Log #19 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #10 Day 1 From Yamadani, Imari city, Saga to Kakuidake-Mt., Sasebo city, Nagasaki on February 29th, 2020

     It is going to be the first trekking in two weeks.  I woke up at 5:30 at my home in Fukuoka, took a shower and checked my baggage.  After some months of trekking, base baggage weight except food and water has been reduced from 15 kg to 10 kg.  Lighter baggage helps me to walk comfortably.  The last point to reduce the baggage weight is battery cells and digital equipment.

     I got on the Fukuoka subway at 7:05 from Nishijin station to Karatsu, and changed to Karatsu line to Imari.  At Imari, I spent 49 minutes for Matsuura Railway train, and arrived at Yamadani station at 10:39.

     After passing through the village of Yamadani, I headed for the Kunimi mountain on the paved road along the terraced rice fields. This terraced rice fields was supposed to be a scenic place that was selected as one of the 100 best rice terraces in Japan, but unfortunately I could not see anything because of the rain.

     After climbing the paved road for about 2 km, cross the motorway and enter the mountain road. This mountain road is a well-maintained road, but the slope is quite steep and it is a route to climb 400 to 500 m at a stretch. It took time to climb up and arrive at the top of Mt. Kunimi at an altitude of 777m at 13:00.

     There was an observatory at the top of Mt. Kunimi, but unfortunately I could not see a view today. I boiled the water on the stove under the observatory to make buckwheat noodles for lunch.

     After lunch, restarted to walk at 13:38. Take the ridgeline from Mt. Kunimi and headed towards Kurinogi Pass 1.7 km further. This mountain road was also in good condition. The rain was the only disappointing.

     Arrived at Kurinoki Pass at 14:10, entering Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture from here. A comfortable paved road of about 1.5 km continued and arrived at Hattendake mountain at 14:47 with no difficulty. Sometimes it rained heavily. A large antenna was set on the top of Mt. Hattendake.

     After a short break, I proceeded to Osae pass, 1.5 km away. The mountain road was unpaved, but in good condition. However, today, it was very muddy because of the rain. Arrived at Osae pass at 15:19.

     Going on the paved road for about 1 km from Osae pass, Gotani Pond appeared. A large reservoir with a beautiful view. It may be nice to set up a tent here, but unfortunately the wind and rain were strong. Today's schedule was about an hour ahead of schedule, so I'll be able to reach the campsite of Mt. Kakui.

     The paved road continued for a while, and the village of Utogoshi appeared at 16:02. There was a bus stop here. However, as far as I could see, there were no shops and no vending machines.

     Going further, a mountain trail for Mt. Kakuidake started from here. The trail maintenance situation was good. It was a slow climb and there were steps in difficult places. At the rocky place on the way, two adult wild boars appeared in front of me, rushing away. It seemed that they did not notice because I approached from leeward in the rain. Arrived at 16:37 at the summit of Mt. Kakuidake (elevation 669m). There was a bench on the top, and it looked really comfortable, but today it was a heavy rain. Without having to enjoy the scenery, I rushed to the campsite 1.3 km away.

     From the top of Mt. kakuidake, trail condition was quite good. I arrived at the campsite at 17:03. I was expecting a vending machine here, but unfortunately I could not find one. After a day of walking, I really wanted a carbonated drink.

     The campsite seemed to be in the off-season, with only one guest. The administration building was closed. It was raining heavily. I quickly set up a tent and started preparing dinner. Today’s dinner was a sardine ahijo stewed with white rice. After the dinner, I had a dessert of lemon tea and biscuits.

     The wind was strong and the tent was sometimes shaken. Will it be fine tomorrow?

February 29th, 2020, From Yamadani, Imari city, Saga to Kakuidake-Mt., Sasebo city, Nagasaki, Rain, 9/6 Celsius, Distance 17.0 km, Time for walk 7:18, Average speed 2.32, km/h, 31299 steps

Log #18 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #9 Day 2 From Kurokami-yama to Yamadani on February 16th, 2020

     I woke up at 4:00 in the tent set up at Kurokami-yama Ikoinomori Campground, because I heard the sound of heavy rain. Fortunately, the campsite site was covered with Sunoko, so I had no need to worry about submerging my tent. But, anyway, I hate rain.

     After 7:00, it became bright and the rain was getting a little light, I had breakfast with cereal and coffee. Cereals were a kind of substitute of my regular breakfast fresh fruits.

     Looking at the weather forecast, the expected precipitation was not that much. I decided to go out of the tent, boil the water with a burner, pack it into a thermos, and finally started to walk at 8:50 in the light rain.

