Nakutareyama 成竹山 2020.8.29

Nakutareyama 成竹山 2020.8.29

We went to Nakagawa to 中ノ島公園 a river park which is very popular in the summer with families for river play and there is also a small vegetable shop there. I headed out hiking to Nakitareyama. 

Instead of following the standard trails I went "off trail" and followed old paths and ended up hiking through the woods. The viewpoint was impressive and well worth a visit. After the hike I went to the river park and walked around the shrine and up the river. I ended the day a Fukunoyu in Kasuga for more ice cream and beer!

There is a Nakagawa city bus service that goes to the park and the trail head for this mountain. You can find more info. here

As always you can view the route map I used on the Yamap site. I highly recommend downloading the app to your smartphone and using one of the designated trails. 

Chikushino hiking: Miyajidake 宮地岳 and Nitayama ニタ山 2020.8.22

Chikushino hiking: Miyajidake 宮地岳 and 

Nitayama ニタ山 2020.8.22

A morning hike in Chikushino city. We hiked up Nitayama and then to Miyajidake. The route was overgrown in many places and there were large cobwebs over the trail. Luckily we had hiking poles to get rid of the webs and help clear away the vines over the trail. As we started the hike some old people playing gate ball shouted to warn us of Mamushi (Pit vipers). We didn't see any snakes but the large horse flies were a constant nuisance! A nice trail but it may be better to do it after the summer. 

As always click on the link description to go to the Yamap post for the trail map and more pictures. 

Here is the map we used made by the Chikushino local goverment

Iimoriyama 飯盛山 to Takasuyama 高祖山 to Kanodake 叶岳 2020.8.16

Iimoriyama 飯盛山 to Takasuyama 高祖山 to Kanodake 

叶岳 2020.8.16

At the end of the Obon break I went for a trail run over Iimoriyama and Takasusan. I started out from Hashimoto station and ran in a big circle which also brought me back here again at the end. I first ran to Iimori shrine which is a beautiful shrine. The climb for Iimoriyama is steep but the views are good. I actually found the best views at nearby Hinatayama which I had never been to before. It is very easy to get to Hinatayama and well worth it. After that I ran to Koshidake and then round to Takasusan. I ran down to the river following a mountain stream and then hiked up to Kanodake. The route I used to climb up to Kanodake is very steep with Lots of steps! Kanodake has a large shrine on the top and there are a number of choices to hike down. I choose to hike down via Mt. Ura, it is a small peak with no view and was honestly not really worth it. The route was slippy with no ropes and lots of overgrown ferns to wade through. The worst bit was the spiders, lots of them everywhere and I must have walked into at least 30 large webs, it was like Mirkwood from the Hobbit!!! I came down and ran back to Hashimoto station. There are many convenience stores on the way so I stopped for some Skal (The best soda!) and was happy to arrive at Hashimoto station. It really makes you appreciate vending machines being everywhere with cold drinks to refresh you, there are so many more here in Japan than back home in the UK and they have a much better selection of drinks!

Click here or on the heading for a link to the Yamap post!