I hadn’t hiked the ridge of low mountains on the trail from Yamamoto Town to Watari (Mt. Shiho, Mt. Kuromori, Mt. Kankyo etc) because the trail had closed in multiple places from typhoon damage. But by the time I decided to take another crack at the area this month, every single closure had been lifted!
The plan was to basically follow the model course on the map, except I was going to go down the escape route at Mt. Shiho and walk over to Hamayoshida Station because I didn’t think I’d have enough time to walk the whole course before it got dark. To my surprise, the times shown on the map were actually much longer than it took me. Sanroku Shonen no Mori to Mt. Shiho was supposed to have taken four hours, but only took me three. Even if the second part of the hike took as much time as the map said, I would still be out of the mountains and back in town before dark. The map lies! This is a totally doable, pleasant day hike! I don’t like to take much longer than a 20 minute break for lunch, but I’m not *that* fast, especially after taking a month off from hiking. I left Yamashita Station at 8:00 AM and arrived at Watari Station at 3:15 PM, enough time to make the 3:30 train back home.
What are some other reasons why this hike was great? The view. Going along this ridge, you get great views of the flat fields and buildings in Yamamoto Town and Watari Town and the ocean to the east, with what is apparently Oshika Peninsula (!) visible in the distance to the left. To the west is Kakuda City and a river and even taller mountains.
I loved the signage, and how well maintained the course was. There’s a whole network of trails linking these small mountains to each other and to the nearby town, with lots of maps showing where you are in this network. Even after I decided to go north past Mt. Shiho, I could have conceivably gone back down into town if I’d needed to through quite a few other paths marked with signs.
I also laughed out loud at the signage a couple times. There’s a spot with a viewpoint (or at least viewpoint is in the name) with some visibility issues, and there was a sign basically like “Yeeeeees….this is the ‘viewpoint,’ though you can’t see much right.” Also, another first: there was a mountain with two names, one from the Kakuda side and one from the Watari side.
Maybe saving the most important part for last: when I got to the top of Mt. Shinzan and went over to look at the Bell of Requiem, there was an older gentleman there who immediately started chatting with me in English. He was actually a Mr. Nagaoka, who headed the group that built the bell. According to the nearby placard, the bell is to soothe the souls of those all those who lost their lives in the tsunami, including the 635 people who died in Yamamoto Town, as well as to convey the dangers of the tsunami to future generations. Donations from 800 individual and groups made the bell possible. Mr. Nagaoka happened to be there so he could clean the area, but he was delighted to see me there, and I was certainly delighted to meet him. He gave me a stamp booklet, so I could add more stamps and fill out the date when I visited the bell again, and took my photo for his nonprofit’s blog.
I don’t know if I believe in fate per se, but meeting Mr. Nagaoka was a reminder of how lucky I am, how lucky I can be. Luck has to do with being in the right place at the right time. If there’s one thing the Michinoku Coastal Trail does, it takes you places, and then you spend a lot of time there.
Speaking of luck and spending time in places, saw some interesting birds today for good measure. A male and female Northern Shoveler (Hashibirogamo) at a little pond near Watari-jinja Shrine and a bunch of Long-Tailed Rosefinches (Benimashiko) on the gravel road past the mountain entrance on the north side, past Konosu Pass.
My Michinoku 