Mt. Musa Sokuseiso Hut

As mentioned adove, this hut is in a rather sad state. Some work was done recently to reinforce the roof rafters, and when we were there, there appeared to be some ad-hoc attempts at stymieing drafts (due to quite a few exterior cladding planks being missing) by nailing thin closed-cell sheet around the base of the walls. By the time we stayed there, much of this was full of holes, obviously graciously gnawed at by the resident mice. The raised wooden flooring of the hut is hopelessly warped – photos don’t do the extent of it justice. Officially the hut sleeps 20 people. On our overnight trip there, we only just managed to find enough flat-ish space to sleep for the two of us. There is a loft-like upper area which is flat, but the structural integrity of it is suspect. “The whole thing was flexing when you were up there sweeping,” Hiro said. It was difficult to ascertain the last time the hut had been properly swept and cleaned. Most surfaces were covered in either mice poop or dry dust of mouse poop – nothing half an hour of sweeping didn’t fix though. The sliding doors to the hut don’t close, so the official entrance to the hut is currently a sheet of thin plywood, held upright with a stump of wood. A front window is broken, and the plastic sheet covering it is ripped. To call this a drafty hut is an understatement. If you don’t mind properly roughing it though, this is a nice enough hut, and it is only about an hour from the trailhead.

• UPDATE: I called the Nakashibetsu Tourist Association to ask about the hut, and they referred me on to the Mt. Musa Mountaineering Club. A representative of the club explained that they do what they can to upkeep the hut. They currently they don’t have any means of collecting donations from hut users.