On the Kumano Kodo

Saturday I had a big day on the Kumano Kudo. I hiked from Hisohara oji from guest house 22.1 km with 850 metre elevation and 1350 metres of descent to Kumano Hongu Taisha. I would have preferred doing a longer hike on Friday but this becomes the problem when you are staying in accommodation and the accommodation has been booked through a travel company. I had met a hiker on the trail who had booked her own accommodations and was able to stay 3 km farther down the trail making it less of a hike. I guess that I didn't have to do such a long walk as there were various options of taking buses and only hiking half way. Scott and Janine my Australian friends from Adelaide were going to do it and encouraged me to go for it. Aki the guest owner thought it was doable. We all were up early for a 6:30 breakfast and the two Aussies and I left at 6:50. It was very similar to the previous day but probably more elevation and twice the distance. One walks through forests of cedars planted in a grid fashion which are about 60 years old. There was one minor shrine or oji where the locals had fought against logging immediately around the shrine and there were these beautifully large 800 year old cedars. The first 11 km were probably the most difficult as that was where all the elevation gain was. Walking along the trail one would stop and admire the oji of varying size and complexity. Some I would leave a coin and make a prayer. There were shrines to various gods of travel, to people who had died on the trail and even to a Geisha who had been murdered by bandits. It got busy after the first 7 km as I think it was where one of the first bus drop offs were. After a little while people got spread out so it wasn't too busy. The first part was trail and towards the end it was more secondary paved road. No traffic. . It was pretty but I am getting a little shrines out so I didn't feel compelled to hang around too long. I made it into Kumano Hongu Taisha in 7 hours with a lunch break. Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine was quite busy with car tourists. I walked around a little and said some prayers.It was pretty but I am getting a little shrined out so I didn't feel compelled to hang around too long. I could have taken things a little slower today but I wanted to get to town by 3 as I had to take a public bus to Yunomine Onsen a 15 minutes bus ride away and the next bus I was told wasn't until 5 pm. When I arrived I realized with the help of Google maps that there were various buses going to Yunomine Onsen but some stopped immediately in front of the accommodation and some stopped 5 minutes away so I actually hopped on an earlier bus at 2:20. I met a group of 4 Canadians on the bus who I had met earlier on the trip and they were staying at the same hotel so I will head out for supper with them tonight. A pretty full day. I went and had an Onsen before supper and cleaned myself up.Read more