夏沢鉱泉

Year-round mountain lodge at 2,060m in virgin Veitch's fir forest, on the way from the Sakuradaira trailhead toward Natsuzawa Pass in the Yatsugatake range, Chino City, Nagano Prefecture. Run by the Iodake Sanso group, it bills itself as a hidden hot spring you can only reach on foot, with separate men's and women's baths fed entirely by its own source, rich in skin-softening metasilicic acid. Capacity is 30, there are seven private rooms of 5.5 to 10 tatami, and the toilets are flush. Power comes from the lodge's own micro-hydro generator, so electricity use is limited and hairdryers cannot be used. From in front of the lodge you can watch the Yari-Hotaka peaks catch the morning and evening light. It is about 30 minutes on foot from Sakuradaira, 2h10m below Iodake and 2h30m below Tengudake, which makes it a good base for the northern Yatsugatake. Overnight guests get a free shuttle between JR Chino Station and the Sakuradaira trailhead, and Sakuradaira has three free car parks (upper about 20 spaces, middle about 60, lower about 70). Day visitors can use the bath for 1,000 yen, and guests may bathe again free of charge when they come back down the next day. In winter cumulative snowfall around the lodge reaches 1-2m and the temperature occasionally drops below -20°C.