3 Day Hike goes Pear Shaped

Well… where to start… so the last time I had a checked in with you all we were staying with a beautiful lady, Japanese-mum, near some random off ramp. Had a most awesome stay, she was so lovely. We went down to the Onsen in the morning and spent an hour rotating between different temperature baths, indoors and out, hot and cold and a sauna. It was so relaxing I had trouble getting going for the rest of the day. I really do think it is quite health though, changing from hot to cold, and conditioning your body to be ok with those extremes. Strengthens the heart apparently. Then we got a ride pretty quickly to another town a little further south… the great thing about hitching is you meet lots of awesome people. However it is a little frustrating that it took 2 days to get 300km… then we still had to catch a train the final 60km. Anyway we got a lift in a van with a guy going to his driving practice, and they went out of their way to show us the a large flock of migrating cranes that had come for a while. Was like a safari tour, with me and Dave with our fat cameras jumping from side to side of the van, snapping photos, and looking in awe.

Then it was onwards south… that is even what our hitching sign said… ‘To South’. So we squeezed in a little car, by a lady who though she was just pulling over to give Maki a lift. And on we went to some other destination another 50km south… then it was a walk from the north end of a town to the south end… thumbs out all the way and waving at all the youngish girls - who react in a way that it is so funny its hard not to encourage them… at the other end of the town we were having trouble keeping the smiles and energy up… even considering a train the rest of the distance, but sure enough we got another lift… this time in a low rider with some heavy smoking Japanese akuza (Japanese Mafia). We were their first hitch hikers… I think we were a bit of a disappointment… but Maki had a good chat, despite being scared. Then we got dropped in another random little location another 50km south. But with the day drawing to an end, statistically our chance of getting a lift was nearing zero. So it was we check the train timetable, and tried our luck hitching until the last minute… then ran for the train a few hundred meters away. We all fell asleep and it was only by chance that Dave woke in time to jolt us from our far away adventures back into the reality of an urban public transport system in foreign country.

Having arrived at the south most major city in Japan, we walk confidently out of the terminal, feeling proud of our achievement. Travelling half the length of the most expensive country in the world for less than AU$50. Most awesome even by the most meek measures. Unfortunately we run out of luck, and the ferry we were advised to catch didn’t exist. The good news, there is one first thing in the morning. After 3 days in transit, we are keen to get in touch with loved ones and have a nice hot dinner. Dave makes some attempts to master his new National Gold bank account (no international fees!), which proves unsuccessful, and a drama to continue. After my experiences with hacking internet in hotels in Osaka and Nagoya we look for expensive looking hotels with internet in the foyer… with 5 minutes we have moved our turtle shells into the lobby of a hotel and are checking email, transferring money across boarders, sending sms, downloading new podcasts and making plans for the near future. (Techno Warrior 2, Tourist 0). Back on the luck streak we decide to see if the hotel will hold our bags, despite us having no money, and not staying in the hotel. Success… they are more than happy to oblige, which leaves us free to explore the city and pick up camping supplies for our adventures to come. We eventually get our bag and scout for left overs at restaurants on the way to the ferry terminal, which the ritzy hotel has advised us is the safest to camp at!! It becomes evident that there is no way that restaurants will give us their leftovers in the ritzy area beside the wharf. So we pitch our tent beside an old monument, and cook a Japanese curry using a toilet block to shield us from the strong wind. With cardboard under the tent for thermal protection and 3 sleeping bags (one for each person!!!) we drift off.

We wake abruptly to some crazy music Dave recorded the night before outside a restaurant, and rush for the ferry ticket terminal… tickets bought, we board the ferry, watch the sunrise, snap a few shots and fall asleep. 4 hours later we awake…. to mountains that disappear into the clouds! Wow. breath taking. Maki being most awesome goes off to enquire about… well everything… coming back with a 5 day itinerary, which consists of a 3 day hike past some of the major highlights of the island, including a climb to the summit at 2000m.

My profile of Dave is becoming more and more detailed, still a bit blurry at this stage, however he is boyerest in a most charming way, and seems a very confident… which is great, except the confidence proves not to match up with real life experiences… I can draw parallels between when I was 22, the world was a bit simpler, and anything was possible without hesitation. I’ve been enjoying his lust for being fit and healthy, and his outdoors streak, with some contrasting points being eating only budget food, and having a preference for not making any plans for the near future.

