Since moving to Sapporo in July I’ve noticed that no matter where you are in town, the mountains are there. Sapporo is a big city with two million people. Yet, because it is situated right next to the mountains it means that each time you turn the corner around the buildings and skyscrapers of the city the mountains are there, seemingly hemming us in.
In reality, the mountains hug the city to the west and south to some degree, but to the east and north the plain is more open. This a big reason why this city exists where it does, with plenty of fresh water flowing from from the Toyohira, Chitose, and Ishikari rivers bring fertility to the land and the wide spread of the flood plain. Of course, now days these rivers have been mostly tamed by construction of dikes and some dams, though much of the land is still agricultural.
What this means in my daily life though is that the mountains are so close as to be a daily reminder of the hiking I can do! So, every couple of weeks I go hiking either by myself or with friends. As with any person hiking in Japan, I bring my trusty bear bell and more recently I bought some bear mace, though I don’t expect to ever use it. Bears are sited in the areas around the city, but the chance that I’ll encounter one and need to use the mace are incredibly low. In all of Hokkaido there are perhaps 1 or 2 maulings a year from bears and those are almost entirely on the east side of the island where things are more wild. Still, a bear is a bear no matter if east or west.
What I think I love the most about hiking is that it is so easy to do. From my place I can hop a bus and be from door to trail in less than 30 minutes. The trails are well maintained and at least around the city’s mountains they are fairly well traversed. I use an app to find trails mostly, Yamap, but also blogs and google maps. It is fun to explore what is out there. People are friendly and as with other parts of Japan people say hello to each other as they are passing. The other day I even had an older woman passing me ask, “Have you seen any bears back there?” “No, not yet” I said and we both had a laugh.
Perhaps the number two nice thing is the views. From the trailhead to a good view point can be as little as 30 minutes. There are great views of the city, the mountains to the east, and to the north the Sea of Japan and Russia! (ok, I can’t see Russia but maybe if my vision was better?haha). So far I've hiked Moiwa five or six times, Maruyama a few times, Sankaku, and a small mountain near Jozankei, but there is so much more to explore!
As winter sets in I think I’ll have to push pause on my hikes, and that will be a bit sad but I’m sure I’ll be back into the hills and mountains again soon.
