hours of Focused Climbing
登り - 2時間の集中
First Rope Section (Ascent):
The trail steepened. Then I saw it - the rope. In dry conditions, these rope sections are adventure. In rain? They’re respect lessons. Wet rock, slippery clay, rain in your eyes. But the gloves gripped. The rope held. I climbed.
Clay and Sand Battles:
Every step became deliberate. The soft sand and clay turned the trail into something alive, grabbing at my shoes, making each footfall uncertain. In rain, with fog limiting visibility, the world narrowed to the next step, the next handhold, the next breath.
Second Rope Section (Ascent):
More confident now. Understanding the rhythm. Gloves gripping rope. Feet finding purchase on slippery rock. Body weight distributed carefully. This is technical hiking. This is why I came.
The Summit - Lunch Alone in the Rain
山頂 - 雨の中で一人の昼食
Mt. Sekirozan (702m) - Solitude at the summit
I reached the summit completely alone. No one. Just me, the rain, and a 500-calorie lunch.
Sitting there, eating in the rain, I felt something unexpected - complete comfort. Not fear. Not loneliness. Peace. The kind of peace you only find when you’re far from everything, testing yourself against nature, and discovering you’re capable.
The fog obscured any views. The rain soaked everything. But that lunch was one of the most memorable meals of my life.
Ridge Traverse - Through Shinonome to Daimyojin
稜線縦走 - 東雲山から大明神山へ
Mt. Shinonome (東雲山, 620m) - Middle peak of the traverse
From Sekirozan, I continued through the fog to Mt. Shinonome. The trail here felt like walking through clouds - appropriate, since I essentially was. The rain continued its steady drumming.
Mt. Daimyojin (大明神山, 511m) - Observatory point
At Daimyojin’s observatory, I met the only other person I would see all day - on my way back. One person. In hours of hiking. The mountain was mine.
The Descent - When Easy Becomes Hard
下山 - 簡単が困難に変わる時
Here’s what they don’t tell you: going up in rain is hard. Coming down in rain is dangerous.
The Reality of Wet Clay Descents:
What felt manageable going up became treacherous coming down. Slippery clay. Soft sand giving way under each step. Multiple times I had to sit down, keep my hips on the ground, and slide/crawl down steep sections. Pride meant nothing. Safety meant everything.
Three Rope Sections (Descent):
Going up, you pull yourself up rope sections. Going down, you lower yourself while trusting wet rope, wet gloves, and slippery rock. Three times I did this. Three times I was grateful for those gloves.
The height of these sections was no joke - “if I fall, I will break many bones” wasn’t dramatic thinking. It was accurate risk assessment. So I was slow. Careful. Methodical.
Fighting the Mountain’s Grip:
The clay stuck to everything. Every few minutes: stop, find branch, scrape shoes clean, continue. The mountain didn’t want to let me go easily.
The Uninvited Companions - Leeches (蛭)
ヒル - 招かれざる同行者
Then came the leeches. ヒル (hiru) - the rain-loving blood seekers.
Several managed to get above my shoes, attaching themselves. In dry conditions, leeches are annoying. In rain, on a slippery descent where you need full concentration? They’re a special challenge.
Getting them off was difficult. They don’t want to leave. But here’s what surprised me: I didn’t panic. I didn’t feel scared. I dealt with them methodically and moved on. The whole experience felt manageable, even natural.
Trail Companions - Mushrooms in the Rain
雨の中のキノコ
Throughout the hike, the rain brought out incredible mushroom diversity. They were everywhere - on trees, on fallen logs, emerging from the forest floor.
Rain transforms the forest. What would be brown and dormant in sunshine becomes alive with fungal life. Each rest stop revealed new varieties, new shapes, new colors.
Nature’s Mysteries
自然の神秘
Unknown wild fruit - one of many discoveries
The rain-soaked forest revealed mysteries I might have missed in sunshine - wild fruits I couldn’t identify, plants thriving in the moisture, the whole ecosystem responding to the weather I was struggling through.
