A Walk From Mine to Akiyoshidai

 

I set off long before the sun rose on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Not because I had a long distance to cover that day, only 15 kilometers,  but because there was a lot I wanted to explore at today's destination, and being only a week after the winter solstice, the days were very short.

There was a bit of frost on the ground and vegetation, but real winter had yet to arrive this winter.

On the way out of town I passed the entrance to the cement factory. When I arrived yesterday afternoon, there was no smoke either from the tall smokestacks, nor from the power plant, yet this morning bboth were belchimg smoke....

I pass several of these roadside stones with thick shimenawa circles around them..... must be a local tradition...

I stop by a couple of quite large shrines on the way and will cover them in upcoming posts...

I am still quite taken by these heavily pruned junipers....

I cross the Koto River, the biggest river I've seen in the last 24 hours...., and then I catch a glimpse up ahead of my destination, the unusual landscape of the Akiyoshidai Plateau.

The previous post was on the interesting little town of Mine with its couple of decent museums and history of mining. Got very few views for some reason or other.

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