The Japanese Northen Alps are series of mountains on Honshu to the west of Tokyo. The Japanese Northern Alps Traverse route is along the top of these. It goes from Murodo which is near Matsumoto, to the hiking mecca of Japan – Kamikochi
13-Sept
Off to an early start. Lots of public transport to get to the beginning at Murodo.From Matsumoto we have to get a local train to Shinano-Omachi, then a local bus to Ogizawa. Then it’s an underground bus, underground cog railway and a cable car, finally followed by another underground bus. This is the Tate-Yama Kurobe Alpine route. All this just to get to the start! Takes hours to do, we finally arrived at Murodo at 11.30. 
We quickly left the crowds at Murodo and headed for Goshiki-ga-hara Sanso. Lots of rocky trail and some steep descents later we arrived at the Campground. Spectacular views right from the tent. We even had a pink moonrise 😊
14-Sep
Everyone else was up early and off by 6.30am. We got away by 8am after our Miso and noodle breakfast. Lots of rock scrambling. Took us over 6 hours to do the 6km to the next campsite at Sugo-no-koshi-goya. Blue sky day with lots of great views of the Alps and out to the ocean.
The way ahead.
15-Sep
Up early again, but still the last to leave. We got away by 7am. Long climb along stony path. Not as much rock scrambling as yesterday. Still took us five hours to reach the summit. Met up with two other Aussies from Brisbane. Some of the best mountain scenery in the world 😁. Lots more people from here on as its a popular overnight walk. Took us an hour for a fast descent down to the camp site. Started out as a reasonable track but turned into rock hopping down a river gorge.The Campground at Yakushi-toga. Must be at least 100 tents all crammed in a rocky campsite. The local Campground dude was making a killing selling cold beer😋.
Cosy camping 😀
16-Sep
Another rocky trail following the Ridge up to Mitsumatarenge-dake. You would think we would get used to the constant boulder hopping😕.Great views again. Lots more photos, then down and traverse to the next hut at Kurobegoro-goya. This is the first section of track that has had any water at all.Took us over 9 hours to do the 9km.
17-Sep
Long steady climb up from the hut to Yara-Ga-take sanso where we had lunch at the hut. The forecast is for some rain later today, then rain all day tomorrow. This next section up to Yara-ga-take is the most exposed (nice way to say eaiseist to fall off) it has a couple of fixed chains and a really steep section. Not much fun and no views as well. We bailed out and took a route to the south. After another 5 hours of rock hopping we arrived at a hut near the Shinhotaka rope way.
A shower and a bed for the night in the hut was a much better option.
18-Sep
As expected, it bucketed rain overnight. All the other hikers had got up and had the 4.30am or 5.30am breakfast. We passed, way too early. A lot of them were still milling around waiting for the rain to stop when we left at 8am. A 5k walk later we arrived at the bus and cableway terminal. Steam buns for breakfast. They even had Wasabi ones – best steam bun I have ever had😋. A short two bus rides later we arrived at Kamikochi. The hiking capital of Japan. Hundreds of hikers everywhere.We got some lunch and wandered up the valley to Tokusawa lodge and camped the night. The promised rain cleared by late afternoon.Forgot to mention – we saved a life along the way. Pauline noticed a guy near one of the lodges that had collapsed. He was unconscious, sprawled half off a seat and not breathing well. She attracted the staff from the lodge to get help while we got him in the coma position. This fixed his breathing problems and he eventually came to. A doctor came past by chance and took over.
19-Sep
To fill in the day we walked up the valley towards where we would have come down from Yara-ga-take. So in the end we only missed out a short section of the traverse. Lots of beautiful Forrest in the valley with an expansive mountain backdrop.