     Left the campsite, return to the paved road to the exit point of the Kyushu Nature Trail, and headed to the Chimachibo at the site of the Shukubo at Kurokami-yama shrine. The symbolic male and female rocks stood in the light rain.

     Proceeded further from the Chimachibo and enter the cobblestone mountain path 9:30. Borrowed a cane at the entrance and started climbing a steep cobblestone. In about 30 minutes, I arrived at 10:00 at Mikaeri Pass, the junction of the summit of Mt. Kurokami-yama and the Ryumon dam site.

     After climbing for about 10 minutes toward the summit of Mt. Kurokami-yama, a branch point to female rock appeared. I decided to stand on the top of that strange rock and headed there. The top was a steep monolithic cliff with an elevation difference of about 100m. The view was superb. The campsite where I stayed a while ago could be seen below. However, it was likely to be blown off by the strong wind. Gave prey to the shrine at the top of the female rock and return to the original mountain trail.

     I walked further and arrived at Kurokami-yama Upper Shrine. Another one more climb, I arrived at the summit of Mt. Kurokami-yama (518m above sea level) via the chain attached to the rock. The view was really good here as well. I could see the female rock, male rock, and Arita town that stood atop earlier. I was really sorry for the rain. I really wanted to come this summit again on a sunny day. The wind was strong. I brewed a cup of coffee at the top and tasted to enjoy the view from the top.

     Instead of returning the road to the Mikaeri Pass, I chose to head to Ryumon via Mt. Hebiyaki-yama. This course was easy to walk and a pleasant course along the river. I walked slowly on the slippery path and arrived at 12:53 at the Kurokami-yama hut on the uppermost stream of Ryumon Dam Lake.

     I was looking forward to having lunch at the river fish restaurant, but unfortunately the restaurant was fully booked. I had lunch on a bench in a hut with a snack of banana and orange, cereal bar and lemon tea.

     After lunch, I resumed to walk at 13:30. Follow the paved road for about 1 km along the north shore of Ryumon Dam Lake. From 13:55, the Kyushu Nature Trail headed to the mountains, but at the entrance there was a notice that the trail was closed due to falling rocks. But I started to climb the trail, because I wanted to see how much rock fall was there. Indeed, there was a terrible collapsed area about 100m ahead, and I lost my course at all. Proceeded on a mountain without path seeing the red tape attached in some places as a mark of the path.

     Finally reached the peak with no name at 300m in about 30 minutes. The distance on the map was 300m. 300m was too slow in 30 minutes.

     From here on, there were almost no traces of human steps and I could not see the way. Fallen trees blocked the road, rockfalls slide, and roads without traces were covered with bushes. I deeply regreted that I proceeded on a forbidden mountain path. I only relyed on a map and a compass, but when I went down a collapsed area, I slipped down. After this ordeal, I finally arrived on the paved road at 15:11. On the map it took more than 70 minutes at a distance of about 700m.

     Returned to the paved road and proceeded comfortably. Went 2.5km in just 30 minutes. There was a wonderful terraced rice field that extended from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. As I went further, the house appeared, and arrived at 16:16 on the top of Tosen Castle. The next target point, Mt. Kunimi, riseed in front of me.

     I got on the Matsuura Railway at 17:12 from Yamadani Station, and headed home in Fukuoka.

February 16th, 2020, From Kurokami-yama, Arita town to Yamadani-station, Arita town, Rain to cloudy, 17/4 Celsius, Distance 14.3 km, Time for walk 8:11, Average speed 1.97, km/h, 31186 steps

Log #17 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #9 Day 1 From Momonokawa to Kurokami-yama on February 15th, 2020

     I woke up at 5:30 before the alarm rang. Took a quick shower and checked the packing contents. The backpack weighed 14.0kg. This was a weight that included 2.8 kg of food and 1.0 liter of water, so it would be 10.2 kg only for the equipment. So, it seemed that the weight of the equipment had been considerably reduced.

     Left home at 6:45 and took the 7:05 subway from Nishijin Station. Arrived at Karatsu at 8:25, and changed to the Chikuhi Line at 8:38, and arrived at 9:19 at Momonokawa Station, the point where I left the previous Kyushu Natural Trail. It was raining lightly. Momonokawa was a station in a small town, but two other people who seemed to be mother and daughter got off.

