The Ten Hour Hike

a.k.a. - One of the best hikes of my life

a.k.a. - Golden Week - Yakushima, Part II

a.k.a. - this trip is WAY too short!

These are seriously all suitable alternate titles for this post. Today has been wicked!

Hitting the Hills
While it might sound insane to leave for hiking at 5am (first bus outta town), I am glad I did!! I was one of the first people on the bus, and within three stops, people were already standing. Again... Golden Week! I sat next to a nice guy from Seitema who told me where we were headed (which happened to be exactly the path I wanted to start my hike from). A little research also went a long way, too. When we arrived at the starting point, Arakawa tozenguchi, I bypassed the lines of people waiting to fill out forms (you're supposed to fill something out and stick it in a box so the rangers know you're on the paths) and headed straight for the abandoned railroad tracks that would lead me half of the way to jomon-suji, the world's largest cedar tree. I know it might sound bad that I couldn't be bothered to wait for the forms, but risking getting stuck behind the tour groups is just too painful.

It was a little chilly in the morning and I definitely had to watch where I was walking. The views were stunning and i wanted to keep my eyes lifted, but there were some pretty big gaps in the paths (sometimes forcing you to only follow the metal rails on the train tracks) and I did not want to be the person to fall through... especially since I was hiking alone!

I battled the tours for a while in the beginning, getting stuck behind a group stopping to look at a certain plant or in places where it was impossible to get around the slowbies, but I eventually broke into the faster group and could go at a comfortable pace. I met another woman about my age (also dodging and winding around groups) who I started talking to. Turns out she was also traveling alone, from America and has been living in Tokyo for three years. I don't think either of us was out to make a new best friend, but it was fun to hang out with someone for a bit and chat about life (in Japan) and travels while we hiked along. I had brought along my own food and water in my daypack (basically just the top of my hiking bag), but the girl - Mozel - also showed me some streams where you could fill your bottle and we stopped a few times to look at the raging river below us or admire the trees. I had never actually done that before while hiking (maybe revieling how hardcore - or not - I really am here...haha), but it was good to learn some of the signs for which streams were OK and to know where I could get water if I ever come back (or go somewhere else) for a multiple-day hike.

So in hindsight, I have to admit the hiking trails I was on were some serious forest terrain and the island definitely deserves its designation as a World Heritage Site. That being said, however, I find it ironic that almost everywhere you go in this country, there is already a pathway established. You can go around it, but it's there if you need it. In Yakushima, you're still climbing a bit (later on, on a different path near Shiratani Cabin, I found much steeper trails without much/any guidance and where I was alone), BUT most of the time, there are going to be others around and/or a marked path to follow. This also gets into cementing the rivers. To some extent, I think they do it to protect the plants you would walk on (or sediment that could be destroyed in the rivers?), but another big part of me doesn't want to admit - but knows - that all this constructions happens just to build things. Enough ranting, though... back to the hike.

Wilsons Stump

So the path I decided to follow, Arakawa, goes to the world's largest cedar, in the middle of the island, via Kosugidani, an abandoned logging village beside the river, following an old railway track. Like any (increasingly) touristy place in Japan, this path is not without it's own star attractions. One of the most famous sites along the path in Wilson's stump, a giant tree stump that has been hallowed out. There was a small shrine inside, so I am not sure if people had just blessed it or if there was more religious significance to the site, but - to me - it just seemed like any of the other giant trees, only sawed off and resembling something that a Hobbit wouldn't mind habitating in. The stump wasn't too crowded on my way up (was past the groups by this point), but the open area around it had been transformed into a virtual picnic site by the time I was making my way back down the same path.

(note: these pics show the stump from the outside and me on the inside)

To Jomon-Sugi... and Beyond!
So the books said the hike would take 5 hours up and 5 back, but I couldn't believe it when I reached the tree in just over 3 hours. Mozel and I took some pictures and stopped for lunch (joined by a wild deer who wanted some food, actually), but with the unplanned extra daylight hours, I decided I wanted to try to get to another area of forest. I know the one tree, Jomon-Sugi, is famous (it's between 2,000 and 7,000 years old!), but the whole area was honestly indescribably beautiful. Giant trees, clear streams, wild animals running around and moss covering everything. The area was forested by the Japanese government for shingle (yes, roof shingle) production a few hundred years ago, but a lot of the sugis (trees that are over 1,000 years) still remain and guard over you with an impressive and intimiating presence. How could you not want more? (note: here's a pic with part of Jomon-suji in the background... you can't walk up to it anymore - only take pictures from a platform - but I was satisfied with being able to feel the other suji's and was definitely impressed by this giant monster of a tree)

I've read travel logs and reviews of Yakushima hikes calling the path I took "incredibly monotonous " but I have to disagree. Granted, the section of train tracks really doesn't offer that many sweeping views compared to what I have heard about other areas of the island (that are less visited and still accessible), but if you get the area on a nice day - and preferably not during peak tourist season (eek!) - it's incredibly beautiful, relaxing and thereputic.

And the Good Keep Going...
Mozel decided to keep going forward on the same trail (you can go for about another hour or so in a loop), so we said our nice to meet you's and goodbyes and both headed in our respective directions. It was a bit tricky sharing the path down with all the tour groups (still making their way up...slowly, but surely), but I made it! And, with the help of a random hiker's map, I found my way to Mononoke Forest...

Sidenote - Don't Feed the Animals

Yakushima is famous for it's wildlife, but thought I would add a littel extra note/warning/reminder about why it is important to keep the life wild on this island. While Mozel and I were having a little picnic brunch (after seeing Jomon-sugi), this deer wanders over to us and starts begging for food! I started feeding him some rice out of the palm of my hand, when a park ranger walked by and got really angry that I was feeding the deer. And I realized he was right. The reason the deer is so comfortable approaching people (most of the others ran away - and there were a lot of them) is because of hikers like me, interfering with the natural habitat of these animals. It gets dangerous when these animals become too dependant on hikers, though, and they can also become aggressive (which you know if you've ever visited Nara or Miyajima). So... Let's working together to keeping Yakushima safu!