Sunny Sarakurayama: Exploring Kitakyushu again 花尾山・内藤陣山・帆柱山・椎ノ巨木山・権現山・皿倉山・茶臼山・乳山・熊本山

 Sunny Sarakurayama: Exploring Kitakyushu again 花尾山・内藤陣山・帆柱山・椎ノ巨木山・権現山・皿倉山・茶臼山・乳山・熊本山 2021/8/28

The rain has finally stopped! It has been on and off rain for the past few weeks that honestly felt more like rainy season than the real rainy season did. The temperature luckily was still cool so I decided to grab a train and head off to Sarakurayama in Kitakyushu. 

I took a bus from Kurosaki station to Hanao Nishi Tozanguchi and started my hike from there. I explored a whole bunch of mountains around Sarakurayama using paths I haven't tried before. Hiking this mountain is very easy there are loads of routes but most are well signposted. I found lots of wonderful mushrooms, stunning ancient trees and even saw a Japanese weasel (Itachi イタチ) It ran across the trail about one metre in front of me, too fast for me to get a picture. 

On the way down I explored some of the smaller mountains, one turned out to be a shrine but the second was in a park and had tall view point with a great view of Sarakurayama. I ended the hike at space world station (They really need to think of a new name for this one!). A great hike to finish August.

Summit to Sea in Kitakyushu Adachiyama and Tonoueyama 砲台山・妙見山・足立山（霧ヶ岳）・冨野山・谷山・大台ヶ原・戸ノ上山 2021/8/10

 Summit to Sea in Kitakyushu Adachiyama and Tonoueyama 砲台山・妙見山・足立山（霧ヶ岳）・冨野山・谷山・大台ヶ原・戸ノ上山 2021/8/10

When I came to Japan I first lived in Kitakyushu city. The first mountain that I went to was Adachiyama 13 years ago (The first I walked up was actually Daimonjiyama in Kyoto 16 years ago). Back then I didn't have Yamap or a smartphone today thanks to technology I could see more routes so I started from Abeyamakoen station and hiked up to Adachiyama from there. After that I hiked over the mountains to Tonoueyama. 

There were a lot of spider webs across the trail so I walked into them and ended up with a yellow and black spider right on my face many times. The Typhoon had left a lot of debris with leaves and branches everywhere. The ground was moist and in places very slippy. I actually fell on the way down the mountain and landed on my back, ouch! 

I came down to Moji and walked to the docks area and walked along looking at the boats and ships entering the Kanmon strait I walked along to the Teriha spa resort which has a nice selection indoor and outdoor baths.

Exploring Munakata east side Gongenyama (Niidateyama, Shintateyama) 貴船山・明天寺山・丸山・平山・権現山(新立山)・高田山 2021/8/7

Exploring Munakata east side Gongenyama (Niidateyama, Shintateyama) 貴船山・明天寺山・丸山・平山・権現山(新立山)・高田山 2021/8/7

I cancelled my plan to visit Kuju for camping due to the approaching Typhoon and bad weather (Seems to happen every time I have time off!) So I visited Munakata city and headed east. The mountain area was not close to the train line so I walked through the rural area through farms and countryside. I first visited a small mountain near a tennis court before heading to the main mountain area. The smaller mountains had no view but when I got to Gogenyama (Or is it Niidateyama?) I was relieved because the view was great. I hiked down hoping to cut through to another mountain area but I couldn't find a trail. I walked back through more farms to a small residential area where I found a bus stop and noticed another small hill on Yamap so went to explore and found a burial mound (Kofun) in them middle of houses. I got some banana milk (It tasted fake but because also like banana heaven) and got the bus back to the station.

Sekinoyama on the border of Izuka and Tagawa 関の山・金石山・大山 2021/7/31

Sekinoyama on the border of Izuka and Tagawa 関の山・金石山・大山 2021/7/31

We parked up at the Izuka side parking area which opens from 8:30am. We hiked up the right side route which was steep on places with the huge sound od cicada screeching and singing all around us. We reached the top of Sekinoyama which has a treeless top with good views. 