Its in the the supa (supermarket) that I begin to realise that I actually have more, much more experience with this stuff! Dave is content to go off into the woods on a 3 day hike in sub zero temperatures with only some bread and something else equally as random and budget. Maki, with no experience of camping has only a vague idea what is entailed in a multi day hike, and picks some stuff for lunch the following day. I begin to feel like a father, and sense my roll as being responsible somewhat for the other two. And so I assert myself, my 3 square meals regime, and high energy snacks for at least 3 days. And thank god I do. Almost single handed picking out a base of porridge, fruit, chocolate, vegetables noodles and curry for dinners… I know it sounds like I am boasting… but it was really nice, although somewhat of a shock and unexpected, that I have this knowledge and experience to share. I am used to being around people that are pretty apt, and know what has to happen… but this was not one of those situations. It reminded me a lot of older friend. When we first met I was young and idealistic and he had a lot of experience and patience with me. *cue epiphany* And so we continue, running a few errons in town and making the last bus for the day to the beginning of the 3 day trek.

I am only up to hear… I need more wine. :)… heads out for new years mayhem after hearing drumming in the street…

The bus winds up through some pretty high mountains. Its starting to get dim, and about 4pm we head up the path toward the first mountain hut. About an hours walk. The huts are free, and there is a network of them through the interior of the island. Turns out they vary alot in style. The first one is a cold damp concrete building. It is almost dark as we arrive, but we all decide (so inspired) to explore a little before dinner. I find a stream to meditate beside. Dave looks for wildlife. Maki strikes up conversations with everyone she meets. We make a wicked feed on Dave’s new tiny gas burner… the burner is one of the types that fold up and fit in your pocket, and screw onto a small gas canister when you want to use them. (I have been very impressed with there size and performance, think I might buy one to complement my trangia). Turns out we were incredibly naive and cheap about the correct sleeping gear… when I bought my sleeping bag they were saying that it would be too cold… I figured that I wouldn’t be using it in cold climates that often and would rather have extra thermals anyhow. I did skimp on the sleeping mat though… which when sleeping in a damp concrete building was just outright stupid. I came up with all sort of elaborate set-ups to keep my legs off the ground, propping my body up with my wallet and other objects and key points. It did the trick, but no one slept very well. The next day me and Dave talked and realised the errors of our ways… the people at the camping store weren’t just trying to sell us stuff, and we really had no idea about camping in such cold climates. lesson number 1 - listen to the locals.

The next day is a beautiful trek from 900m up to about 1.5km. We had planned to carry only two bags and make one light so that Maki could carry it periodically, while me and Dave swapped the heavy one and the light one. It quickly become evident that Maki was only interested in carrying the bag on the flat… which since we were hiking in the mountains was pretty useless. Slightly frustrated we make a few jokes and continue.

It was a beautiful walk and I had bought a few nice treats for myself like dried fruit and chocolate for energy (these energy foods are so expensive in Japan!!). We walked up to a great lookout where I just collapsed in my element. The sun kept ducking in and out of the clouds. To my right I could see the clouds being channelled through a dip between two mountains peaks. It felt so good to just close my eyes, relax, then open them and look around at what was in front of me. Breath taking. Most of the rest of the day was spent walking up and down stairs, along a rail way line (that felt like cheeting actually), and up and down stairs made from the roots of lush green trees. Everything was covered in moss. About an hour before the end of the day we arrived at the oldest tree on the island. Aged at between 3000 to 7000 years, depending on who you believe. We spent some time here, I meditated a bit, and just pondered the shear age of the thing. At 5000 years old that means it has been around for about 5% of human evolution. I wondered how far its root system when down… and just marvelled at how many leaves it must have produced. Making more and more each year… so timeless. I sent some meta to friends and loved ones, and wished everyone one well. Felt a little smile come across my face. Then it was onwards, up another 100m to our hut for the night at an altitude 1.5km. Leaving a further 500m to climb the last day of our hike to the summit. We arrived and were greeted warm welcomes by some of the guys that had stayed in the concrete bunker with us the night before. We cooked up a storm again, but nothing seemed to satisfy us. So in a last ditch effort to fill our bellies, we cooked up enough porrage to feed a small army and howed it down. Yum. In a stroke of genius I decided to explore the hut further… what did I find but 3 sleeping mats!!! Whoooo! Since I already felt a bit of flem that morning, I was thrilled at the idea of a warm nights sleep. After many broken conversations in Japanese and drinking to French wine (given to us as a gift by our Japanese-mother), we went to sleep. Bliss.

That night it rained, it was beautiful, but on waking we realised that we didn’t really have the correct wet weather gear. Dave only had a water proof top, while I had only a large garbage bag. :/ The idea of hiking in the rain for 7 hours through snow was very unappealing, and we decided to stay put for an extra day after listening to the weather and being advised that it would be better tomorrow. Realising we were going to be a little short on food, Maki and I woke early (way before the sun rise) to ask departing hikers if they had any extra food. Success. Some people had to catch the ferry back, and didn’t have time to wait out the weather, so heading back they left all their extra food with us. Including chocolate, and these most awesome brown sugar sweets. (Good work Maki!)

