Hiking Mt. Nabewari - walking up over 1,200 for a hot bowl of udon

As practicing hiking as my hobby, Mt. Nabewari was one of my top-list of trails that I had been willing to visit someday. Mt. Nabewari is not famous for its trails nor shrines; it's known for a hot bowl of udon noodles served at the rest house at the peak of the mountain. I waited until the beginning of December to fully enjoy a warm bowl of udon and leeches. Tanzawa Mountain Range, which includes Mt. Nabewari, is a habitat of leeches, and I heard many people bit by leeches during summer. 

So I decided to hike Mt. Nabewari on the first Saturday in December 2020. The weather forecast was sunny, but it turned out to be rain, which made it a tough hike. 

I left my house at 4:40 AM to catch the earliest bus from Odakyu Line Shibusawa Station to Okura Bus Stop. Okura Bus Stop is the most common bus stop to hike Mt. Nabewari. 

There is a building with a shop, benches, and restrooms near the bus stop where hikers can prepare to start hiking.

You can also submit hiking registration here. Make sure to submit the paper just in case. 

We started walking at around 7:30 AM. The first 2 hours was an easy hike with mild slopes. We could catch the end part of the autumn colors. 

The trail becomes steeper after crossing a few bridges like this. The last 1.5-hour trail required people to hike up approximately 600 meters. 

I was surprised to see how steep it was when I looked back at the trail I had walked. 

I was also surprised to see this pile of plastic bottles contained water. The sign written in Japanese asks hikers to volunteer to carry a few bottles to use for cooking at the rest house. 

We arrived at the peak of Mt. Nabewari at around 11:10 AM. The elevation is 1,272.5 meters. Thank god the rain stopped at about 30 mins before we reached the peak. 

Hikers make a long queue to order the famous hot bowl of udon - nabeyaki udon. 

The bowl of udon noodles (Nabeyaki Udon) contained plenty of toppings: a few kinds of mushrooms, Aburaage (deep-fried tofu), green onions, an egg, pumpkin tempura, fishcake, spinach, etc. The udon noodle was thick and chewy, went very well with a little salty soup. (It was a little too salty, but we hiked over 3 hours, and the amount of saltiness felt just right) Because udon is cooked in a hot pot, the hot pot preserves the temperature, and it was warm until I finish the bowl, although the outside was a little cold.  

After enjoying the hot bowl of udon, we went down the mountain. We could enjoy sceneries more than the way up because the rain had stopped. Mt. Nabewari was not an easy hike that I can recommend to anyone, but surely a great destination for those who love to hike. Unfortunately, the weather was not good, and I could not enjoy the view of Mt. Fuji from the peak, so I have to visit again on a sunny day.