After a short break we headed off to Oyama, the views were wonderful from there and there was shade with a cool breeze. A group of other hikers were there all talking in good spirits. After hiking we headed to おじゅごんち市場からすお 農産物等直売所 a road side farm shop in Tagawa. Because Tagawa is famous for once being a coal mining town they sell a special black coal soft cream which tastes a little of chocolate.

Flower hike: The Surprise hurricane lilies of Iharayama! Ookitsunekamisori in bloom 井原山 2021/7/25

 Flower hike: The Surprise hurricane lilies of Iharayama! Ookitsunekamisori in bloom 井原山 2021/7/25

After a few days of resting from the Daisen and Unzen trips this week I headed Itoshima on search of a seasonal treat. At this time of year some mountains here in Kyushu are set a blaze with wonderful redish orangeish flowers carpeting the forest floor. These flowers are called Ookitsunekamisori or Hurricane lilies in English and their scientific name is Lycoris sanguinea. The flower is native to east Asia. Although their English name is Hurricane lilies I have decided to call them Fox flowers, much nicer I think. 

The rest if the hike was also great with perfect weather and distant views from the summit of Iharayama. It was very busy though so I had to be a little more careful on the trail, still I managed to keep my pace up for most of the hike and finished in plenty of time for the bus. 

My advice is to get out an find the seasonal features of the mountains as they don't last long and you will feel lucky to have been able to experience them.

Mt. Daisen in Tottori (”Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kyushu anymore!”) 山(弥山)・寂静山 2021/7/22

 Mt. Daisen in Tottori (”Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kyushu anymore!”) 山(弥山)・寂静山 2021/7/22

We left the safety and security of our Kyushu home on a night bus to visit Tottori and hike Mt. Daisen. The night bus was long and I really couldn't sleep but when we arrived at Yonago I felt ready to hike.

In the morning we visited the ruins of Yonago castle before getting the rental car and driving to Daisen. We parked near Daisenji and started the hike. It was very busy with lots of people of varying levels of experience hiking up together. There were a large number of bees and hornets but they mostly didn't bother us. The views from the top were wonderful and magnificent with the clouds coming over the mountains and lots of wild flowers about. We hiked down using a route to Daisenji temple and shrine and saw a sign warning of bears! Surprising as there no bears in Kyushu. 

After the hike we visited 大山まきばみるくの里 Daisen makiba milk no sato and got some soft cream and a great view of the other side of Daisen along with some happy cows. 

To finish off we went to Kaike onsen which is a popular onsen town on the sea front. Unfortunately even doing all this and eating dinner we still had a long time to kill before the return bus. Still it was a great trip out of Kyushu!

To see the route map click on the title link

Mt. Unzen hiking 野岳・妙見岳・国見岳・普賢岳（雲仙) 2021/7/19

 Mt. Unzen hiking 野岳・妙見岳・国見岳・普賢岳（雲仙) 2021/7/19

I took the day off so decided to head down to Shimabara in Nagasaki prefecture. 

I took the express Kamome train down to Isahaya station and from there I used a bus to Unzen Onsen town. The bus took 80mins which was a long time but well worth it. 

I hiked first up to the cable car car park area ( Closed on this day). On the way I took a small detour up to Nodake to get some great views of Mt. Unzen. After that I hiked up to Myokendake and then over to Kunimidake before finally heading to Fugendake. When heading back it started to rain heavily changing the views and atmosphere radically. The rain soon calmed down and I continued down and due to the rain I even saw a large toad hopping across the trail. 

When I got back down I had little time before the bus so I visited a natural Onsen in the town which cost only 200Yen with 50Yen for Shampoo! Refreshed I headed back to the bus stop.

For the Yamap post with route map click on the title link