     Entered the mountain path from the town of Momonokawa and proceeded for about 1 km until it joined the Kyushu Nature Trail. Walked the town of Momonokawa again from the junction. Went through the underpass of the highway and entered the village of Uehara. Here, the Matsuura River changes the direction by 180 degree, and there was a point called the head of a horse that used the siphon system using the stream, and it was still used for water supply.

     From here, left the paved road where frequently car passing, and went into the village of Tatara. At 4 km point, passed through the gate for wild boar beside the reservoir and enter the mountain path. In the reservoir, duck was resting its wings and jumped off as soon as they noticed the sign of a person.

     Followed a road without a trace of human, arrived at Yuzunokihara Village at 10:50. Crossed the paved road here. The rain stopped, so I made a brief stop here.

     Soon after I resumed to walk, I noticed that it was difficult to find the course from Yuzunokihara to Mt. Kurodake. The first path I chose ended up in a garden in a private house. The next road I chose was a dead end with a tomb standing overlooking the village. Finally, the third choice I was able to proceed to the course. There was no sign of Kyushu Nature Trail in this village. It was really hard to find the way.

     It was a mountain path along the ridge line up to the peak of Mt. Kurodake. The path was rough and it was hard to find the route. It was 13:22 that I finally reached the peak at Mt. Kurodake after repeated bush rowing and rock climbing. It took me two and a half hours on a just a 2.9 km of trail.

     There were three benches on the summit of Mt. Kurodake.  The view was open to the south. I had a lunch here. The menu was miso ramen and two rice balls. I tried to boil the water to make ramen, but when I checked the hot water in a thermos bottle, it was still hot enough. So, I stopped preparing the gas stove, put the miso ramen in the bowl, poured hot water on it. Waited for 3 minutes, and got the delicious ramen. My new thermos worked very well. After lunch I prepared instant lemon tea. Put the powdered lemon tea in the cup and pour hot water from the thermos to make a lemon tea. For some reason today, I got tired, and a sweet drink was helpful for my body.

     After lunch, head to the next destination, Mt. Kurokami-yama. However, after going about 30 m, there was a sign of the summit of Mt. Kurodake. The summit of Kurodake was a narrow place, so there was a bench at the shrine's position.

     The down course from Mt. Kurodake was also poorly maintained. The route was collapsed in some places. Looking at the map, it was a course that crossed the contour line and descended as if sliding down.

     At 14:45, I arrived at Akada village. Crossed the paved roads where cars frequently passed. Here was a slightly populated village, but unfortunately there were no shops including vending machines.

     After a short break, walked to Mt. Kurokami-yama. However, there was no sign here.  I could not find where to get to Kyushu Nature Trail. Back and forth in the bush, I finally found the course after 30 min.

     After that, comfortable paved roads continued. A pottery workshops appeared occasionally in the mountain. When I was walking along such a road, a gentleman came from the front and exchanged greetings. He asked me where I would stay. He told me that there was the Ikoinomori campsite nearby. He was hanging his name tag on his chest. I looked at him and found that he was the director of the Kurokami-yama Youth Natural House. Thanked him for giving me the information.

    Proceed a while and took a break at the parking lot of the Kurokami-yama Youth Nature House with a drink from a vending machine. In this occasion, the carbonic acid drink works. Arrived at the campground at 16:00 after walking for about 10 minutes. There was a lawn open space, a water place and a toilet, and it looked like it's free now. Only one party set a tent here.

    Because it was still early to set a tent, I decided to take a bath at the Kurokami-yama-no-mori Tendo Onsen 1.6 km away. This was an alkaline hot spring with a feeling of secret hot spring. The hot water was comfortable to the body.

     When I returned to the campsite at 18:00, one party were barbecuing. As it began to rain, I set up a tent and cooked a rice in the tent, and had dinner of soup curry.

February 15th, 2020, From Momonokawa, Imari city to Kurokami-yama, Arita town, Cloudy occasionally rain, 17/13 Celsius, Distance 13.0 km, Time for walk 6:39, Average speed 2.12, km/h, 31729 steps

Log #16 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #8 Day 2 From Kyuragi to Momonokawa on January 26th, 2020

     Last night, after having a dinner in a restaurant attached to a hot spring located in the center of Kyuragi town, I went back to the outskirt of the town in a heavy rain.  Walked a while, and finally I found a place where rain did not hit directly, set a tent and went asleep.  It was raining all night.

     When I stepped out of the tent at 6:30 in the morning, the rain had stopped and I could see the next destination, Mt. Funayama.  I packed the tent and started to walk at 7:11.

