Takahara to Chikatsuyu

We had to do a bit of planning before this trip, but I'd emphasise that it focused on logistics rather than experience, leaving lots of room for surprise and delight.

Amongst the logistics was an idea of today that involved walking about 13km to Tsugizakura-oji then backtracking 3km by bus to our accommodation at Chikatsuyu given nothing was available in T-oji when we booked a few months ago. That would then mean tomorrow morning, catching a bus back to T-oji to pick up the trail where we left off, and walking 22km to Hongu.

Trouble being that our accommodation tonight offers breakfast, and we collect our lunchboxes at the cafe that hosts that, and the bus leaves a bit early for us to get our money's worth. I have never knowingly not got my money's worth.

We decided rather than constrain both days by fretting about the timetable, that we'd just walk to Chikatsuyu (which means blood or dew, I learned at a shrine today) and see how we go with 25km tomorrow. Sounds fine but if elevation makes it mental we'll catch a bus the last bit as there's a loop section that means we can cover that bit off later.

It's all a bit hard to explain, and it was hard trying to get head around this before we left, but being here makes it easier to understand somehow. Take my word for it, I reckon we're sweet.

Walk was sickeningly pretty again, about 800m of elevation gain, and luckily shaded and breezy almost the entire time - hurrah!Read more