From Kirobara to Onbara along the Gonokawa

 

After visiting the huge stump of what used to be a sacred tree I carried on upstream on the south/east bank of the Gonokawa River.

So far, on the third day of my walk upriver, more people seem to live on the opposite bank.... something I believe holds true at least as far as Miyoshi.

At some point I cross the border from Kawamoto Town into Misato City, not really a city but a collection of villages and small towns collected together administratively...

Misato has a total of 14 bridges, both rail and road, that cross the Gonokawa. That number may now be reduced as the rail bridges get dismantled since the line closure...

The first of these bridges ( or the last if you are coming downstream) is the Minato Bridge.

As with everywhere in Japan, small Buddhist altars can be found by the roadside.

Then it was Take Station, the next station on the former Sanko Line. Not dismantled and demolished like some on the line....

In England it would be called a Halt rather than a station as there were no buildings and never had any staff.

Of course Take means bamboo....

Up ahead, Mount Sanbe, the active volcano that is 1,126 meters high, and the highest point in Iwami. The river heads towards it for a bit more, todays destination, and then does a 180 turn and heads away from it.

There is not much else to see until the next settlement, Onbara.

It is kind of divided by a hill into two parts....

I chose to walk through the village rather than stay on the riverbank...

The last set of photos are just shots of things that attracted my eye before reaching the village shrine.

The previous post in this series documenting the third day of my walk up the Gonokawa River to  its source was on the sacred tree and shrine in Kirobara.

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A Walk Up The Nisshiki River Valley in Late November

 

After crossing over into the narrow Nisshiki River valley, by route to the next temple was along its banks, further north into the mountains of Yamaguchi.

There is a small dam downstream from where I reached the river, so the river is a little wider than iy would be naturally...

It's a glorious day.... my favorite time of the year in Japan

The still waters make for great reflections....

Another ten kilometers of this and I will arrive at the next pilgrimage temple....

The pack I am carrying feels lighter when surrounded by beauty...

The fact that the next ten kilometers will be virtually flat also helps..

The previous post was on earlier in the day walking up the Tonda River

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Lake Kikugawa, Kawakami Dam, & the Tonda River

 

Lake Kikugawa is the name given to the reservoir behind Kawakami Dam not far from Tokuyama on the south coast of Yamaguchi.

The dam itself is nothing special, opened in 1979 for irrigation and water supply, it has a catchement area of 22 sq. km.

Looking back down the valley where I had come from....

I'm heading north out of Tokuyama towards the next pilgrimage temple in the mountains to the north.

The route I have chosen is to first head up the Tonda River, and then later cross over to the Nishiki River which will take me straight to the temple.

I headed off really early as its late November and the days are quite short.

By 8 o'clock the sun is striking the eastern slopes of the mountains revealing autumn colours...

Off in the distance is a gleaming, golden tower on a mountaintop, which my zoom lens reveals to be a giant Kannon statue. This one is called  Himawari Kosodate Kannon and sits atop the 500 meter high Mount Hoshigatake.

I can find very little about it except it was privately built by a local businessman and is open to the publis. At night it is illuminated.

There was not much else to see along the road that ran along the waters edge.

Just lots and lots of forest, much with autumn hues....

Eventually I climbe out of the Tonda valley and over another valley before dropping down into the Nishiki River valley....

I have to admit that this is by far my favorite time of the year to wander off the beaten track in Japan. The days may be short but they are colourfull.

The previous post in this series was on my walk along the coast into Tokuyama the previous evening.

If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.