Waiting in Gate A15 for my flight, with a little apprehension. My First Stage of the Shikoku88 Pilgrimage was organized by WalkJapan, all I had to do was follow their detailed instructions in an actual book.

This time all the planning was on me and Kochi is the largest and most rural of the 4 Shikoku Prefectures. I was able to book all my accommodations online. Due to the distances, I'll be using public transport, mostly buses, to reduce the travel time and walking distances. The apprehension comes from whether my itinerary planning was sufficient and just the unknown of the Pilgrimage Trail.

My backpack for Stage 2 came in at 16 lbs total weight, which is about 5 lbs lighter than it was for Stage 1. Of course, with WalkJapan providing baggage forwarding, I only carried the full bag once, before I started the Pilgrimage. This time I will only carry the full bag twice on the Pilgrimage. I will use base locations (multiple stays at a central location) and baggage forwarding if the route includes either long distance or difficult climbs.Read more