Fukuchiyama 福智山 & Takatoriyama 鷹取山 hiking in Tagawa rainy edition! 2019/7/14

Fukuchiyama 福智山 & Takatoriyama 鷹取山 hiking in Tagawa rainy edition! 2019/7/14

For my third trip to these wonderful mountains in Tagawa in central Fukuoka I decided to take a friend and brave it on a rainy day. We had good matches of light rain and brightened up as the day went on. The views from the mountain were completely masked in mist and clouds. However it gave us a great change to focus on the details and enjoy the journey more than the end. 

Access: The route was the same as my first trip and can be found here 

Gear: Obviously if you decide to go on a rainy day make sure you take a pocket umbrella for the walk to the trailhead and pack a raincoat. I also got the chance to test my pack cover (Great value from Amazon!) and trail gaiters. With the end point being the Onsen it really helps you worry less about getting wet or muddy on the journey. 

Below are some of the highlights from the hike: 

Fungi: As the weather gets warmer and more humid there was a fantastic variety of Fungi to be found in the mountains. 

Views: Although the wide landscape view from the Summit of both mountains was obscured almost entirely there were plenty more views of the forest which can only be seen on a rainy day. The atmosphere is wonderful and worth the hassle to see. 

The streams and river: For a large part of the hike you need to effectively follow the mountain stream up. There are plenty of crossings which on a dry day are simple. On this day they were a lot more hazardous as the stream was rushing with a high volume of water. But it also provided us with some of the best shots and added to the adventure. 

The creatures and wildlife: Most animals were hiding from the rain. However there were plenty of frogs and crabs (One was even attempting to climb a tree!) along the route. Also there were plenty of insects, bees and huge ants at the summit. 

The waterfall: The waterfall at the end of the hike was wonderful the last time. But with the increased water flow it looks even more stunning and easily one of my favourite mountain waterfalls in the area. 

Kusenbuyama 九千部山 hike from Nakagawa to Saga 2019.7.7

Kusenbuyama 九千部山 hike from Nakagawa to Saga 2019.7.7

Kusenbuyama is a 847m mountain in Tosu. The streams from the mountain run down into the large Nakagawa reservoir. The mountain runs along the same ridgeline as near by Sefuriyama which means you could chain this hike to many others if you wanted to. 

Access: For this hike we started at the Nakagawa side in Fukuoka from this car park 九千部山登山口（桜谷、うるしが谷ルート)  The hike starts directly from the car park and follows the mountains streams for most of the way up until coming to the summit. 

We found this sign which directs you to the trail in the car park.  The trail is well signposted (In Japanese). However there are a few points where due to damage and minor landslides the trail is a little harder to see. Thankfully there is also pink and red tape around to help as well.

The first part of the hike is fairly straightforward taking you to this area which has been damaged by the rain. Then it leads to a long staircase with rushing water to the side.

After the long stairs pictured above we came to a clearing with an old toilet at the end. The toilet works find but is pretty badly kept. Just behind this was some overgrown steps which leads to a road. At the top we turned left and rejoined the hiking trail.

The signposting from here on out is very clear and lets you know how much further you have to go.  There are numerous streams to cross and even a roped section. Hiking shoes are recommended as they provide better grip on those surfaces.

Eventually the streams stop and the hiking gets a lot easier.  Eventually we came to a road which lead to a large Saga TV antenna. We walked around this and followed the signs which means to the view point tower and the mountain summit.

The top of Kusenbuyama is treeless and the elevated viewpoint gives at good view of the area.  There were a view shrines in the area and even a Ganesh statue (??) pictured above.

The return hike was largely uneventful. We did stop a strange crab in a stream which seemed t have a large parasite attached to it. After a little research it seems that it may be a Zombie crab which has been taken over by a parasitic barnacle. Very strange to find in a mountain stream!  The rocks were slippy on the way down so we had to work together. Eventually we came to the end and all decided to visit an onsen in Nakagawa 源泉野天風呂 那珂川清滝 together to sooth our muscles and relax. You can find the link here

Part of the Nakagawa reservoir. This is the view from near the car park.

Wakasugiyama 若杉山 rainy season Hike 2019/6/22

Wakasugiyama 若杉山 rainy season Hike 2019/6/22

In the middle of rainy season we had a cloudy but otherwise clear day which we decided to use for trip to Wakasugiyama. The previous post of this hike was done at the end of winter so the mountains views were very different on this hike. One of the great treats were all of the Ajisai (Hydrangea) blossoming along the trail and around the mountain. 

For details on the route this check out the previous post here. Below are some the seasonal changes along the route. It was a great hike to do in rainy season. 

As mentioned in the introduction Ajisai were blossoming everywhere on this hike; check out the pictures below. What was most impressive was the variety of shades and tones on display.

Deep purple

Pearl white!

Perfect pink

It wasn't just the Ajisai; The warmer weather also means Fungi is free to grow again

There were also a lot of frogs of various species and sizes on the trail. This one posed on a leaf and even appears to be holding flower Umbrella!  The trail was lush and very green

養老ヶ滝 This buddhist temple was striking compared to in the winter.

I will leave it with a couple of Buddhist statues and Jizo statues that are all around Wakasugiyama.  I liked the detail of his slippers set under his chair.