It has been about 60 years since I first visited Kamikochi.  It was a mecca for mountaineering, and although it was quite crowded in the summer, most of them were mountaineers.  From Kappa Bridge to Tokusawaen via Myojin Pond. Tokusawaen is the entrance to Mt. Chogatake and Mt. Jonen, and its ridge is a great place to see the Hotaka mountains range from Mt. Yarigatake.  If looking sideways at the Azusa River from Tokusawaen and follow Yokoo Sanso, we will head to Mt. Yarigatake and Mt. Okuhotaka.  Occasionally I took a break on the banks of the Azusa River, and at that time I always dissolved the powdered juice I brought with me into the water of the Azusa River and drank it.  The juice is as cold as ice water, and its deliciousness is still unforgettable.  I traversed from Mt. Yari to Mt. Okuhotaka, and then went down from Mt. Okuhotaka to Karasawa Hut at a stretch, but I still remember the frustration that I couldn’t reach even if I went down and went down. The old painter I met at Kappa Bridge must be painting with the same feeling.  I enjoyed cold canned coffee got from him, instead of powdered juice.

上高地を初めて訪れてからもう６０年くらいになります。登山のメッカといった場所で、夏は当時も結構賑わっていましたが、ほとんどが登山客でした。河童橋から明神池を経て徳沢園へ。徳沢園は蝶ヶ岳、さらに常念岳への登り口で、その尾根筋は槍ヶ岳から穂高連峰が眺望できる絶好の場所です。徳沢園から梓川を横に見て横尾山荘へと辿れば、槍ヶ岳や奥穂高岳へと向かうことになります。時折り梓川のほとりで休憩し、その時は必ず、持参した粉ジュースを梓川の水に溶かし飲みました。そのジュースはまるで氷水の様に冷たく、未だにその美味しさが忘れられません。槍ヶ岳から奥穂高岳を縦走し、奥穂高岳からは下の涸沢小屋までの、下りても下りてもたどり着かないもどかしさもしっかり記憶に残っています。河童橋の袂で出会った老画家も同じ思いで絵を描いているに違いありません。粉ジュースではなく、冷たい缶コーヒーをご馳走になりました。