A walk from Muraki to Higashi Aohara

After the ceremonies at Taikodani Inari I decided to take advantage of the warm, dry weather and go for a walk along the backroads in the mountains north of Tsuwano.

I started out in Muraki, a small settlement west of Tsuwano and headed north along route 17. My first surprise was a new tunnel. According to the map I was supposed to snake up and over the mountain, but this new tunnel punched straight through saving me at least a kilometer and some climbing.

On the other side the road dropped down into a valley and then climbed slowly north. As usual I was on the lookout for shrines, and as usual some of them marked on the map didnt exist, and some shrines existed that were not marked on the map. According to the map this little grove of trees contained a shrine, but as the only way to it was through a farm I decided to pass.

The road passed through small settlements with names like Yamashita (under the mountain) and Nakagawa (middle river), common names that existed all over Japan and also became common family names when commoners were allowed to have names in the Meiji period.

It was a pleasant enough walk, very little traffic, and the sound of farm machinery at work. I kept my eyes open for a　drink vending machine as it was warming up and I was starting to get thirsty.

There were not a lot of shrines, and most were common old Hachiman shrines with no distinguishing features. As always there were many roadside altars with fresh flowers.

There were also many abandoned farms. Apparently 1 in 8 houses in Japan are empty.

The road reached a pass and went through a small tunnel and then a new 2 lane road descended rapidly. The old road weaved its way along the bottom of the valley and looked more interesting, but I had gone about 10k without finding a vending machine so I was in a hurry.

Another few K and I took a smaller road off to the right, Route 170, that went down the mountain to Route 9, the Takatsu River, and the train line that would take me home. In about 4k there were only 2 small farms. A very pleasant road that I was unable to enjoy as my thirst was becoming too much. I was sustained only by the thought that once I reached the small train station at Higashiaohara, actually halt would be a more accurate description, there would be a vending machine. But no!!!!!.... so i begged some water from an old man working in his garden. He took me back behind his house and ran the water for a few minutes till it became cold, and it was delicious.... fresh, mountain water!!!!

It had taken me about four and half hours to walk 18 kilometers, a crazy pace fueled by my need to reach a vending machine. I only visited 4 shrines.

The view from Asari Fujisan

Sailing down the coast of Shimane approaching Gotsu one can see what looks like a miniature version of Mount Fuji. The proper name of this mountain ( hill in English) is Mount Murokami, but everyone kniws it as Asari Fujisan. On top is a small temple that can only be reached by foot, so recently I went for a walk to revisit it.

On the lower slopes passed this abandoned roadside shrine to Ebisu. Its been a long time since anyone left any offerings here.

Further up are several Jizo statues on the pilgrim path to the mountaintop. According to the story on the signboard, a long time a guy a boat was heading down the coast from Izumo to Hashi and stopped in near here. On board was a young girl who an old childless couple convinced to stay with them. At some later point the girl left and started to walk back towrds Izumo and the old couple chased after her. At this spot the old woman died. The old man died on top of the mountain at the site of the temple.

Asari Fujisan is only 246 meters high, but has 360 degree views around and along the coast. The coastal villages seen here are Gotsu, Kakushi, Tsunozu, Ninomiya, and Waki.

Right below is the village of Watazu.

The Gonokawa River close to where it meets the sea.

The village of Asari with its wind generators, looking up the coast towards Izumo.

A one hour walk in the morning

Yoko dropped me off about one kilometer upstream at my favorite overlook.

I hung around for about 20 minutes hoping for the sun to break through but I was getting cold so started to head back home.

Yoko gets to drive up the river every morning and often remarks when she gets home how beautiful it was with the mist and sun and snow.

I stopped in at the Zen temple. There is a nice garden behind it and I hoped to get some shots of it in the snow, but the priest wasn't home, so no luck.

Headed down to the riverbank to take photos of the plum blossoms and scared off a heron

And a flock of ducks. I think these might be a species of Eider. I suspect they will be heading north soon.

We have a lovely new set of tetrapods.......

and back to the village about an hour after I left....

Plum blossom viewing

Woke up to a few centimeters of of snow this morning so took the opportunity to go for a short one hour walk......

Tomorrow I will post more of the walk, but for today here are the plum blossoms.

I prefer the plum blossoms to the cherry blossoms..... as do the Chinese apparently.

The harbinger of spring...............

Along the tracks

On Sunday I went down to Gotsu for the annual Kagura Festival, but after a few hours indoors I couldnt stand it any longer... outside was another beautiful clear day and as we have had so few this month and as the good weather was not likely to last, I headed off for another walk.

I got off the train in Kawahira and headed up the tracks.

This section of the river has no road on this bank, and as it was 90 minutes or so till the next train I reckoned I could get along the tracks before it came.

There are a few abandoned farms along this side of the river....

Closer to Kawado I passed by a place that has fascinated me since I moved here, a hidden valley. The entrance is very narrow and choked with bamboo and undergrowth and there appears to be no trail in, but one of these winters when the undergrowth has died back Im going to try and find a way in...

Though its the longest river in West Japan, the Gonokawa is not well known but I have yet to see a river in Japan that is more beautiful.

I arrive safely into Kawado without encountering the train.

Kawado, the bustling commercial hub of Sakurae Town.......

Second fall colors walk part 2

After my brief exploration of the abandoned school I carried on into Kawahira.

There is not much to Kawahira,... a couple of temples, a shrine, a koban, a railway station,.... no shops.......

I climbed up to the local shrine, a place we have visited several times for matsuri.

Down from the shrine I get to the station where I have to wait 10 minutes for the next train. 5 trains a day in each direction. I get off next station up the line, Kawado.

Heading across the bridge to my village I notice it is starting to cloud over.........

For a final　blast of Fall color hanging down a neighbors wall......

Second Fall colors walk

9 a.m. and the sun starts to burn off the mist that fills the valleys and blankets us all night long. It promises to be a fine day as I head across the river to catch the train downstream to Gotsu Honmachi where my mountain walk begins.

I head out of Honmachi by the ancient San'indo, the road that once connected the capital in Asuka with this region. Then I head up the slope of Star Mountain.

It takes less than an hour to reach the pass at 300 meters, and from then on its downhill all the way to the river at Kawahira.

I love these mountain roads. More like wide hiking paths as there are no vehicles.

The forest and vegetation is thick, and only rarely can I catch glimpes of a vista, so for Fall colors best to look up.

There are no villages up here in the mountains, nor hamlets, only the occasional isolated homestead. If 2 or 3 are in close proximity then for sure they are relatives. A different breed of people. More independent, more self-sufficient.

Maybe half the homesteads are now empty.

About halfway down there is a small shrine on the hillside across from a big Gingko tree. When I first walked this way some years ago I stopped in at the shrine, as is my habit, and found it fairly dilapidated, so I was surprised this time to hear the sound of hammering and power tools as it appears it is being renovated. I would guess there are about 6 families left in this area, so it is good to see that they still care about the shrine.

Getting lower in altitude the valley starts to widen a little and I reach the "suburbs" of Kawahira.

To be continued

Fall colors walk

As the sun burned off the mist early this morning the day promised to be fine, and as it has been pretty lousy weather for a few weeks I decided to get out and try and photograph some Fall colors.

I had to meet someone in Oda City in the afternoon, so I decided to head up early and spend a few hours exploring the Honmachi district.

Honmachi means "oldtown" and there are a half dozen or so temples and 3 or 4 shrines to explore.

There wasnt a lot of color about, but enough to satisfy me.

Going upriver on the train home the setting sun highlighted the mountaintops so I resolved to head up into the mountains for a walk tomorrow.