Hiking Hiraodai 平尾台 and Nukisan 貫山: A limestone Karst plateau in Kitakyushu city

 Hiking Hiraodai 平尾台 and Nukisan 貫山: A limestone Karst plateau in Kitakyushu city 2020/10/25

Hiraodai is a karst limestone plateau in in Kitakyushu. The is designated a quasi-national park and has a stunning landscape with large limestone boulders and rocks sticking out of the ground which are said to resemble sheep grazing (they don't). It actually reminds me of Cheddar in Somerset in the UK which has a similar landscape. Also like Cheddar is the presence of large underground caves formed by water percolating down and eroding the rock. On this day we visited Okijia cave which has a vertical entrance that goes directly 25m down. The highest mountain is Nukisan which has great views of Kitakyushu docks and bay. The Autumn is a wonderful time to visit because there are beautiful long "Susuki" grass blowing in the wind and lots of wild flowers to find. 

We stopped for lunch at Oheryama and I got to test out the Primus gas stove which worked every well.

Click on the title to see the route map! 

Oita hiking: Kuju from the Makinoto start point in hunt of the colours of Autumn くじゅう連山

Oita hiking: Kuju くじゅう連山 from the Makinoto start point in hunt of the colours of Autumn 久住山 中岳 2020/10/18

After a long working week we headed to Kuju in Oita prefecture to hike it all out.

We have done this hike many times before but due to the Corona virus it has been over a year since we visited the Makinoto rest house start point. This is a pretty standard hike for Kuju covering the main peaks and the highest point on mainland Kyushu, Kuju Nakadake. We set off at 3am and still the parking area was almost full! No kids on this hike they decided to to do basketball and play games instead!

It's a beautiful area that everybody should visit! I can't wait to head back and camp at Bogatsuru and hike more Kuju mountains!

Solo Hike in Saga: Kinryusan 金立山 and a few others (Hinokumayama 日の隈山, Shogendake 正現岳 and Kanashikishiyama 金敷城山) 2020.10.10

Solo Hike in Saga: Kinryusan 金立山 and a few others (Hinokumayama 日の隈山, Shogendake 正現岳 and Kanashikishiyama 金敷城山) 2020.10.10

After a few weeks visiting some really impressive Volcanoes in Kumamoto and Kagoshima/Miyazaki I decided to stay closer to home as a typhoon seemed to bring unpredictable weather (I was thinking of Kaimondake but I will go back there in November sometime it will quite the mission!) So I went to Saga and explored the mountains in this area. 

I first explored a small park "Hinokuma Park 日の隈公園" Which also had a small called Hinokumayama 日の隈山. It had nice views and was quite easy. A good one for families I think.

After that I headed for Kinryu park 金立公園-金立山いこいの広場 and the starting point for Kinryuyama. The park has great facilities and also historic sites. I started on up to Seigeninaka Shrine and then on up to Shogendake 正現岳 and Kinryusan 金立山. I ate lunch overlooking the mountains a great place for a break. After this I decided to head to Kanashikishiroyama 金敷城山 (long name in English!) and then down to Saga. On the way down I passed to cute lady hikers who screamed when they saw me! They thought I was a wild boar! Do I look like a pig...haha. Luckily on the way I found an Onsen Amadi. This is the same company as I have used in Haruda however this one didn't have a bus to the station and some of the baths your out of order. I think it is overpriced and they should consider making it cheaper. Then a long, long walk to Saga station.

I don't recommend the route I use on my Solo hikes as I like to go off trail and explore a lot but I do think Kinryusan is a great hike and well worth it!

As usual click on the Yamap link to see the route map

Mt. Aso 阿蘇山 Nakadake 中岳 and Takadake 高岳: The Volcano is calm

 Mt. Aso 阿蘇山 Nakadake 中岳 and Takadake 高岳: The Volcano is calm (For now) 2020.10.3

Mt. Aso 阿蘇山 is the largest active volcano in Japan and one of the biggest in the world. For a long time is has been on high alert due to volcanic activity in the magma chamber deep in the earth. However recently it has been much calmer and as a result the warning level has been decreased which gives access to the hiking trails to Nakadake 中岳 and Takadake 高岳 as well as the main crater. 

We parked up just before the main area. The closest car park opens from 8:30am only and coats more as the last part of the road is a toll road. We hiked up to Nakadake the route was steep and rocky and the views of the main Aso crater were amazing. Takadake was covered in thick cloud cover but luckily the clouds parted as we reached the summit so it was OK. I then went a random route off the main path and found deer foot prints. Eventually we headed back down to the crater area which had opened up so we went very close to the crater and peered inside. My daughter wanted to see bright green sulphur but unfortunately we could only really was clouds of steam and gas. 