We were travelling so lightly we didn’t have any of out usual distractions to pass the time. No computer, no phone, no books, no anything… we even only had a few sheets of paper each… I was given 2. I wrote a letter to Angie on one, and a diary entry on the other, in very small font. It was like a day out of time, we didn’t plan it, and we didn’t have anything to be doing. Dave and Maki went off walking when the rain died down, and I found a quite little spot to meditate beside a running stream. I was all rugged up in my Indian poncho, looking quite the part too. Sitting in an ancient forest with no one for miles, drops of water falling from the tree leaves and the wind blew. My thoughts started to calm down… slowly slowly. Did some nice little visualisations, inhale the cool calm green, exhale the fire orange, running my breath past a calming pressure point in the back on the nostril. (Learnt that one in yoga classes in school, while dodging real sport, but its still a favourite). Eventually I heard some foot steps coming down a nearby path. Calm and centred I opened my eyes and said hello, it was a white’e, with a big calm grin on his face… obviously amused to find me meditating. I guess I would be pretty happy if I walked all day up to a forest hut and there were people around being all zen in the forest too. Turns out Henry is from NZ, and a senior English teacher on the mainland. Been working in Japan for 4 years, and his girlfriend just went all Mormon on him… shoving it down his thought a little. Was out to ponder what he should do about it as he really liked her. I gave him my honest opinion, which was rather bleak to say the least. Anyway, we had a good chat, told me a few tricks about looking after your knees and back. Really big friendly guy, good company. Is thinking of coming to Spain next January, so might even meet him again there. The rest of the day was filled with a bit more meditation, letter writing, giving chocolates away to all the hikers as they arrived (easy come easy go). And boasting about how much I like warm whisky to the other Japanese hikers, which is growing on me, especially in these mountain environments. All my boasting got us a nice big serving, which we passed around.

We woke the next morning to the sound of more rain. Hmmm… it was early about 5:30. I wanted to keep sleeping, but Maki and Dave insisted on making a racket and being very rude. (Warning: Don’t wake me up before the sun rises!) We really needed to know what the weather was doing, but Maki was reluctant to help… I think she felt a bit used as a translator at times, but she really wasn’t going to help me find out about the weather today… critical information that we needed to know to ensure the safety of everybody… and so it was frustrated and grumpy about being woken so early I attempted to ask the some Japanese folk about the weather. I got some quick reply which thankfully Henry helped me to understand as ‘So so’ or ‘not good but not worse’. So armed with this extremely detailed picture of the weather, we decided that we would have to make a dash for the peak or head back the way we came, so that Maki could get her ferry. The conditions didn’t seem favourable but, bearable. Just. Literally just, we found out later that day.

It was supposed to be a 3 hour walk to the top. Within 30min we were very wet, my large plastic bag was keeping my torso dry, however my legs and arms were getting progressively wetter. Dave just had his legs to worry about. After about an hour we started walking past patches of snow, and ice. We were warm, but Dave and I realised that we were only warm because of the amount of heat we were generating from walking so quick and fast with packs on. We noticed that even stopping for a few minutes made it difficult to get going again. And so it was that we hurried on, stopping every 100m or so to wait for Maki - who was not carrying any bags, and had full weather proof gear… the fact that she was going so slow, despite not carrying anything… or rather despite me carrying everything of hers was wearing thin. But I knew better than to make a deal of it, she was already pushing her boundaries, and well out of her comfort zone… and doing really well too. So thankfully Dave said something and reminded her that we didn’t have wet weather gear and checked if she was going as fast as she could. (I reckon your awesome Maki, it was just an extream day!)

We wind was so strong, gale force winds, we were only protected by the fact that the trail was often depressed into the ground and surrounded by a layer of scrub. This also meant that it was the preferred way for water to flow downhill… demanding the best of our puddle hopping abilities. The whole mountain was made of this beautiful granite, that was just such a pleasure to hike on. Because of its course texture we could walk up wet 35% slopes without a problems.

We passed countless other groups, that had camped with us the night before… I think we were fuelled by awareness that if we didn’t go fast, use lots of energy, make body heat we would be in serious trouble. Pretty stupid in retrospect. But that was the situation at the time, and we just wanted to get to the next nights accommodation. This day wasn’t a calm soothing stole through the forest, but rather an endurance test. It wasn’t bad, it was just difficult, and exciting.So it was cold and fuelled by sugar treats that we made it to the summit in 1.5 hours! The winds were so strong that they would almost roll you over on the spot as the wind caught the backpacks. Snow was also hitting me in the face, and my wet woollen jumper sleeves were freezing. We only stayed on the top long enough to master the use of our fingers and take a couple of photos with Dave’s phone camera. What a mission that was. Using fingers had never been so hard. We quickly descended to a sheltered spot, and cracked out more sugar, and took a 5min break. During this time, my fingers became very difficult to move. I was constantly stretching and contacting my fingers into fists to try and get them warm again. Dave handed me a bit of bread, and I felt like an animal trying to eat it. He even said I look crazy. I just shoved it in, it was falling apart and I just had to sort of take my mouth to my hand open and close, hoping to get something. I realised we needed to get going ASAP. Maki helped my do the straps back up on my bag and onward we headed, fuelled by the knowledge that we were on the down hill and that had made the summit, in subzero temperatures, without wet weather gear in less than half the recommended time.

