From the Shimoko River to Yasaka

 

I find it almost impossible to not find beauty somewhere in my view, no matter the place or time. Colours, shapes, angles, shadows, contrast..... everywhere. Of course that doesnt necessarily mean anyone else  sees it. I wonder what is going on in the minds of people who say they are bored. Which is a long-winded way of saying that every kilometer I walk in the backcountry of Japan,... and it has been many, many thousands, there is always something of interest, something to photograph, something that prompts questions...but I am quite sure that they may not be at all interesting to anyone else....

Carrying on up the Shimoko River after visiting the Otoshi Shrine, I passed this unusual house. It seems to have been converted from a kura, the thick-walled storehouses that contained all the treasures of a family to escape the frequent house-burnings. Never did figure out chimneys.....

Passed another of the derelict tunnels for the ghost railway that was never completed....

I then pass under the Hamada Exressway. Like many rural sections of expressway in Japan, it is a simple two lane affair, one in each direction..... and it is a toll road.... costs to use it....

And then another tunnel from the ghost railway, though I believe this one did get some use as a road tunnel for a while....

Around Sano I head off from the Shimoko River as it veers east, and I continue south...

I take a narrow, mountain road over a pass and drop into the valley of the Hamada River. I follow it upstream.

I continue to slowly climb....

It is the second of May, planting time in the paddies.....

I climb out of the Hamada River valley and cross over into the Sufu River valley...

I soon arrive at Sufugawa Dam, and after following the bank of the reservoir for a while, I once again head into the forst and over the mountains and descend into the approach to Yasaka and the next temple

I am now entering an area of the mountainous interior of Iwami that I completely unfamiliar with..... exploring new country,.. something getting harder and harder to do without going further and further from my home...

The previous post in this series on day 8 of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on the first part of this days walk from Arifuku.

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