Return via Pleasure Forest Morimori
プレジャーフォレスト経由で下山
The descent route took me through the Pleasure Forest Morimori (プレジャーフォレスト) area. By this point, I was tired but satisfied. 1.5 hours of careful descent had brought me safely down.
My shoes were caked in clay. My gloves were worn and wet. My legs were tired. But I was unhurt, having successfully navigated one of the more technical mountain trails I’ve attempted.
Reflections - Why I Felt So Comfortable
振り返り - なぜこんなに落ち着いていたのか
This is the part I keep thinking about: why did I feel so comfortable?
The conditions were dangerous:
- Heavy rain all day
- Foggy with limited visibility
- Slippery clay and sand trails
- Technical rope sections
- Steep drops where falls would mean serious injury
- Leeches
- Completely alone for hours
Logic says I should have been scared. Instead, I felt calm. Focused. Present.
Maybe it’s because danger simplifies everything. There’s no room for worry about work, about life problems, about the future. There’s only: this step, this handhold, this breath. The rain on your face. The grip of the gloves. The solid feel of rope. The relief when you find good footing.
Or maybe it’s discovering that you’re more capable than you thought. That preparation and care can see you through challenges that look impossible from the outside.
Technical Lessons Learned
登山技術の教訓
- Gloves Are Essential For Rope Sections:
- Not just convenient - essential for safety
- Allow confident grip on wet rope and rock
- Protect hands during challenging descents
- Enable you to grip branches and ground during crawling/sliding
- Clay/Soft Sand Management:
- Carry a stick for cleaning shoes
- Accept that you’ll need frequent stops
- Plan extra time for these conditions
- Watch for trail changes (rock → clay)
- Descent Speed in Rain:
- Easy up ≠ Easy down
- Budget 50% more time for descent in rain
- Pride is less important than safety
- Crawling/sitting when needed is smart, not weak
- Solo Hiking Mental Game:
- Stay present and focused
- Trust your preparation
- Don’t rush - steady is safe
- Enjoy the solitude
- Leech Strategy:
- Check shoes and clothing regularly
- Deal with them calmly and methodically
- Keep moving - don’t let them break your focus
- Accept they’re part of rain hiking
Why I Want to Return
もう一度行きたい理由
Despite the challenges - or perhaps because of them - I want to hike Sekirozan again.
Next time in better weather to see the views I missed. To experience the rock sections when they’re dry. To meet other hikers and share the trail. To see if the mushrooms are different in different seasons.
But also, maybe once more in the rain. Because there was something profound about that experience. The solitude. The challenge. The discovery of inner calm in dangerous conditions. The satisfaction of safe completion.
Some mountains test your body. Some test your mind. Sekirozan in the rain tested both - and I passed.
Final Thoughts
最後に
This hike taught me that comfort doesn’t always mean safety, and discomfort doesn’t always mean danger. Sometimes the most challenging conditions bring the clearest thinking. Sometimes being alone means finding yourself.
The rain that would have kept most people away became part of the experience I’m grateful for. The danger that should have scared me instead focused me. The difficulty that could have broken me instead strengthened my confidence.
Would I recommend this hike to others? Yes - but with respect. Bring gloves. Accept that clay will fight you. Understand that rope sections in rain are serious. Know that leeches are part of the deal. And maybe, like me, you’ll find that unexpected peace in challenging conditions.
石老山, thank you for the lesson. The rain, the ropes, the clay, the leeches, the solitude - all of it was exactly what I needed.
次回はもっと良い天気で登りたいと思いますが、
あの雨の日の経験も忘れられません。
困難な状況の中で見つけた静けさと自信。
それが山登りの本当の意味なのかもしれません。
I’ll be back.
Sometimes the mountains we fear to climb in difficult conditions teach us the most about ourselves. Sekirozan in the rain was one such teacher.