     At 7:30, I walked a paved road and returned to the Sasahara Pass on Kyushu Nature Trail.  From here the mountain trail begun.  There were large stones on the road, many fallen trees, and no trace of footsteps of climbers.

     Arrived at Mt. Funayama Trailhead at 8:00.  After about 30 minutes walk, I saw a large pond.  At 8:45 I arrived at a campsite near the pond.  Here was Taku City's Funayama Campsite.  It was closed at this time, but the maintenance condition was good and the scenery was better than anything.  I sat down on a bench at a campsite overlooking Mt. Tenzan, across the sea of clouds, and enjoyed a local bakery bread for the breakfast. The scenery of this campsite was wonderful. I want to stay in a tent here and sleep someday later.

     There was a mountain trail from behind the campsite.  This trail was quite steep.  The altitude climbed to the top of Mt. Funayama.  Arrived at the peak at 9:49 (695 m above sea level). The view here was wonderful.  I could see Mt. Tenzan to the north and the Ariake Sea and Mt. Unzen Fugendake to the south.  The peak was quite narrow.  I was likely to fall.  The mountain foot had beautiful terraced rice field.

     Down the mountain, there was a large pond on the pass and a campsite on the bank.  This was Mt. Yawatadake Campsite.  Although slightly larger than the Funayama campsite, it was also closed for winter.  The trailhead of Mt. Yawatadake started from the campsite.  The course was almost straight up to the top of Mt. Yawatadake.  Crossed the paved road twice and arrived at 11:26 at the top of Yawatadake (764 m above sea level), where many antennas were lined up.  The view here was also wonderful.  After enjoying the scenery for a while, I had lunch here.

     After enjoying lunch for 30 minutes, I started to walk at 12:06.  The downhill trail was a cobblestone trail.  On the trail, the lush leaves grew around the cobblestone.  Those were leaves of Ookitsuneno-kamisori. The Ookitsuneno-kamisori blooms in summer, attaches leaves from winter to spring to store nutrients in the bulbs and suddenly blooms in summer when the leaves wither.  Mt. Yawatadake was also known as a colony of Ookitsuneno-kamisori, so as in Mt. Iharayama, Fukuoka city.

     The Mt. Yawatadake downhill trail was a very difficult route.  Walking along the valley, the route had disappeared in some places or was buried in debris flow due to the heavy rain.

     The 2.7km descent from Mt. Yawatadake took 1.5 hours and arrived at Kawauchi Pass at 13:43.  Intersection to the driveway should be there, but the route had disappeared on the way.  After a minutes of struggle in a bush, I finally arrived at the pass crossing with the driveway.

     It was 3.0km from Kawachi Pass to Mt. Bizan.  Looking at the map, it looked like a trail that slowly rose along the ridgeline.  As shown on the map, a well-maintained mountain trail run along the ridgeline.  The trail was not clear for the last 500m towards the top.  At 14:57, I finally arrived at the top of 518m at Mt. Bizan, which had no view and was a peak that could be skipped.

     The down trail from Mt. Bizan was also bad. In some places, the route had disappeared, and it went into the bush.  I heard a cry of a boar escaping from the bush.

     At last I came out to open place.  Here was Bizan Campsite.  Although it was a large campsite, it was also closed.  Followed the disappearing route, and after a while, I reached to a well-maintained forest road.  This forest road was a wide, paved road.  After a while, it was divided into a driveway and a Kyushu Nature Trail.  I proceeded in the direction according to the Kyushu Nature Trail sign.  Then, I went into a bush, searched for the route, and reached to the trail again.

     I arrived at Momonokawa Station at 16:51, one hour earlier than planned train schedule.  I went into the restaurant in front of the station, had dinner, and got on the Chikuhi Line, which had only one train for every two hours, on my way back to Fukuoka.

January 26th, 2020, From Kyuragi, Taku city to Momonokawa, Imari city, Cloudy, 12/8 Celsius, Distance 22.2 km, Time for walk 10:36, Average speed 2.37 km/h, 41931 steps

Log #15 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #8 Day 1 From Furuyu Onsen to Kyuragi on January 25th, 2020

     I stayed in Furuyu Onsen last night, because I found a very reasonable Hotel, Eiryu Onsen, 5800 yen for one night cheap with 2 meals.

     Woke up at 6:00 in the morning and took a hot spring with no one was in.  This was really good.  After enjoying hot spring for an hour, explored the town of Furuyu.  Furuyu Onsen was only a small town, so 10 minutes was enough to walk whole town.  I just wanted to see a monument of Mokichi Saito.  That was located within the privae property, Kakureisen Onsen Garden, so it was hard to find.