I highly recommend people make the trip while it is open! Aso is a wonderful place to visit. Visit the link for the route map and more pictures! 

Kirishima hiking: Mt Takachiho 高千穂峰（霧島山) and wonderful views of volcanoes! 2020/9/27

 Kirishima hiking: Mt Takachiho 高千穂峰（霧島山) and wonderful views of volcanoes! 2020/9/27

We woke in the night to get a view of the stars. It was wonderful so many stars it looked like a planetarium. We slept a little more then I woke had a coffee and we set of for Mt. Takachiho. 

The hiking was tough going and very rocky. The ground was covered in rough volcanic rock and pumice. The safest route was clearly making of yellow dots painted on the rocks however it still required caution. We reached the old shrine and then headed up to Mt. Takechiho's summit. The views from the top were breath-taking. It was a fantastic view of the no go area of Kirishima and the volcanoes of Nakadake and Shinmoedake which is a very active volcano and was bellowing out steam and gas. 

The hike down was slippery and it really helped having hiking poles and hiking boots.

Click on the title link to see the route map on the Yamap site. 

Kirishima: Hiking Karakunidake 韓国岳（霧島山) and Edbinodake えびの岳 2020/9/26

 Kirishima: Hiking Karakunidake 韓国岳（霧島山) and Edbinodake えびの岳 2020/9/26

For this hike we drove down to the Ebino plateau to hike Karakunidake.

We parked at the main Ebino plateau car park and hiked up directly to Karakunidake. On the way up we found a mother deer and her faun, the faun looked a little scared but the mother was obviously used to seeing hikers on the trail. We got some great views on the way up however we soon entered the clouds which greatly impaired our view. We reached the summit however with no views to see we headed towards Onami lake. We ate lunch with a good view of the lake and then went towards Ebinodake. The hike there was wonderful. The forests around Kirishima are beautiful with lots of moss carpeting the trees and vines growing. Lots of colour and very vibrant. To get to Ebinodake I decided to cut across to save time, this was ok at the start up it soon became challenging. I would recommend to stay on the trail.

After hiking we went to a local supermarket and then to Hinamori campsite. We stayed in a trailer house and set up a BBQ and campfire and enjoyed sitting on the decking area watching the flames and listening to rock guitar music on low volume.

As always click on the link title to see the route map on the Yamap site. 

Return to Tara : One of the best in Kyushu 多良岳・経ヶ岳 2020/9/19 & 20

Return to Tara : One of the best in Kyushu 多良岳・経ヶ岳

2020/9/19 & 20

For the silver week holiday I decided to return to Tara which I first hiked back in May of 2019. The area is an ancient long deceased volcano with a wonderfully old forest. Moss grows everywhere and there are large boulders and cliffs. This time we used Yamap which made planning the route much easier as it is fairly easy to get lost. We started walking from Tara station and first hiked up through the countryside with lots of people saying hello and waving to us. An elderly man called Ikeda-san crossed the road to meet us to give us some fresh Mochi and to wish us well on our adventure. The people of Tara are very friendly! We continued on to Nakayama camp ground. Last year we we were impressed with how modern it is. Unfortunately the site had since been hit with heavy rain and landslides so the roads to the campsite were closed and they were badly damaged. After that we headed up to the Kinsenji shrine and mountain hut. We greeted the huts warden and paid the 500Yen camping fee before pitching our tents. We decided on hiking the longer route to Kyougatake passing a serious of other mountains. The views from the summit are breath taking!


As always click on the title above to visit the Yamap site for the full route map and lots more pictures!

We hiked back and dropped of our gear. We greeted the other visitors in the mountains cabin and sat down in front of the log fire for a chat. Great people and I hope to see them again!

The night was a good temperature and easy to sleep. In the morning we woke with the sunrise and had our morning coffee. We then hiked Taradake and another serious of mountains. Taradake has a large shrine at the summit. We continued the hike and came back near a cliff wall past many Buddha statues.

We finished the hike by heading back to Tara station passing lots more hikers on the way. Tara is simply one of the best hiking areas in Kyushu with lots of rock climbing and ropes and chains. The mountain hut with its log fire is a great place to drink and merrily talk with other mountains enthusiasts! Great views and a great ancient feel.