Feb. 26

We had breakfast at 6:00 with 2 other pilgrims. There were 8 pilgrims staying here last night and since the dining room was small we ate in shifts. One of the services provided at this inn is taking your luggage to your next lodging free of charge. We like that offer. Our shins are adapting to walking on lots of pavements so giving them a day without our heavy packs is a good thing. After eating we all gathered to have some pictures taken. Tomo and I took photos inside then headed out.

We also took a photo of Clark who will be walking on ahead of us today. He looks great in all of his Henro attire.

The last phot we took was of an older Pilgrim who has done the pilgrimage many times. He was dressed in all white and was an excellent walker.

Clark walked with us for awhile before hiking on. We were only visiting one temple and he had 3 or 4 that he was going to see. The pass today was only 1500 feet.

Always enjoyable to walk thru the woods.

When we reached the top, we could look down the valley to see the river at the bottom that we were going to cross.

Many houses were scattered alongside a very narrow road. We continued down a winding road to get to the bottom where we crossed on a concrete dam.

We are using guide books with maps and the Henro Helper to stay on route. We are always happy to see a sign like the one below to confirm we are on the right path. We are also happy to see one of the three main convenience stores that we can replenish our food supplies. Today though we had another surprise when we passed a small French bakery called Fugi. The bakery goods were supreme. We will be on the look out for more of these.

At an indoor rest area. a man who had stayed with us last night stopped in for a break. We did some communicating with our google app. He was surprised that we were older than him. He called Don and he the Old Man pilgrims. He was only going to Temple 23 which is all the temples in the Tokushima prefecture. He had recently retired and this is the one thing that he was looking forward to after retiring. On the table inside the rest areas were fluorescent belts that you could tie on your packs. They will make us more visible when hiking the roads. We both took one and commented how thoughtful that was. Our new friend, like Clark is visiting more temples than us today. We say our good-byes. By early after noon we are near our lodging and temple 13. With plenty of time on hand we take our time to visit some of the places nearby.

The first one is a Shinto temple that sits opposite of Temple 13. The name of the shrine is Ichinomiya-Jinja. It has many things to look at including rocks and a horse sculpture.

Going thru the entrance. The temple is not in great repair, but definitely worthwhile to look around.

We were intrigued by the large bells hanging on the ropes in front of the temple. They remind us of the bells that some people carry on their staff.

This reminded us of the lanterns we saw in Koyasan . It seemed ancient. So did the bridge across a small creek

We crossed the street and headed to Dainichiji. (13)

There were many things to check out here and since we had plenty of time we used it to take it all in. We are thanking the host from Ovelda 11 who made our accommodations. Otherwise I think we might have made a push today to see more temples.

After one bows at the gate and walks up the stairs they are greeted by the “Kannon of Joy”

In one hand she has a lotus flower and in the other one a handful of smiles.

These little doll Henroes were placed around the temple.

We also like the sculpture of the praying hands.

Our last stop of the day is Ichinomya Castle that was built in 1325 There is a brochure at the bottom explaining the history and that one should be prepared to climb up a lot of steps We were glad that the day was cool. The remains of the castle are located on the top of a mountain with 360 degree views all around. It is easy to see why this location was selected. Enemies would be in plain view for quite awhile. In a warmer season this looks like a popular place to visit.

We can’t even imagine the effort that went into building this castle.

Time to head to our lodging. Our packs are sitting inside the door and an older woman greets us. She shows us to our room and tells us that she will ready the bath for us. After that dinner will be served.

There is only one other pilgrim here. He is an older gentleman that seemed to be having difficulty when walking. He is being taken by taxi to visit the temples. Dinner was served with the usual menu of pickled vegetables, miso soup, rice and fish dishes. It was a relaxing day and our feet and shins recovered.

Accommodation Kadoka ryokan hotel

Miles walked 11