Luckily the monkey attack never eventuated. So I awoke this
morning to the noise of footsteps passing my tent at 5am. Some very keen hikers
were out to enjoy Mt Takao before the crowds arrived. I packed up my stuff,
which took about as long as the day before, over and hour, and got on my way.
By 7am the sun was shining and it was a nice 19c. I cooked
some noodles half way up Mt Takao and refilled my water. Here are some photos:
In regards to the level of signage telling you where to go I
was a bit disappointed. There were many places where there was a fork in the
track and no clear signs for the Tokai Shizen Hodo. I took maybe three wrong
turns and had to back track. So with this said, I suggest taking a good map at
least if you want to do this section without a hassle.
Mount Takao turned into Mount Shiro without much decent,
where at the top I got some really good views:
The decent from Mt Shiro was difficult for my untrained
jelly legs. My two big toes began to hurt like hell, and when I took my boots
off to inspect them I noticed there were two blisters under the nails. Nothing
much I could do about it so I kept descending and the pain kept getting worse.
It was really a very steep incline on the way down and whenever I would bump my
boot on something it felt like someone was sticking a nail in my foot.
When I finally limped my way down to the bottom I was
greeted by a valley with a small town in it by the name of Chigira. There was a shop with an old man sitting there who I bought
a coke off and chatted with for a while. He had an alarm rigged up so whenever
a hiker would come down from the mountain he would come out of his house to
serve them. He proudly showed me a photo of him at the shop with Shinzo Abe,
the Japanese prime minister, and warned me about getting leeches on the trail. I complained about my toes hurting and he
suggested that I try loosening my laces. I felt pretty stupid for not thinking
of it before and loosened them up and they felt better almost instantly.
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| Me at the bottom |
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| Nice shop |
When I got into town the pain had died down somewhat, which
was a huge relief. I was looking for somewhere to eat but instead found a
bathhouse. One of my favourite things about Japan is that there are hot springs
and bathhouses everywhere, making it very convenient to keep up hygiene
standards on the trail. I had not washed in four days since Bali so I felt much
better after my shower and bath.
I made the mistake of thinking there would be another place
to buy food on the other side of the river, but there was nowhere to be found
except a café that sold cake. I still had one more mountain to climb, and by
looking at my map the only option was to head back into town a kilometre or two
to buy food. I hate back tracking so I pressed on. Big mistake.
The climb up Mt Arashii was really steep and made extra hard
because I had not eaten properly. I got to the top and just collapsed on the
wooden seating areas.
There were great views of the area though:
I eventually made it down to the town of Suwarashii and
headed straight for the nearest convenience store where I purchased two large
meals and a whole bunch of snacks. To the staff’s surprise I ate it all up. I
then stocked up for the next section of the trail on instant noodles and
pre-cooked hard boiled eggs. I was planning to find a nice quiet spot in the
town to set up my tent but nothing caught my eye. So I decided to just keep
walking the trail until I found somewhere suitable.
In hindsight starting Mt Sekirozan late in the day in the
hope of finding somewhere was not the best idea. I was tired and it was
beginning to get dark. A guy at the convenience store told me that there was a
temple near the base, which I might be able to camp at. Upon arrival I could
see that it would have been the perfect spot except for the houses around it. From here I kept climbing at the trail which followed the path of a small stream.
It was completely dark by the time I eventually found a
spot. There was a flat space right next to the trail that was big enough to fit
my tent. It was not a good spot, but I
was too tired and sore to care. The day had been longer and much harder than I
expected and I just need to stop walking. So I set up my tent, had my instant
noodles, and tried to sleep in spite of the pain in my legs and all the animals
moving around throughout the night.
Distance: 19.2km
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