「ヒツジグサと熊 - 尾瀬ヶ原・至仏山」 鈴木優香 Water Lilies and Bears – Ozegahara/Mount Shibutsu - Yuka Suzuki

It took an express bus from Shinjuku to Oze Tokura, followed by a shared taxi heading to Hatomachi-toge Pass. From there it took another hour of walking to get to the mountain hut, Oze Yamanohanagoya. The temperature was below 10℃, so I folded my arms and walked along silently until I got used to the cold.

After completing the registration procedures at Yamanohanagoya, I set out for a walk. Beyond the hut lies the area called Ozegahara. The marshland spreading across this area is tinged with calm hues of yellow and gold, and rustling waves ripple through every time the wind blows. It is home to various types of autumn grasses. Among them, the leaves of the Narthecium asiaticum (known as “kinkoka” and written in Japanese with the characters for “golden-light flower” or “golden-yellow flower”) turn a shade of orange that is almost fluorescent. Its colors are so vivid it is hard to believe they are, in fact, natural.

Heading further along the wooden path brought me face to face with water lilies (“hitsuji-gusa”) floating in a swampy pond. They appeared to have just begun to change colors, and were halfway through transitioning from yellow-green to orange. I thought that their Japanese name, which literally means “sheep grass,” had been derived from the similarity between the shapes of the leaves and sheep hooves, but after looking it up, I learned that it comes from the fact that the flowers blossom at the “hour of the Sheep” (around 2:00 p.m.).* There are various theories.

Captivated by how adorable the water lilies were, I found myself walking further and further in search of a spot where I could observe them close up. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Ushikubi Junction. Just as I decided it was time to turn back, droplets of rain started pattering on the rounded leaves, then started pelting down in earnest.

The next day, I headed to Mount Shibutsu amidst a light rain. The serpentinite rocks that make up this mountain were slippery, and I also had to pay attention to the wooden staircase that was on the brink of collapsing. From time to time, I would stop and look back over the views of Ozegahara, then catch my breath and continue climbing upward.

The weather did not improve even after I reached the peak, but I finally saw blue skies after I had passed Mount Koshibutsu and hit the junction of Mount Warusawa. As I was sitting on a rock next to the climbing trail to take a break, I saw a black-colored animal walking below. It was probably an Asiatic black bear. It was some distance away, so I could not tell how big it was. I set up my camera but could not catch it in time.

It did not seem likely that I would encounter one further on, but seeing an actual bear made me feel uneasy, so I removed the bear bell attached to my backpack, and held it in my hand as I descended the mountain, so it would ring loudly.

【Our route this time】
Day 1: Approximately 1 hour
Hatomachi-toge Pass (1,591m) – Oze Yamanohanagoya (1,409m)
Day 2: Approximately 5 hours
Oze Yamanohanagoya – Mount Shibutsu (2,228m) – Mount Koshibutsu – Mount Warusawa Junction – Hatomachi-toge Pass
Reference: Oze hiking guide

【Profile】
Yuka Suzuki
After graduating from graduate school, she joined an outdoor manufacturer, where she worked on product planning and design, before going independent in 2016 and starting her own project, "MOUNTAIN COLLECTOR," in which she makes handkerchiefs from the scenery she sees in the mountains. She continues to express herself through photography, design, and writing, with mountains and travel as her life's work.
www.mountaincollector.com

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