Happy New Year 2020!

Happy New Year 2020! 

Happy new year everyone! It is 2020 and to mark the day I hiked up to Homanzan to view the first sunrise of the year. This is a popular Japanese custom and Mt. Homan is one of the most popular spots in Kyushu to view the sunrise. Luckily it was clear but unfortunately it was very crowded to it was hard to get a great picture. Still it was a wonderful atmosphere and the hike up and down were great. To make things more interesting I hiked down a new route which took me to another peak and an old shrine. I have been using the Yamapp app to track my latest hikes and I highly recommend it! You can see my trails here 

I am looking forward to 2020 and the adventures it will bring! Good Luck everyone and happy trails!  

Tenpaizan 天拝山, Ozanoyama 大佐野山, Kuroganeyama 黒金山, Sanshichoyama 三市町境界山 and Ushikubiyama 牛頸山 2019/12/1

Tenpaizan 天拝山, Ozanoyama 大佐野山, Kuroganeyama 黒金山, Sanshichoyama 三市町境界山 and Ushikubiyama 牛頸山 2019/12/1

One of the joys of returning to well known and local mountains is working out ways to get more out of the hike by taking new routes adding distance and finding more interesting to see and experience. For this hike we started at Tenpaizan, it doesn't matter too much how you climb Tenpaizan so either follow the large path or take the more true hiking route to the right which starts from the temple. After reaching the top you need to go down behind the shrine and the viewpoint tower and you will soon come to a crossroads. There is a painted sign below the main signs which points to Ushikubiyama 牛頸山 only in Japanese. From here you follow the route towards Kiyama (Kizan) until you come to another crossroads after about half an hour with more painted signs, take the route to the right and up into the mountain on the left.

For this hike we made a lot of use of Yamapp which you can download from the android or Apple app store you can find more about it here and it even has English options. You can download the maps for free and you don't need an internet connection to use them. There are also a whole bunch of social options which I haven't made much use of but the maps work great!

We started by heading up Tenpaizan using the route next to Buzō-ji 武蔵寺 temple. It isn't a tough route but it is much more like a real hike than the more commonly used path. The other benefit of this route is that there are no steps! We followed this up to the crossroads described above and headed towards Ushikubiyama.

While the hiking route isn't too tough it is a real hiking route with some distance to cover and plenty of ropes to climb up on. Later one there were some ledges that you need to tread carefully on and take things slowly.

Beautiful coniferous woodland

Ozanoyama 大佐野山 summit signpost. Not much to see.

Kuroganeyama 黒金山 summit signpost

The third mountain if you count Tenpaizan. This is Kuroganeyama 黒金山 which translates as "Black gold mountain"

The trail goes directly under an electric pylon

Watch the drop on the right. This was more risky than it looks

We can across this old broken down bridge. You could easily go round. Part of the bridge could be seen further down stream so it must have been broken during a large amount of rain in a storm.  From here it was more climbing and fantastic forest walking to get to the next mountain Sanshichoyama 三市町境界山 which is the meeting point of three old city areas.

Parts of the area are managed woodland. This area had been felled from wood.

Finally we arrived at Ushikubiyama 牛頸山 which translates as "Cow neck mountain" There are two large benches here and some great views of the area.

A panoramic I took to show the whole view.

I counted the tree rings which revealed the trees in the area to be around 40-50 years old.  It didn't came long to reach the mountain road. We stopped using Yamapp at this point and followed it down using short cuts to reach Ushikubi Resevoir and park ダム記念公園

We didn't spend long around the reservoir as we had visited many times before. Instead we headed for the Hirano heights 平野ハイツ入口（バス）and Ushikubi bus stops down the hill.  The hike has plenty to see and is well worth the effort!

Mt. Ohira 大平山 the last of 2019 Autumn colours 2019/11/23

Mt. Ohira 大平山 the last of 2019 Autumn colours 

2019.11.23

As we move from November to December the seasonal transition from Autumn to Winter is underway. The beautiful Autumn foliage will soon start to disappear and we replaced by clear forests and snow on the mre remote and higher peaks. I went to the nearby Amagi park to climb Mt. Ohira and enjoy the last of the Autumn colours. It is a shame that it doesn't last long but as one door closes another opens and I am looking forward to what winter might bring. Below are some lovely views to hopefully inspire everyone to get out and enjoy the Autumn while it lasts! See my original post on how to get to this mountain and park 

Amagi park in the Autumn

The park is also beautiful to visit in the springtime!

The Autumn colours were great at various spots on the mountain and in the park itself.

The mountain is not too hard to climb but still offers wonderful views! Many hikers and casual walkers visit the mountain everyday. It is the perfect place to take a relaxed hike.

Ebino Plateau えびの高原: views of Karakunidake 韓国岳 2019/11/16

Ebino Plateau えびの高原: views of Karakunidake 韓国岳 2019/11/16

On our return journey from Kagoshima and hiking Kaimondake we decided to stop by the Ebino Plateau. This area is in Kirishima and borders Miyazaki prefecture and Kagoshima prefecture. The area has a number of peaks and is highly volcanic with some routes closed on the day due to this. I wanted to hike up to Mt. Karakuni however my daughter flat out refused to do it and to be honest we were ill prepared for another hike.

So I have decided to share some of the wonderful Autumn views of Kirishima and Mt. Karakuni and I will return next year for a full hike of the area.

The view of Karakunidake 韓国岳 you can see the volcanic debris left over from past explosions. The weather was wonderful which really enhanced the views and Autumn foliage.

The Autumn colours were simply stunning with bright yellows, reds and browns everywhere.

We got a great view of the surrounding area from a view point on the side of the road on the way down. We also stopped by a shrine to look at the red maple leaves.

A fantastic place to visit in the Autumn and I look forward to hiking and hopefully camping in the area next year. The campsite is currently closed for renovations and maintenance but we walked around it and it looked great.