Yakushima pt 3.

Some how or other I did manage to wake up at 4am. Sadly however a tropical rainstorm was a blowing so all chances of heading up to Jomon-sugi where off. Whilst I’m sure it’s fairly impressive I doubt it would have been quite so if we’d spent several hours slogging through torrential rain.

Instead we opted to head one of the most accessible areas of forest on the Island, Yakusugiland. I realize that makes it sound like a bit of a theme park, and to be honest in parts it feels like it, but it is a genuine are of the forest that has been sectioned off and left open to the public.  The joy of this place is the choice. There are several routes that can be taken depending on your hiking ability and inclination and all of them offer sights of impressively tall and old tree’s.

Thanks to the bad weather we were forced to start a little later but it wasn’t too bad. It gave me a chance to talk to our host a bit more. The auld Dutchman was quite a character and it seemed he had been around most of Asia and Oceania (chasing ladies no less) before finally deciding to settle in Yakushima. It was on his recommendation that we headed to Yakusugiland as it was apparently still pleasant in poor weather.

After another long and windy bus ride we arrived at a hut marking the entrance of the forest and, after a little bit of confusion, we were on our way. We’d been told that the forests are actually best seen after a bit of rainfall and I can now testify that to be true. Not only is the sight of moss glistening on the leaves amazing, but the rivers and falls are much more impressive and that wonderful smell of damp foliage fills the air.

Whilst Yakusugiland does contain many well-paved trails with ample hand rails, if you opt for the longest course, as we did, then there is quite a bit of rough terrain also. After all the rain I was very glad to have rented some hiking boots, I think my ankles were glad as well with the ground being so slippery.

We followed the 3 hour course and far too soon reached the halfway point. It is here that the trail branches off with a steep climb towards one of the giant granite peaks of Yakushima, Tachu dake. I wouldn’t have known about this if not for my guidebook that I’m very glad I purchased. After a short debate we decided to go for it. We still had plenty of time and it felt as though the hike would have been over far too soon anyway.

The initial branch takes a very steep climb and it was surprisingly tough going. Gone where the carefully laid rocks and wood and the trail was mostly outlined by the roots of the trees themselves.  The steep climb is eventually rewarded as the trail levels out into a beautiful patch of forest.

Unlike Shiritani that we visited yesterday, this forest was the real deal. The current situation had been un touched for several centuries. The number of fallen tree’s was far fewer and there was a much higher density of the giants. It was awe inspiring, truly, something I’ve never come across before and reminded me just how much I love nature.

Yomping through the forest was great fun.  The trail was still wonderfully outlined by little pink ribbons but the path itself was not so pristine, occasionally we’d have to scurry over rocks, little streams and duck under fallen tree trunks. Eventually the trail leads into the protected Unesco area itself.

The nicest thing about this trail is it is far less travelled than a lot of the others.. We bumped into about ten other hikers tops on our way giving a wonderful sense of detachment from the ‘real world’. We did however share the toughest part of the climb with a Japanese couple who huffed and puffed up the 1km of about 20-50 degree incline with us.

This part was a lot of fun for me and maybe less fun for my friend. I love climbing as well all know and here I was in my monkey element, bounding up rocks, clambering over roots and hauling myself p the various ropes. To their credit though they managed everything with very little help from me and I only had to slow down a little bit.

That climb up was the most fun I’d had in such a long time, even if it seemed to go on forever. The problem is that the peak of Mt. Tachu is visible for quite a lot of the climb up. It’s always just out of reach as the path winds around, up and down. Eventually we got there though.

After one final rock climb we pulled ourselves up onto Tachu dake to take in the breathtaking view of…well a sea of white actually. It was a pretty cloudy day and at 1400m we were well above the cloud layer. The vast expanse of nothingness was still quite a spectacle however and well worth the climb up. After sharing a few “お疲れ様‘s” over lunch we turned around and began our desent.

At this point I realised we may be a bit short on time so we really had to go for it on our way back down. Since it was mostly downhill I was worried that it may be a bit tricky due to the steep gradient. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and we returned to Yakusugiland in half the time it had taken to climb up。We were even greeted by a troupe of wild macaques on the way down, I thought we weren’t going to see any by this point.

 

 After a brief pause we continued around the rest of Yakusugiland. Some of the paths were really nice, with several suspension bridges over the river that ran through the centre. My favorite of all the tree’s in there definitely had to be the Buddha sugi, on which one of the growths apparently resembles the Buddha’s face. I was definitely feeling a bit spiritual in the post climb euphoria.

We arrived back at the entrance with about two minutes to spare before the last bus. Bundled back to Onoaida we had a quick dip in the local onsen, an impressively warm 45 degree hot spring, before dinner and passing out from exhaustion.  Sadly that was our last day. The following morning I began the epic return journey to home ready for work the next day. I don’t quite know how I managed to come back to reality after such an awesome trip and I highly recommend spending sometime in Yakushima if your body and budget allow.

読み込みを継続していただきありがとうございます。

Ja ne.