Yakushima--Saving the Best for Last

At Shiratani Unsuikyo gorge

Wetter than wet, greener than green, beautiful beyond measure.  That's how we would describe Yakushima National Park on Yakushima Island.  It's a 40-minute hydrofoil ride from Ibusuki, our last place by Mt. Kamion.  Its Japan's first World Natural Heritage site.  Unlike the rest of volcanic Japan, this island is made of granite.



Officially one of the wettest places in Japan, it gets over 13 feet of rain per year.  We got to experience that on our first day of hiking.

This makes Olympic National Park
seem very arid and sparce

It was hard to decide whether to get wet from sweating in our rain gear, or wet from the warm rain.  Either way we got wet, but we smelled better with the rain method.  But we didn't care because it was so beautiful and we had to watch our footing.

Our slippery path in many parts

One of many old cedars

A mother stump

Giant cedars, some over 2,000 years old dotted the path.  Others were gigantic stumps, giving birth to more trees of differing species.  Many of them were logged over 1,000 years ago by peasants, paying their taxes to feudal lords in cedar shingles, rather than rice.  Getting them down the mountain to the coast was quite an undertaking, and we walked along some of their "sidewalks."

Ancient "sidewalks" used by
women carrying shingles cut
by the men

One of many bridges

On our second day of hiking we lucked out with one of the few days of the year it doesn't rain here. We ascended nearly 2,000 feet from sea level on a narrow road, then climbed about another 1,000 more for a stunning vista above the rain forest.  Along the way we crossed a spectacular gorge came across the area where Disney animator haymow Miyzazki found inspiration for the scenery in Princess Mononoke.

So many waterfalls, only so much
room to post them here

One of the areas where Disney artists
meticulously copied for Princess Mononoke 

View from Taikoiwa (Thunder) Rock

We descended the peak to a beautiful river where some of us went for a swim in clear, icy water.  Then we followed an old narrow-gauge logging track back to waiting vans.

 Deep, clear, and cold swimming hole with azaleas 

The Japanese version of rails to trails

Part master chef, part
entertainer

The hosts at our traditional inn (a royakan) went out of their way to prepare us a feast each night with stuff we hadn't had before, like barnacles, pigs feet, and bamboo shoots.  Smooth jazz played in the background. The proprietor was quite the fun-loving character.

This was taken before
the pigs feet arrived

A feast of feasts!

View from our inn and our hot soaking room

Yesterday we returned by plane to Kirishima on the Island of Kyushu, with the intention of exploring the crater lake of Onami, 4,200 feet above sea level.  However a series of eruptions closed the area off.  We actually heard one and saw the plume.  So we walked around a shine, one of oldest in Japan, with some remnants dating back more than 2,000 years ago.  Kind of anti climatic, but we got an early start to our soaking and our farewell partying.

outside the party room

After our last hike on our 12th day of hiking.
Is this a civilized country, or what!

This turned out to be a wonderful trip, both our first independent part and with the Sierra Club hiking part.  Lots of physical activity, unique things to see, unusual food, fun and compatible traveling companions, and a hospitable country.  We made some new good friends.  Above all, we had two outstanding local guides from Walk Japan and two well-organized volunteer trip leaders from the Sierra Club.  Thanks, everybody for making everything so fun and special!

Volunteer leader Todd, local guide Mario,
volunteer leader Joyce, and local guide Ben. Mario
was born here, educated in the States.  Ben moved
here from the UK abut 11 years ago.

You can see more photos by clicking on this link.  Enjoy!

 Be sure to catch my next blog in a few days entitled "Japan Between the Cracks."  It will be about things we found unusual or interesting, but that didn't fit the narrative of the previous blogs.  I promise you it will be a fun read.