On September 15th early morning, I took the first subway on 5:36 from Nishijin station in Fukuoka to Nakasu-kawabata station, to transfer to the Express bus to Kitakyushu city. The express bus arrived Tokuriki-arashiyamaguchi monorail station in Kitakyushu at 7:05. I further transferred to monorail at 7:10 to the end of monorail line, Kikuga-oka station. At Kikugaoka, I again transferred to Japan Rail Shii-koen station and arrived at Ishiharacho station, the nearest station to Hiraodai, at 7:20. At the Ishiharacho station, I ate breakfast, sandwich and yogurt,. My restart of Kyushu Natural Trail trekking begun at 7:38.
After 1 km of walk, I purchased 2 Onigiri rice balls and 2 bottles of water for lunch at the convenience store along with the Kyushu Natural Trail. From the entrance of Hiraodai National Park, the paved road contined to Fukuage Pass. There were many high-speeded motorcycles running and they were so noisy and dangerous.
At 8:54, I arrived at Fukiage Pass pass, trail head of Mt Ohira-yama. I took a short break with cold tea at the Pass. The trail heading to the Mt Ohira-yama was a perfctly comfortable pampas-covered path in the karst plateau. I reached to the op of Mt. Ohira-yama at 9:36. From the top of Mt. Ohira-yama, I could see the gorgeous view of whole HIraodai karst plateau.
On the way from Mt. Ohira-yama to Senbutu Limestone Cave, I saw a gentleman who was taking close-up photos of a plant. The plant was a Nambangiseru, a parasitic plant of pampas grass, with a tiny pretty flower.
I arrived at Senbutsu Limestone Cave at 11:05. I took a short break with rice balls and cold tea here. Senbutsu Limestone Cave was a beautiful great cave, but I skipped the cave for this time to proceed the trail. The direction sign of Kyushu Natural Trail in this point was hard to find. You have to be cautious to walk through this point.
The trail from Senbutsu Limestone Cave to Yukuhashi was badly desolate. There was no trace of human foot stamps, but there were many traces of wild boars' mud play. I could see the long conveyor belt that transported cement from Mt. Kawara-dake above my head.
Under the ferocious summer sunshine, I arrived at the Fukumaru village at 11:53. I could find a vending machine here and got cold drink that rescued from my severe thirsty.
Walking on an asphalt road was too hot. Another 2 km walk, I found a vending machine again, and purchased drinking water that saved me. At this point, I lost my way on the Kyushu Nature Trail, because the road was closed. So I went a little detour to the northward and found the target point of Oshimizu pond with beautiful green water at 13:04.
When I passed by the Kuroda Shrine, I found a sign of Ayatsuka ruin. The sign said that the investigation was progressing because the tumulus was open. So, I went about 100m to the side road and looked into the tumulus. I could enter the inside of the tumulus. This was a place I definitely wanted to see. There was a tumulus that I could touch by my hand.
I went further and arrived in Shinmachi-village at 14:12. I took lunch here at the restaurant named Karaku. Karaku was a cozy nice casual French restaurant. Beginning with a quiche, followed eith Japanese-style pasta. The main dish was a shrimp rolled with sole, and the dessert was a cream cake topped with blueberry sauce. Every dishes were delicious. And the hospitality was perfect. I charged my digital devices here as much as I could.
After an hour of lunch, I headed to the Shin-Chuai tunnel. The original trail route was going through the old tunnel, but it was currently closed due to the risk of collapse. So I decided to walk the Shin-Chuai tunnel. This tunnel was a long tunnel with a length of 1365m with heavy traffic. The noise from vehicles was so loud inside the tunnel.
After passing through the Shin-Chuai tunnel, I left from Kyushu Nature Trail temporary, to find the restaurant for dinner and the place to camp. At about 2km, I arrived at the roadside drive station Michinoeki-Kawara at 16:40. After purchasing oranges here and spending time until 18:00, I had dinner of fried vegetables at the ramen shop in the roadside station and set up my tent from 19:00.
Trekking data:
September 15th, 2019 Sunny, 31/22 Celsius, From Ishiharacho station, Kitakyushu city to Michinoeki-Kawara, Kawara town, Distance 35.49 km, Time for walk 7:04, Average speed 5.02 km/h, Replenishable places, 2 km Kinoshita-village, 12 km Senbutsu Limestone Cave, 14 km Fukumaru-cillage, 16 km Nyukaku-vullage, 22 km Katsuyama-village, 37 km Kure-village, 35 km Michinoeki-Kawara, Calorie consumption 1758 kcal, Drinking water 3000 ml