     After breakfast, I started to walk at 8:25.  The first 5 km was on a paved road to the Tenzan ski area, and followed to the mountain trail.  The direction of the trail in the mountain was very difficult to find.  There were a lot of fences to keep wild boar out, so it was hard to find which direction was the correct course.  Repeated going back and forth in several places, and arrived at 10:46 at Nanamagari Pass, that was the trailhead for Mt. Tenzan.  It was cloudy, but not cold.  I could see Saga plain from Nanamagari Pass.

     From Nanamagari Pass, a comfortable mountain path followed the ridgeline. The ridgeline continued, and the peak of Mt. Tenzan looked far away.  When the altitude exceeded to 900 m, hardwood trees almost disappeared, and it beccame a mountain path with a good view of bamboo grass.

     One hour after leaving Nanamagari Pass, the peak of Mt. Tenzan was finally visible. Arrived at the top of Mt. Tenzan of 1046 m summit at 12:15.  The top of Mt. Tenzan was covered with bamboo grass, providing a 360 °degree view.  To the east, I could see the Mt. Sefuri, and to the north, I could see Mt. Raizan and Mt. Haganeyama, which had a long antenna used for standard time transmission.

    Five climbers had taking lunch at the summit.  I prepared hot water using EPI gas, and made Ramen.  Ramenhile in the mountain was really good.  After lunch, hot drip coffee. This was also nice.  Some while after meal, the raindrops started to fall.  I installed a rain cover on backpack and decided to go to the next destination Taku at 12:51.

     The downhill trail from the summit to Kishikawa village was quite difficult. There were many places where rugged stones rolling.  Some points were steep, and could not proceed without ropes.  After going down such a tough mountain trail for about an hour, I came to a forest road where vehicles could pass. It became easy to walk. However, this forest road was also in a severe condition, with several bridges collapsed on the way and the shoulders collapsed.  I walked 4.8 km and arrived at the Kishikawa village at 15:29. This was the end point of the community bus operated by Taku City.

     From here, trail was paved.  It was 8 km from here to Kyuragi town roadside station, where I set as a final destination of today.  I had to hurry a little bit to arrive until sun went down and the restaurant at the roadside station would be closed.  The rain was getting stronger.  At a faster pace, I passed the Tateyama village at 16:09 and arrived at Sasahara Pass at 16:47.  Further 1km walk, and arrived at Roadside Station Kyuragi at 17:05.  The road station was open until 18:00, but the restaurant was already closed.  I reluctantly bought a bread only, and went out to Kyuragi town center to have a hot dinner.  Rain was still strong.  I was thinking where to stay tonight.

January 25th, 2020, From Furuyu Onsen, Saga city to Kyuragi, Taku city, Cloudy to rain, 12/6 Celsius, Distance 25.5 km, Time for walk 9:39, Average speed 2.86, km/h, 42984 steps

Log #14 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #7 Day 2 From Hokuzan Campsite to Furuyu Onsen on January 19th, 2020

     I stayed at the Hokuzan campsite on the Kyushu Nature Trail yesterday.  It was free.  The camp site was well maintained and there was a water supply and a restroom. The surrounding scenery was also good.  I could recommend this campsite for all.  I was awake at 6:00, but stayed in my sleeping bag until about 8:00, because there were people around in the morning.  I finished my breakfast with cereal and milk, and started to walk at 8:58.

     I walked on the paved road for a while.  There were few traffic.  I could see the reservoir of Hokuzan Dam.  The level of water storage was extremely low.  I wondered if the precipitation was so small last year.  It was getting hot, so I took off my jacket and walked with just wearing T-shirt only.

     Beyond the 5 km point, turned right from the paved road into the mountain trail.  Thick clouds came from the westward and become dark. Since it was raining, I put on my jacket and put a rain cover on my backpack.  The rice fields around here were all surrounded by wire mesh.

     After about 20 minutes, the mountain trail was over, and the paved road started again.  Proceeded southward the road along the Osoegawa River, passed through the village of Onohara in about 20 minutes.  There was a vending machine in this village after a long absence of any supply.

     At 11:22, left from the Osoegawa River and entered the mountain trail that crossed the pass toward Furuyu Onsen.  This mountain trail was paved, but some slopes were severely collapsed.  Big rocks were falling around that those might be dropped anytime.  Even here, isolated location, rice fields had been cultivated to the top of the pass.

