Mt Poroshiri: hiking one of the most difficult hyakumeizan

Mt Poroshiri (幌尻岳, poroshiri-dake) is a 2052m elevation mountain near the town of Biratori in Hokkaido. Its name comes from Ainu for "Big Mountain" and it's commonly called one of the most difficult Hundred Famous Mountains of Japan. With this in mind, I went into this hike with a fair bit of trepidation, but came out the other end feeling rather grateful for the experience. What a fun mountain it turned out to be. What makes Mt Poroshiri difficult? The hike for Mt Poroshiri itself is not so technically difficult, and anyone can climb it if you come sufficiently well-prepared. But the difficulty comes in that preparation. It's commonly done as a 2-day hike that involves repeatedly crossing a river as you make your way up the trail, plus an overnight hut stay that provides a place to sleep, but no meals. Coming from Tokyo, your main obstacles then become a) obtaining a hut booking (which can be hard to come by), b) making sure that water levels of the river are low enough for you to…