December 8th
Start&Finish:
The weather:
Outfit/Equipment:
Crowds:
Map:
Time: 5 hours hiking, from
Start&Finish: Nishiagano station to Agano station. The route we were following led to a bus stop but we decided to walk rather than wait for the infrequent buses.
The weather: Cold and sunny.
Outfit/Equipment: warm hiking trousers, tshirt, long sleeve top, vest, hat, hiking shoes.
Map: Originally this course but ended up taking this route instead.
Crowds: There were people at the temple but not many hikers.
Time: 9:30 until 2:30
Difficulty: 31,220 steps.
We set off in high spirits and made good time up to the shrine. This is a temple for foot and leg related things and I obviously didn’t pay due respect while I was there, as this was to be my first experience of a hiking related injury which would haunt me for several weeks. We decided to press on ‘just a bit further’ to Takedera (竹寺) which transpired to be quite a lot further than expected. This was where you could walk a bit further on to catch a train back to the station. We were still feeling fairly energetic though and both dislike waiting for buses so decided to press on to the station.
We’d already been hiking for a while and my knee had started to get a bit painful. We stopped for a brief while for my husband to refuel with an onigiri and when I stood up again, I was in agony. We were a long way from the station but there was nothing for it but to keep walking. It was excruciating! I hobbled along as best I could; going downhill was by far the worst, so it was with a sigh of relief that we came out of the trees and faced the final leg along a paved and relatively flat path. As long as I didn’t bend my knee I could manage. So the lesson was well learned. Respect any temples you pass along the way as you don’t know who is watching.
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