I woke up at 6:00. To tell the truth, I woke up many times in the middle of the night. Because it was too cold to sleep. When I got out of the tent, there was ice in the pool in the gutter. I tried to look at the temperature, but the radio wave did not reach the iPhone here and the temperature application did not work.
I started to pack tents and surrounding materials at 7:00, when it had become brighter. I started to walk at 7:40. The entrance of the Kyushu Nature Trail was just beside the road at Nanamagari Pass. A well-maintained mountain path crossed a small mountain. From the mountain path, the Nanayama dam, which had begun to fill with water sunk one small village, looked glimmering.
I arrived at Sakamoto Pass at 8:08. Here, several roads intersect and the direction was difficult to understand. I didn't know where the Kyushu Nature Trail continued, so I got lost for about 5 minutes.
From Sakamoto Pass, walked to Mt. Hamaguridake along the Kyushu Nature Trail, which was maintained by cobblestones. The mountain trail run alongside the Hamaguri water channel. Hamaguri Channel was a water channel built around 1615 for water supply from Mt. Hamaguridake, and still used as an water channel for agriculture. I went off course, to see the water source of this Channel.
At 10:30, enter the Mt. Hamaguridake mountain trail departed from Hamaguri Channel and arrived at the 863 m sea level of top at 10:46. A giant stone called Clam stone was there at the peak. On the top of Clam stone, I could overlook the Saga Plain.
From Mt. Hamaguridake, the ridge trail continued to Mt. Sefuriyama. The first part was a mountain path with cedar trees planted, and turned into a mountain path covered with bamboo grass. There were wooden bridges at some places over the bamboo mountain path, made it easy to walk and gave me a beautiful view. The south side was open and I could see the mountains and plain in Saga area very clearly. There were two places along the way that required a detour due to a landslide, but the maintenance was in good condition and this was the route I would recommend one of the best.
I arrivedat at the top of Mt. Sefuriyama at 13:17. Mt. Sefuriyama had a peak of 1055 m above sea level, that was the highest in Fukuoka Prefecture. I could enjoy 360 degree view at the top. The Mt. Sefuriyama was the first mountain the monk had started to prey in Kyushu, and a shrine was built on the summit. At the summit, I had lunch of Chinese-style tasted rice and miso soup. Temperature at the peak of Mt. Sefuriyama was -4 Celsius. It was so cold with the north wind.
After lunch, I started to walk at 14:06. Headed west on the ridgeline of the Sefuri Mountains. I passed under the radar of the Japan Meteorological Agency. The ridgeline course was covered with bamboo grass and was easy to walk with good maintenance. This trail was also one of my favorite trail.
At Tojin- no-Mai, a scenic spot on the ridge, I arrived at 15:02. It was named as a place where the messengers from old Chinese dynasty who were guided to this area danced with joy for the beauty of the view, but it was not that far.
At 15:28, I arrived at Shiiba Pass, the final destination on this Kyushu Nature Trail today. From here, descend the mountain path to the Shiiba village. The descending mountain path was a comfortable path along the mountain stream. However, the downhill road was quite long, for 5 km. It took one and a half hours. At 17:04, I arrived at the bus stop at Shiiba Village and returned to Fukuoka with 17:37 bus.
January 13th, 2020, From Nanamagari Pass, Nakagawa city to Siiba village, Fukuoka city, Sunny, Distance 19.3 km, Time for walk 8:31, Average speed 3.44, km/h, 39632 steps
