Kazekoshi-yama Pt. II: Up, Up & Away

I'm going to start off this post with a small disclaimer - I'm not good at approximating distances. Never have been. Unless I know the exact length or height of something, my estimations have been, historically, inaccurate. 30 feet might be 60. A mile might be two. That being said, other than the exact height of the mountain, take my distance estimations with a grain of salt.

After we abandoned the mountain hermit, Yamashida-san's pickup truck, we started off past a faded sign making the trail, up a zigzagging path up the mountainside, with hairpin, near 180-degree turns every 200 meters or so. The degree of ascent was sharp, around 30-35 degrees by our guide's estimate, but the path would somewhat flatten out once the back and forth trail reached its end, he promised. Thankfully, I was in much better shape than I was back then, and the climb, while robust, ended shortly enough.

As the zigzags came to an end, I tried to see back down the mountainside from whence we came, but when I searched for the hermit's truck, it was long lost among the trees. As our guide, Yudai Kubota, promised, the path was a bit more level after that initial climb. As the trail widened,
off to the right stood a small, weather-worn shinto shrine. Following Kubota-san's direction, we stopped to pray at the shrine for a safe climb up Kazekoshi-yama, first offering a coin as tribute followed by two deep bows, clapping your hands twice and a final bow before silent prayer.

After paying our respects, we continued up the pass. All while we hiked up the mountain, Yamashida-san shared with us some of the history of the mountain as well as the city itself meanwhile Kubota-san translated for us. The higher we climbed the more the climate changed, from a broadleaf deciduous forest to a sea a tall, stout coniferous pines. The hike was taxing and we made sure to rest frequently, using fallen trees as makeshift benches.

At what I would estimate about halfway through our climb, a deep rumble in our gut told us it was time for lunch. We stopped at another shinto shrine and after another short prayer, we sat down to enjoy our food. My host mother had again generously supplied me with a delicious bento box of rice, cooked eggs and small hot dogs cut into octopuses. She also gave me a good supply of onigiri rice balls for snacks along the way. We took some time and let our food digest and leisurely explored the shrine grounds. Another group of hikers stopped at the temple for lunch and we chatted with them a bit before packing up to continue the climb.

Shortly after lunch we came upon some of the peaks of the lesser mounts around Kazekoshi-yama, our guide said. One such peak jutted out overlooking a valley before the trail turned inward back through the trees. Although we'd just stopped for lunch, it was such a good view we chose to stop and drink in the panorama. Kubota treated us to a few sweets he'd brought along, perfect for after lunch. The group we'd met before passed us up while we took in the scenery and shortly thereafter a small family of three came up the trail. We weren't in any hurry, so we talked with them a bit - it seemed Kubota-san knew them from Iida. It seemed they meant to use the peak as their picnic spot and so after saying goodbye, we continued on up the ridge.