Kirishima hiking: Mt Takachiho 高千穂峰（霧島山) and wonderful views of volcanoes! 2020/9/27

 Kirishima hiking: Mt Takachiho 高千穂峰（霧島山) and wonderful views of volcanoes! 2020/9/27

We woke in the night to get a view of the stars. It was wonderful so many stars it looked like a planetarium. We slept a little more then I woke had a coffee and we set of for Mt. Takachiho. 

The hiking was tough going and very rocky. The ground was covered in rough volcanic rock and pumice. The safest route was clearly making of yellow dots painted on the rocks however it still required caution. We reached the old shrine and then headed up to Mt. Takechiho's summit. The views from the top were breath-taking. It was a fantastic view of the no go area of Kirishima and the volcanoes of Nakadake and Shinmoedake which is a very active volcano and was bellowing out steam and gas. 

The hike down was slippery and it really helped having hiking poles and hiking boots.

Click on the title link to see the route map on the Yamap site. 

Kirishima: Hiking Karakunidake 韓国岳（霧島山) and Edbinodake えびの岳 2020/9/26

 Kirishima: Hiking Karakunidake 韓国岳（霧島山) and Edbinodake えびの岳 2020/9/26

For this hike we drove down to the Ebino plateau to hike Karakunidake.

We parked at the main Ebino plateau car park and hiked up directly to Karakunidake. On the way up we found a mother deer and her faun, the faun looked a little scared but the mother was obviously used to seeing hikers on the trail. We got some great views on the way up however we soon entered the clouds which greatly impaired our view. We reached the summit however with no views to see we headed towards Onami lake. We ate lunch with a good view of the lake and then went towards Ebinodake. The hike there was wonderful. The forests around Kirishima are beautiful with lots of moss carpeting the trees and vines growing. Lots of colour and very vibrant. To get to Ebinodake I decided to cut across to save time, this was ok at the start up it soon became challenging. I would recommend to stay on the trail.

After hiking we went to a local supermarket and then to Hinamori campsite. We stayed in a trailer house and set up a BBQ and campfire and enjoyed sitting on the decking area watching the flames and listening to rock guitar music on low volume.

As always click on the link title to see the route map on the Yamap site. 

Return to Tara : One of the best in Kyushu 多良岳・経ヶ岳 2020/9/19 & 20

Return to Tara : One of the best in Kyushu 多良岳・経ヶ岳

2020/9/19 & 20

For the silver week holiday I decided to return to Tara which I first hiked back in May of 2019. The area is an ancient long deceased volcano with a wonderfully old forest. Moss grows everywhere and there are large boulders and cliffs. This time we used Yamap which made planning the route much easier as it is fairly easy to get lost. We started walking from Tara station and first hiked up through the countryside with lots of people saying hello and waving to us. An elderly man called Ikeda-san crossed the road to meet us to give us some fresh Mochi and to wish us well on our adventure. The people of Tara are very friendly! We continued on to Nakayama camp ground. Last year we we were impressed with how modern it is. Unfortunately the site had since been hit with heavy rain and landslides so the roads to the campsite were closed and they were badly damaged. After that we headed up to the Kinsenji shrine and mountain hut. We greeted the huts warden and paid the 500Yen camping fee before pitching our tents. We decided on hiking the longer route to Kyougatake passing a serious of other mountains. The views from the summit are breath taking!


As always click on the title above to visit the Yamap site for the full route map and lots more pictures!

We hiked back and dropped of our gear. We greeted the other visitors in the mountains cabin and sat down in front of the log fire for a chat. Great people and I hope to see them again!

The night was a good temperature and easy to sleep. In the morning we woke with the sunrise and had our morning coffee. We then hiked Taradake and another serious of mountains. Taradake has a large shrine at the summit. We continued the hike and came back near a cliff wall past many Buddha statues.

We finished the hike by heading back to Tara station passing lots more hikers on the way. Tara is simply one of the best hiking areas in Kyushu with lots of rock climbing and ropes and chains. The mountain hut with its log fire is a great place to drink and merrily talk with other mountains enthusiasts! Great views and a great ancient feel.