Hiking at Squaw Valley

The weather is warming up! So let’s head to the mountains for a hike! Squaw Valley, an alpine resort area in Olympic Valley, California, is in the Lake Tahoe area. This is the perfect place for a fun day trip filled with food, shopping, hiking, and a mountain top swim!

Squaw Valley is the name of the resort area at the base of the mountain with shops and restaurants. They also run the ski lift to the hiking area. They have tons of great outdoor clothing shops as well as other great one of a kind stores. The restaurants are all top notch, and many are even dog friendly!

I like to start my day by taking the tram up to the top of the mountain where you can begin your hike. On the way up, you’ll see the most beautiful rock formations and mountain scenery down below as your tram slowly climbs higher and higher up the mountain side. A ticket can be booked in advance online and costs $29 round trip, up and down the mountain.

Once at the top, there’s tons of activities to do. I go straight for a hike! I hiked to see Emigrant peak and then hiked to the top of Squaw peak. The views were incredible! I could see down to Lake Tahoe off in the distance, as well as all of the valley I had just climbed moments before. I will mention, it can be a bit cold some days, even in mid August. So check the weather before you go for high camp.

After soaking in the views, I took a swim in the hot tub and pool located at high camp. It was so relaxing after a nice hike, and you can really enjoy the mountain air from the nice hot water.

For dinner, I took the tram back down the mountain to the Squaw Valley resort area and ate outside. The day I went, they resort was having a wine festival. There was live music and wine booths set up all around the outdoor shopping area. I also was able to enjoy some great shopping before heading back to the big city later that evening.

If you’re looking for a fun day trip from Sacramento or even just looking for places to explore in the Tahoe area, check out Squaw Valley. Between the hiking, shopping, eating, and swimming, there’s something for everyone here.

Komagatake Ropeway - Views of Mount Fuji

One of the best views of Mount Fuji from the Hakone area is from Komagatake Ropeway. This ropeway takes you from the shores of Lake Ashi to the top of Mount Komagatake. This ropeway climbs slowly up the mountainside, giving you a full view of Lake Ashi as it ascends. Toward the top, you’ll even be able to see Mount Fuji on a clear day.

At the top, there are some nice walking paths to explore as well as a beautiful shrine. Next to the shrine, you’ll be able to see more of Mount Fuji. As you can see in this photo below, Fuji is so big that it even shows up in the background of the shrine image.

We’ve been to this ropeway twice, once on a clear day and once on a completely cloudy day. When it’s cloudy, this mountain area is completely in the clouds. It felt like we were in another dimension, shrouded in fog. We had know idea that such an amazing view was actually behind all of those clouds.

A round trip ticket up and down the ropeway will cost you 1600 yen, but if you get the Hakone Free Pass in the area, you’ll get 10% off. I definitely recommend the Hakone free pass, as you’ll get access to free bus rides in the area on specific bus routes. You’ll also get other perks and discounts. It’s a great way to get around Hakone!

So next time you’re in Hakone near Lake Ashi, check out the Komagatake Ropeway! You can find it right by the Prince Hotel. Enjoy!

Owakudani - Hakone's Volcanic Valley

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In my last post, we talked about the black eggs of Owakudani, in Hakone, Japan. Now, let’s talk a little bit more about this volcanic valley, itself. This is the second half of my Owakudani blog series.

Owakudani is an active volcanic valley. There are sulfur vents around the entire area. The area it self is one of the stops along the Hakone Ropeway. It is only 2 stops away from Togendai station. Just hop on the Hakone Ropeway at Togendai station, ride past Ubako station, and stop at Owakudani. As you approach, you’ll start to SMELL the area from pretty far away. Sulfur.

There are sulfur vents all over the area. You’ll see the clouds of steam and gas rising as you approach. It almost looks like another planet. It also smells terrible. It smells like rotten eggs due to the sulfur. When you arrive, you’ll land at a really nice visitor’s center. There is a fantastic gift shop, where I definitely recommend getting some fun souvenirs, but there is a second shop, so don’t buy too much just yet. Then, you’ll step outside, and you’ll see it…

There is a huge valley off to the south/southeast of the ropeway station with the sulfur mine. They are efficiently mining the sulfur like a well oiled machine. It is a bright yellow green color and smoky. If you stay on the ropeway and head to the next station, you’ll get to see the full view of the mine.

Continue along the path, and you’ll find another gift shop. This one has even more souvenirs. This is also where you can get the famous black eggs, cooked in the volcanic hot springs. From here, you’ll have a great view of Mount Fuji.

If you continue to walk, you’ll find a ramen shop and some other food vendors. We bought a nice hot cup of amazake from one of those vendors on a super cold day. Amazake is a sweet, low-alcohol sake. It kind of tastes like horchata, if you’ve ever had that before, except that this store sold it hot. It was kind of like a hot, cinnamon sugar rice milk with a hint of alcohol. It was delicious, especially since it was so cold.

From this point, there is a small shrine that leads off to a trail up the mountain. Unfortunately, on particularly bad sulfur days, the trail is shut. Each time that I have been there, it has been closed due to the bad volcanic sulfur activity. However, I hear that it is a nice hike.

Overall, this area is amazing. It really does feel other-worldly. I definitely recommend checking it out when you go to Hakone. And definitely… try those black eggs.