The next section down to the hut was supposed to take 4 hours, but we thought that we could shave a bit off that. Having my jeans soaked with water and cold, cooled my muscles, I think that it must have enhanced my ability to walk. We became like walking machines, it was so automatic…one foot after the other in quick succession. Jump, hop, duck, dodge. Stop check/wait for Maki. repeat. I was amazed at my ability to bounce from rock to rock, to walk down steep granite rocks without hands (as they were warming in my pocket). I was pretty high on adrenalin and endorphins at this stage and it all felt great. I was beaming. I have to admit I wasn’t really thinking about much this whole time, It was like I was in survival mode. Keep ‘em together, get down and dry as quick as possible.

Luckily my jumper is woollen, and despite being wet, when covered with another jacket kept me quite warm. By the time we had descended to the next hut, everything had warmed up, and we had generated so much body heat that even my jeans had almost dried out, my jumper was well on the way to being dry too. But everything was still damp. We stopped long enough at the hut to collect donations of more food and fuel from other hikers making tracks off the mountain. Cooked some hot noodles that we had just been given and ate them in one foul swoop.

Around the hut was so beautiful, that despite being cold and wanting to go I couldn’t control my urge to go take some photos. After about 20min we had our bags on and had decided that we wanted off this mountain, we wanted to go to a hot onsen, we wanted steaks, Dave and I even commented to each other that we would be o so content with a shitty hot hamburger. We were so hungry. And so it was we walked the final 70min section to the bus stop.

It was the most beautiful hour in the forest of the whole trip. We had survived, we had done it. Made the summit. The most extreme hiking experience of our lives, now the sun was beginning to show, streaming through the canopy. My arms were outstretched I felt so high, I could feel that forest energy, I could feel the cool winds intensity, I could feel the power of mother nature. It was beautiful. I remember thinking to myself, this must be what it feels like to be truly high on life… excited about the possibilities. I had proven to myself what I was capable off, and I had surprised myself. My confidence and thirst for more adventures had grown. I am looking forward to adventure the world over, with new eyes.

We arrived at the bus stop. The only problem, we had missed the last bus by 10min, despite running the last 500m after seeing people walking up from the bus stop. Since we were at the last stop, no cars were likely to pass by. The nearest town was 40min drive, much to far to walk. And so it was we resolved to walk back the 70min to the hut. I was unable to hide my disappointment at having to walk back, and not being able to go to the onsen and get warm to the core. But our luck was to continue. Goatee, or nicknamed because he and his friend had very loud bells that might be found on mountain goats walked our way (they were actually used to scare bears away). Maki quickly established that he had a car coming to pick him up and that there might be seats for us. The hotel owner was coming to pick him up, Hotel Passion. It was more than we usually pay, but we were willing to pay to get down now. So we said we would stay in his hotel. long/short after several confusing hours he gave us a lift down and we met Maki at Hotel Passion, (she had hitched down because we weren’t sure if there would be enough seats in this car).

This hotel owner is the bomb. Despite not having any rooms for us, he invites us into his home, offers us food, coffee, toast, fruit and best of all a BATH!!!! then he informs us that he can get as a room for half price at another place in town… best yet, he will take us there! What a dude. Turns out he works at the electricity company mon-fri then just for shits and giggles on the weekends volunteers his time to show tourists the local sights. Just because. He was such a nice guy. I can’t describe how great it was to have food, drink and a hot bath in this complete random home. I felt I was imposing a little, but to be honest I didn’t really care… I need to get warm and fed after my day, and I was going to do just about anything to make it happen.

We settled into our dorm accommodation, and feeling a little bit average I napped while the others explored a little. Think I had a touch of heat stroke… or something just from all the extreme in my day. And that was that. Since then we have just been hanging out in sleepy towns, hitching around the island and waiting for the weather to get better. Maki still hasn’t got her ferry because of the worsening weather.

Reflections on the whole thing…. well I guess I realised the severity of my actions. I also had it reinforced that I am responsible in part for those around me. I learnt a lot, the hard way, but it was an awesome experience. Next time I will think a bit more about what I am dragging other people into, do a bit more research, and get some better gear.

Tomorrow we are going to try and get bikes if the weather is better and start riding anti-clockwise around the island. About 125 to 300km in total I think, but we will do it slowly. Maki leaves at noon, so that will make things a little different.

Anyway, enough about me. What about you? What are you up too blog reader? Make a comment!

All the best,

an inspired traveler!