I got up at 5:30, had breakfast, and got lunch Onigiris from the Minshuku. Then I began my day just after 6. The moment of decision making. For the past couple of days, I was thinking whether I should walk two sections, as the second section of Kohechi is only 15km but with a 1300m Toge/mountain pass. The 3rd section is only 20km, but another 1000m Toge. I got up early, my legs felt good, so I thought I could walk two sections all the way to Totsukawa Onsen.
The morning was slightly misty, I walked down along the river, and I looked up, mist were vanishing in the morning light. I crossed a bridge and got back into the forest, I started climbing up, my mind fell into concentration.
I was nearly at the top of the mountain when the pass was diverted due to a landslide. The diverted route was no longer the pass but rather a mountain ascent through the trees, marked by fluorescent pink tape. At some point, I couldn’t see the marker for quite some time. According to the map the diversion shouldn’t be that long. The trees weren’t that tall, so the peak couldn’t be that far. I saw a break in the trees and a sign for the peak, Obako Toge. At the top I stood still for a while, trying to cool off, looking at the vista which should have been there, but instead, clouds were flowing rapidly sideways. This was the first Toge, so I must keep moving.
I descended the mountain and came upon a rather quiet village, if I hadn’t planned to walk two sections, I might have stayed here. I had a short lunch break where there are space and public toilet. The sun was strong, and the temperature rose, my feet were also heating up. Time was running out, so I pressed on for another 1000m Toge, followed by a long descent to Totsukawa Onsen.
After crossing Miura Toge, I looked for a place to have a short break, but I couldn’t find a comfortable spot to sit. I passed ruins of houses and decided to have a sip of water and something to nibble. It wasn’t a particularly comfortable place, there are not much light and quite damp. So, I decided to keep walking while eating a banana. Then, all of a sudden, I experienced a shockingly sharp pain in my left hand, the hand holding the banana, which I dropped. I had to scream. I didn’t see any insects because it was rather dark. I walked very fast for a while, thinking it might have been a hornet, and wondered how far I was from the nearest road. At the same time, I got frustrated. By the time I reached the tarmac, I started to think it was a horsefly, although I got swell but it is not getting worse. Then I got even more up set. I had dropped my banana, and I hadn’t managed to kill the horsefly.
The normal road was rather dull. I tried to walk as straight as I could to shorten the distances. By the time I reached Totsukawa Onsen, it was just getting dark, and I was exhausted. I entered the Minshuku, and a lady asked me to fill out a form and if I came by car. I said I got here on foot, she seemed not to quite understand, which struck me as somewhat contradictory given the name of the accommodation, which means ‘Practitioner’ or ‘pilgrim’s onsen of the Sun.’
I had a good room with amazing view, which I’ll show in the next blog post. From the onsen/bath, you could also see the same wonderful view. The only problem with that accommodation was the many stairs for walkers. It shouldn’t have been much of an issue if I had been walking over 30km every day, as I did on the 88, but this was only my second day, and my first 35km. The last thing I wanted to do was go up and down the stairs in tiny vinyl slippery slippers. Dinner was once again botan nabe and fish from the river, along with many other dishes. It was wonderful, but there was far too much food. I managed to eat it all, but this could be a problem as it might hinder my sleep. My body would use a lot of energy to digest rather than recover from fatigue. After the meal, I went straight to the futon.
Kumanokodo Kohechi Section 2&3. 35.78km Taiyo no yu
5時半起床、朝食をとり昼用のおにぎりをもらって6時過ぎに出発。この日は一区間か二区間にするか決めかねていた。内心はもう決まっていたのだが、何かあって歩けない事もなくはないので距離の決定はその日の朝。
第二区間は15kmほどしかないが1300mの峠越え、第三区間は20kmでもう一つの1000m峠越え。朝早く起きて足の調子もいいので十津川温泉まで歩く事に決めた。朝霧が朝日の中で消えていくのを見上げながら、川沿いの道を下る。橋を越えたら森の中へ戻り登り始める、意識は集中の中へと落ちていく。
頂上付近で道は崖崩れのため迂回、道といってもただの山、ピンクのテープで木に印がついているだけだ、進んでいるうちに印が見えない、地図ではそれほど距離がある様には見えない、木はそれほど高くないので頂上までは遠くないはずだった。木々が開け、伯母子峠頂上の標識が見えた。眺望の代わりに横に流れる雲を眺めてしばし体を冷ます。これが最初の峠で、次に向かう。
山から降りて小さな集落に入る、一区間だけならここで一泊だ、よく整備された公衆トイレの前の広場で昼食、気温はだいぶ上がった、足も暑い。時間が経つ、次の峠を越えれば後は十津川温泉まで下り。三浦峠を超えてから一休みできるところを探していたがなかなか適当なところが無い、出店跡だっただろうか、広場だが上は木が生い茂り湿度があり感じのいいところでは無かったので水を飲んでバナナを食べながら先を行く事にした。その後突然バナナを持っていた左手に激しく刺された様な痛み、思わず叫ぶ。薄暗かったからかどんな虫か全く見えなかった。早足で歩きスズメバチだった可能性はあるのか考え、一般の道からの距離はどのくらいかと考え始めた。舗装の道に出る頃にはハレと痛みの程度から恐らくアブだったのではと思う、そうすると余計に思わずバナナを落として、その虫を殺さなかったことに怒りを覚えた。
普通の道はただひたすらつまらない。なるべく真っ直ぐに歩き距離を縮めようとする。十津川温泉に着く頃には暗くなり始めていてだいぶ疲労感もあった。宿に着くと宿泊者情報を記入してくれと紙を渡され、車で来たかと尋ねられた、歩きだというと見慣れないといった表情、行者民宿という名前とは違いほとんどの客は車なのだろう。
素晴らしい眺めの部屋だった、同じ景色は露天風呂からも見る事ができる。眺望は次のブログで掲載しよう。この宿の問題は階段が多いことだ、毎日30km以上歩いていれば脚もできて問題無いだろうが、二日目で初の30km超えの足の裏が痛い状態で滑りそうなスリッパで階段を登ったり降りたりするのはできれば避けたい。
この晩も料理は赤い牡丹鍋、そして地魚と他沢山、なんとか全て食べたが、消化に力を使うと身体が回復しないかも、だが食後はもうすぐ布団へ、眠りに落ちる。