Day 6 - 5/1
The morning began with our friends inviting us again to join them in the upper room for a hearty breakfast at 7:30. The traditional Japanese breakfast, mainly composed of vegetables, was not the breakfast food that we Americans are normally used to, but was nonetheless a great start to the day.
We were on the trail by 8:15 and ready to tackle our most exhausting climb yet. Our mountain for the day led us up 1000m via a 5km trail - a steep challenge for the fittest of us. But we were happy to make it to the summit for lunch at 12 with our sweat-soaked T-shirts and empty stomachs. I gluttonessly devoured my food, leaving me with a stomach ache that delayed our descent by ten minutes while I recovered.
The descent wasn't too taxing, especially compared to our morning's steep hike, and we made good time down the slope. We hit a highway and proceeded to walk the 2.5km to the next part of the trail. This 2.5k along the roadside seemed to take longer than the entire beginning of the day. We observed that there must be something about walking along roads that makes distances seem longer and time pass slower. We exhaustedly reached the next trail head and decided to sit for a few minutes before tackling the final leg of our hike.
The last leg of our hike went through some well-worn hiking paths, which was a nice change from the more treacherous mountain trails. This path also took us to a lookout point to Honshu's giant torii gate, roughly 30m high.
We stopped briefly at a temple and took a few pictures, but were so tired of walking at that point that the temple's beauty didn't seem as appealing as the benches placed throughout its grounds. We then took a bus to our final destination at a gorgeous riverside ryokan where we soaked in the onsens, were served a delicious dinner in our room, and slept comfortably on our futons while listening to the river through our window. I noted that our nights were becoming increasingly more luxurious, which some say makes our camping expedition that much less rugged...and it's true. But we didn't mind.
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| Entrance to Hotel Subaru |
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| And the hike begins |
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| The steep climb ahead |
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| The valley below |
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| More rice |
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| A few large coi |
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| One of the many small statues along the trail |
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| Taking a water break |
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| At the summit |
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| Joe and Ross entertaining themselves while I recovered |
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| So many spectacular views along the trail |
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| That must be the total distance traveled so far... |
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| The weather was gorgeous that day |
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| A view of Honshu's torii gate |
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| The temple |
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| A closer view of Honshu's torii gate |
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| Our hotel that night |
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| The river right outside our hotel. View from the window |
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