Mt. Kuzumi 久住山 & Mt. Inoboshi Kuju spring Hiking 2019.4.28

Mt. Kuzumi 久住山 & Mt. Inoboshi Kuju spring Hiking 2019.4.28

Despite it being the end of April the temperature from the Makinoto car park was still only 3 degrees so we wore a fleece and jackets much of the way up until about 10am. I would also suggest setting off early, we left 4am and arrived at the parking area at around 6:20am and we managed to get one of the last parking spaces. Otherwise it is on street parking along the road or the car park near the bottom of the hill. 

For this hike we decided to concentrate on some of the peaks we didn't hike up last November. We aimed for the main mountain Mt. Kuju (Kuzumi on google maps) and after than the rounded mountain on Inoboshi (Doesn't seem to appear on google maps. After than go through the route up again (Please see my last post for that) Instead I will concentrate on the different mountains, views and seasonal changes. 

Unlike last time a thick mist clouded our view as we hiked up. We could see the trail ahead well enough but the views from either side were almost completely blocked.

Mt. Kuju this was our main goal for the day. The mountain is steep on most sides but can easily be conquered from the going around the back. It gets very busy and on this day there was a constant stream of people going up and down.

The view from the summit it fantastic. Looking over the Kuju mountains with the clouds constantly changing really left the impression of height. Looking the other directions gave an impression of vastness and we could see far into the distance.

Mt. Kuju 久住山 summit sign

After taking in the views we hiked down to a nearby hill which overlooked Nakadake the largest mountain in the Kyush and the main aim for our last hike. We set up the gas stove and boiled up some cup noodles and toasted sandwiches yum! By now the clouds had started to clear giving much better views.

After a spot of lunch we continued on my the next peak, Inoboshiyama. This mountain doesn't seem to appear on google maps however it is significantly different from the other with a red golden top. The rocks at the summit are very orangeish.

Inoboshiyama summit signpost

Views were clear now and allowed us to gaze far into the distance.

We started the hike down past Nakadake and around the Miike lake. The weather had improved at gave us great views all the way down. It was also a lot less muddy than last time. On the previous hike snow melt had made most of the track very sticky and slow going. This time the soil was dryer and we made good time.

The trail down with the sun coming out and the fog lifted. The variety of colours was striking and there were even small white flowers coming out.

After getting back to the car and eating some lovely Milk ice cream (Nearby Aso is famous for its cows and milk) we headed to a onsen. The areas has lots of natural hot springs with steam vents gushing out of the earth all around the area. We visited the Kuju Kanko hotel which has impressive vents of steam coming out of the back

The cost was reasonable 500 Yen per adult and 400 Yen per child. The building that the baths were in was new and very clean. I had the luxury of having the baths to myself so I decided to get some pics. The water was hot and fantastic!