Happo-one / Partly Cloudy2020.Sep.21
On Sunday the 20th and Monday the 21st during the long holiday weekend, a free and unique “Energy Trekking” event has held at Happo One. Participants simply needed to download a specified app and trek along the Happo Nature Trail to the “Happo-ike” pond, snapping photos of three signboards set up at the Usagi-daira Terrace, as well as the number 2 & 3 cairns along the way. Various small prizes were available to those who completed the challenge. It was a cool, almost cold morning with clouds billowing in the autumn sky.
[Usagi-daira Terrace]
The 4-day weekend proved to be a busy, bustling one; bringing more tourists to Happo and the Hakuba area than at any other time during this year’s green season. This could have been due to the fact that October will not have its usual 3-day weekend this year, since the Sports Day holiday was moved to July to commemorate the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It could also be due to a general feeling that the situation with the coronavirus is finally beginning to settling down. As of 7:00 a.m., the line up for lift tickets reached all the way from the ticket window at the base of the gondola to the rotary, and a 15-minute wait to board the gondola was being reported. The area around the Happo-ike pond in particular was packed with visitors.
[Happo Nature Trail・Happo Cairn – Number 3 Cairn]
At 9:20 a.m. the clouds parted long enough to reveal the classic view of the three major peaks of the Hakuba area rising above and reflected in the mirror-like Happo-ike pond (see photo).
The air was crisp and cool and after putting on my jacket I looked down at the thermometer I had with me to find that the temperature was a brisk 15 degrees Celsius! I had heard that Mt. Fuji received its first dusting of snow* for the season overnight, and now could understand why. (* The official declaration of Mt. Fuji’s first seasonal snow has yet to be released by the Kofu Meteorological Observatory.)
[Happo Nature Trail・Happo-ike]
Lower down the mountain, in the Usagi-daira Terrace area, the Chubu Electric Power Company was holding an interactive experience that enabled visitors to generate electricity through pedaling. Participants were able to physically see the result of the energy they were producing, as their efforts moved a model car around a race track in front of them in real time. A father and son from Nagoya in Aichi prefecture were enjoying the experience, and when we asked the father for his thoughts he exclaimed, “We’ve been to Happo in winter, but this is our first time to visit during the green season. Happo in summer is great, too!”
[Usagi-daira Terrace]
[Happo-one Nature Trail Availability Information]
*Summer Season … Jun. 1, 2020 (Mon.)－Oct. 25, 2020 (Sun.)
*Opening Hour … 6:30 a.m.－(Weekend), 7:00 a.m.－(Weekday)
*Prices … Happo Alpen Line Round-trip / Adult: JPY2,980, Child: JPY1,820 → Advance Ticket Adult:2,700, Child JPY1,640
Kurobishi Line Round-trip / Adult: JPY1,200, Child: JPY840
[Kita-one Kogen Highland Availability Information]
*Summer Season … Jul. 23, 2020 (Thu.) －Nov. 3, 2020(Tue.)
*Opening Hours … 9:00 a.m.－4:00 p.m.
*Prices … Kita-one Quad Lift Round-trip / Adult: JPY1200, Child: JPY840
*To Visitors Requesting Original Data of Our Photographs
