Flower hike: The Surprise hurricane lilies of Iharayama! Ookitsunekamisori in bloom 井原山 2021/7/25

 Flower hike: The Surprise hurricane lilies of Iharayama! Ookitsunekamisori in bloom 井原山 2021/7/25

After a few days of resting from the Daisen and Unzen trips this week I headed Itoshima on search of a seasonal treat. At this time of year some mountains here in Kyushu are set a blaze with wonderful redish orangeish flowers carpeting the forest floor. These flowers are called Ookitsunekamisori or Hurricane lilies in English and their scientific name is Lycoris sanguinea. The flower is native to east Asia. Although their English name is Hurricane lilies I have decided to call them Fox flowers, much nicer I think. 

The rest if the hike was also great with perfect weather and distant views from the summit of Iharayama. It was very busy though so I had to be a little more careful on the trail, still I managed to keep my pace up for most of the hike and finished in plenty of time for the bus. 

My advice is to get out an find the seasonal features of the mountains as they don't last long and you will feel lucky to have been able to experience them.

Mt. Daisen in Tottori (”Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kyushu anymore!”) 山(弥山)・寂静山 2021/7/22

 Mt. Daisen in Tottori (”Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kyushu anymore!”) 山(弥山)・寂静山 2021/7/22

We left the safety and security of our Kyushu home on a night bus to visit Tottori and hike Mt. Daisen. The night bus was long and I really couldn't sleep but when we arrived at Yonago I felt ready to hike.

In the morning we visited the ruins of Yonago castle before getting the rental car and driving to Daisen. We parked near Daisenji and started the hike. It was very busy with lots of people of varying levels of experience hiking up together. There were a large number of bees and hornets but they mostly didn't bother us. The views from the top were wonderful and magnificent with the clouds coming over the mountains and lots of wild flowers about. We hiked down using a route to Daisenji temple and shrine and saw a sign warning of bears! Surprising as there no bears in Kyushu. 

After the hike we visited 大山まきばみるくの里 Daisen makiba milk no sato and got some soft cream and a great view of the other side of Daisen along with some happy cows. 

To finish off we went to Kaike onsen which is a popular onsen town on the sea front. Unfortunately even doing all this and eating dinner we still had a long time to kill before the return bus. Still it was a great trip out of Kyushu!

To see the route map click on the title link

Mt. Unzen hiking 野岳・妙見岳・国見岳・普賢岳（雲仙) 2021/7/19

 Mt. Unzen hiking 野岳・妙見岳・国見岳・普賢岳（雲仙) 2021/7/19

I took the day off so decided to head down to Shimabara in Nagasaki prefecture. 

I took the express Kamome train down to Isahaya station and from there I used a bus to Unzen Onsen town. The bus took 80mins which was a long time but well worth it. 

I hiked first up to the cable car car park area ( Closed on this day). On the way I took a small detour up to Nodake to get some great views of Mt. Unzen. After that I hiked up to Myokendake and then over to Kunimidake before finally heading to Fugendake. When heading back it started to rain heavily changing the views and atmosphere radically. The rain soon calmed down and I continued down and due to the rain I even saw a large toad hopping across the trail. 

When I got back down I had little time before the bus so I visited a natural Onsen in the town which cost only 200Yen with 50Yen for Shampoo! Refreshed I headed back to the bus stop.

For the Yamap post with route map click on the title link