Tsukuba san autumn festival

Unfortunately this walk had to be cancelled because of the bad weather.

The Mt Tsukuba Autumn festival will be taking place over the next couple of weekends, and we would like to organise a gentle hike though the festival site on Saturday the 2nd of November.
Details of the festival can be found here: https://aki-fes29836.com/fes2024/

The festival takes place in the Tsukuba (i.e. the area around the Tsukuba-san shrine), Tai, Hojo, Hirasawa, and Oda areas on the Southern side of Mt Tsukuba.

The plan for the "hike" would be to meet in Hojo, along the main street (close to point ち on the festival map - I'll include a more detailed description in my update next week), at 10:20 on Saturday Morning, and walk through the festival events in Hojo, before heading through the Tai area, and on to the Tsukuba area, around the Tsukubasan post office/Tsukubasan jinja, before heading back. This is a straight line distance of just over 4 km each way, but it will be a fairly relaxed walk and we will meander a little to see the attractions of the festival. It is relatively flat for most of the route, but the section going up to the Post Office area will involve walking up a steep road and steps. We should arrive back in Hojo at or after 14:00 or so.

Since parking in Hojo is not necessarily straightforward during the festival, it is recommended to take the bus or cycle there. It is still possible to drive, and parking places are marked on the map on the aforelinked website. If we have people interested in cycling, I will lead a cycle group from Tsukuba Center (the usual meeting point between the busses and the car parking) at 09:00.
I have included information on busses in the section below.

If you are interested in joining this event, please reply to me, with the following information:
Name:
Phone number:
Number of people:
Which mode of transport you plan to take:

What to bring:

• Walking or hiking shoes.
• Layered and/or waterproof clothes in case of changes in the weather.
• Snacks/drinks may be useful, but there will be opportunities for buying food and drink at the festival.
• 300円 club fee for adults.

I will send at least one update next week, including an update on the weather. If the weather forecast is not good, we will cancel the hike (though the festival itself should continue, unless the weather is really bad).