Day 25 - ladders, stairs and tunnels

Our day started with a call from our son Bruce and his wife Linda. It was great to hear from them. It is Linda’s birthday tomorrow! Happy birthday Linda!

We hiked north from Ragaso to Kurosaki-so today: 13.33 miles in eight hours, with enough steep steps to make us question every decision that led us here. My watch recorded 4,350 feet of climbing but AllTrails and GAIA have it closer to 2,700 feet but it certainly felt like 5,000! We finished at five and went directly to the onsen, where our legs began considering forgiveness.

This is the “Sea Alps” section of the Sanriku coast. The trail follows high terraces above the Pacific, then drops toward little coves before climbing back up. The views were spectacular. So, from a safe distance, were the staircases. (Sorry for so many photos)

Some of the most memorable passages were the hand dug tunnels through the coastal rock. They served the people who worked along this difficult shore; at Kitayama, residents built a tunnel while rebuilding the fishing port after the 1933 tsunami. We also passed reminders of the devastation caused by the 2011 tsunami. The beauty of this coast and the lives people have made here are impossible to separate.

At a viewpoint we met Kenji Miyazawa through an interpretive sign. The writer was also a geologist, and a 1925 boat trip from nearby Raga inspired his work. He would have found plenty to study in these cliffs. We mostly studied where to put our feet.

There was churned earth and some substantial scat along the way, too. Bear or boar remains an open question, and we were content to leave it that way. By dinner, the only mystery we wanted to solve was what was in each bowl.Read more