March 21
It was another early departure as the day looks like it could be long. We have a destination tonight of a rest hut on the way to a mountain pass. We have several passes to go over today as well as visit a temple. We will also be crossing into Ehime prefecture. This prefecture is known as the prefecture of enlightenment. We are looking forward to see what the day has to offer.
As we turn off the road and start walking on a dirt trail, we are startled by a noise in the bushes. We stop look and listen to see a colorful pheasant appear.
We are glad to see a sign directing us on a trail through the grass. The trail is faint and difficult to see.
As we continue on this trail, there are numerous signs drawn by the children of the village encouraging us to continue on this steep path,
Some have words in English ,but most are in Japanese. The pictures that they have drawn are the best clue to what the sign is saying. The trail takes us up and then drops down into orchards before heading up again.
We liked the use of an inflatable tiger for protection of the fruit. We saw several of these tigers along the fields.
More signs, some indicating we were almost to the top.
At one point we saw the coast, where we will beading down to before we head back up into the mountains later today.
And then we made it to the top of the first pass. A bench was waiting for us. We checked out the route.
After the pass there was a sign indicating we have crossed into the Ehime prefecture. There was a well marked trail going down from the pass. Quite nice walking on a soft path.
Another sign indicating we were on the right path.
Just when we needed it, a rest area and bathroom would appear.
Often In a great place to enjoy the view.
As we were walking thru a town before Temple 40, we walked by a large grocery store, We almost kept walking, but then decided to check it out. We located the bakery area and thought their pizza looked great. It is never too early to stop for lunch. We perused the aisles and became overwhelmed with all the choices. It is so much easier to just stop at the convenience stores with a limited amount of choices. I did grab a cup of curry noodles as that has become our favorite camp meal. Chocolate is always a good choice as well. According to our guides there is a Lawson’s store right before we head into the mountains so we should be able to purchase items there for tonight. Just in case, I added a little more chocolate to our snack bag.
Kanjizaiji is the first temple in the Ehime prefecture. One interesting fact here is that there is earth from each of the 88 temples buried around the daishdo.
It has completely burned several times and in 1964 was built mostly from iron and concrete.
We always look forward to ringing the bell once to announce our presence.
This temple is well cared for. We have never seen any liter in any of the temples.
There was a tour group here. Often they are guided by a monk who leads them in chanting.
They all seem so excited to be here.
Next stop will be Lawson’s Before arriving there we pass a man putting grapefruit in the back of a truck. He motions for us to catch a couple of grapefruit that he is throwing our way.
They were as good as they look!
When we get to Lawsons, the store has a vacant look. There are some items on the shelves , but the doors are locked and no one is in the parking lot. A sign that we translate on the door says open April !st. Glad that I bought some food at the grocery store. We usually wouldn’t carry extra food if we can buy some on the way. Once again we had someone looking out for us. Next stop was across the street. We needed water for tonight and we thought all that we had to do was purchase some at the vending machine, That didn’t work either. All the buttons under the water bottles were red, meaning no water available. Back across the street was a bank with some employees. I took my empty water bottle and in sign language tried to tell them that we needed water. They understood and went to the back and got a pitcher of water. We filled up all our water bottles, thanked them and were ready to head up to the second pass of the day. It was getting late in the day and we hoped that we would get to the hut before it got dark. Luck was with us when we saw the rest area unoccupied . It was perfect, we are looking forward to sleeping surrounded by trees. We were high above the town, but at 6 we heard the loudspeaker with announcements and a song.
Home for the night.
Accommodation Mountain Hut
Miles hiked 22