     Arrived at the pass in about 25 minutes.  Altitude was about 300 m above sea level.  From here, the trail condition improved.  On the downhill, the rice terrace spread to fill the valley beautifully.  As I expected, people in Saga liked to feed rice.

     The town of Furuyu Onsen could be seen below the slope.  Arrived at Furuyu Onsen at 12:05.

     The streets of Furuyu Onsen had tens of small hotels with serving hot spring.  There were no fancy billboards or souvenir shops.  The atmosphere was as good as Kurokawa Onsen in Kumamoto Prefecture which was ranked as two stars in Michelin.  I had a lunch here in themiddle of hot spring town, and took a bath in the only public bath of the hot spring town, Eiryu Hot Spring, and left for Saga Station by bus at 15:09.

January 19th, 2020, From Hokuzan Campsite, Saga city to Furuyu Onsen, Saga city, Cloudy sometimes rain, 3/2 Celsius, Distance 12.0 km, Time for walk 3:28, Average speed 3.63, km/h, 25482 steps

Log #13 Trekking of Kyushu Nature Trail #7 Day 1 From Shiiba to Hokuzan Campsite on January 18th, 2020

     To restart trekking from the previous stop point of Shiiba, I took Nishitetsu bus at 6:52 from Nishijin and arrived at the Shiiba village at 8:03.  After transfer to the local bus, I was the only passenger to Shiiba village.

     At 8:07, I left the Shiiba bus stop and headed for the Shiiba Pass.  The weather was cloudy. Sometimes the sun came down and it was not too cold.  Today, I tried to do the repeated practice of a 50-minute walk and a 10-minute rest, which was used as the SDF-style walking practice, that my friend recommended to relief from overwork.

     The trail to the Shiiba Pass was a comfortable trail along the headwaters of the Shiiba River.  On the way, there was a place where the cypress was withering.  It was a mysterious sight where the color of the forest dramatiacally differed only here.

     When I crossed the Shiiba River, I fell flashy from my back.  My backpack was flooded.  The upper body also fell into the water, but thanked to the waterproof jacket I had just purchased yesterday, my upper body was not wet.

     Arrived at 9:45 at the 5 km point of Shiiba Pass.  From the pass, most of the mountain trail along the ridge line of the Sefuri Mountains were surrounded with the hardtrees or bamboo glass.  This trail was comfortable to walk and beautiful.  Arrived at Onigahana-iwa at 10:13.  It was a monolith with a height of about 50 m.  The city of Fukuoka looked beautiful from top of this monolith.  This monolith was a rock used for the climbing piste with several bolts driving it.

     Passed Mt. Ryoshi-iwayama at 10:56.  Snow had begun to fall, and visibility had become worse gradually.  However, the mountain trail itself was well maintained and comfortable.

     Arrived at Kozume Pass at 11:06.  As the snow was getting stronger, I put a rain cover on my backpack here.

     Arrived at Mt. Kanayama at 12:20.  This mountain top should have a good view, though,  today there was no visibility due to snow and fog.  Fortunately, the snow weakened here.  There was a place where the wind was relatively weak around the peak.  So I had lunch there.  I boiled water by the stove and had lunch of chicken noodle and rice balls.  Hot meal at the top of mountain was delicious.  The temperature was 0 Celsius.  Chiicken noodle got cold quickly.

     I resumed to walk at 12:56 after lunch.  I went down Mt. Kanayama toward Mitsuse village.  After a steep slope, I passed through a cypress forest and arrived at Yamanaka Campsite at 13:45.  During a short break here, heavy rain started to fall.  So, I put on my rain pants here.

     From Yamanaka campsite, Kyushu Nature Trail was paved.  Signs of trail were carefully installed, and direction was easy to understand.

     I arrived at popular farmers market Matchan in Mitsuse village at 15:15.  While tasting fresh honey given from the beekeepers, we talked about mountains and beekeeping.  In this restaurant, I ate Oden as a snack, bought bread and sausages, and headed for Hokuzan Dam.

     The Hokuzan Dam was a popular place where fishing was thriving, but now the level of water was very low.  Walked about 30 minutes and arrived at Hokuzan Campsite.  Despite such a cold day with snow, there were about 5 parties of campers.  Now I realized that the outdoor activities were in a boom.  For dinner, boiled the sausage and ate it with bread.

January 18th, 2020, From Siiba village, Fukuoka city to Hokuzan Campsite, Saga city, Cloudy to snow and rain, 6/0 Celsius, Distance 20.8 km, Time for walk 8:56, Average speed 2.56, km/h, 40680 steps