Ushikubiyama Hike attempt Ushiukubidam 牛頸山 2018.7.8

Ushikubiyama Hike attempt Ushiukubi dam 牛頸山 2018.7.8

A failed attempt to reach Ushikubiyama summit due to the huge amount of rain we have had over the past few days, landslides and a turn in the weather on the day. 

Access: Very easy to get to. Take the Nishitetsu bus #20 from JR Onojo station to the Hirano Heights bus stop it takes about 15-20 minutes check times here: Nishitetsu bus . It is about every hour even on the weekends so it is very accessible. 

After getting of the bus we needed to walk back down the hill and continue along the Onojo trail Ushikubi route. The trail is clearly marked with little blue squares on the pavement and later clear signs. 

After a short while of following the road up we came to the rivers that come from the reservoir.  Fast flowing with and strong fue the torrential rain just two days before.

Man made rivers coming directly from the reservoir.

Pokemon remind us to be careful of fires

A Small roadside shrine

Looking back down the river

Ushikubiyama looked inviting from across the reservoir.  The path across the top is very straight and wide and leads to the a memorial for the dam's construction and the path to the adventure play area.

福岡県牛頸ダム管理所

The play area is high up and has a lot for kids to do. The view is not bad either.  It was pretty empty due to the weather and almost felt a little creepy. We had a break here before venturing on to the mountain trail which was just across from the park.

Entrance from the road to the play area 大野城いこいの森

The entrance to the mountain walk along the Onojo trail. You can ignore the signs which are for cars and walk past the posts.

The path started as old tarmac but quickly changed to a gravel path

Water and streams everywhere feeding the reservoir below

We tried a number of routes which cut across the path however they all ended in a dead end.  It wasn't long before we began to the see the true impact of the rain storms.  Water gushing down the path it was obvious to see from the sides of the trail that this whole path had been a river a few days ago.

It was just past here we saw a jogger who told us the path ahead was blocked by debris from a landslide.  We continued on to see the damage for ourselves it was truly shocking.  Due to the danger of further slides we turned back.

It was a shame not to be able to complete the climb but the risk was not worth it.  Also the weather turned and it began to rain which then continued for the rest of the day.  I will have to try the climb again and hopefully find an alternative route or head to another peak in the area.

The view over the reservoir had changed quite a bit from earlier in the morning. We went back to the park and decided to rest there for a while and drink some hot chocolate.

We finished the descent and decided to go and check our Hirano Shrine which was quite a nice shrine at the bottom of the mountain.

Hirano Shrine 平野神社