刈場坂峠・Kabasaka Touge

January 12th

We set off with high hopes; a new year and a new challenge, but went disastrously wrong fairly early on. We had maps of the route we intended to take, with us, but we walked off edge of the map we had, and had no phone signal on either phone. We were following a hiking trail and there were signs but we had no idea which way to go. Do we turn back? Head to the next station on? Walk in what felt the right direction?

It could have gone very badly wrong but someone must have been watching out for us and we made a good choice, following the trail round in a loop back to the same station. I think we were probably somewhere around Tsutsujiyama, but with no Tsutsuji of course.

It was a much harder course than we were used to and thank goodness this was the first time I’d worn my sturdy winter gloves instead of just light fingerless ones. We got to a slope that was far too steep and slippery to walk down but there were handy ropes set up so you could hold on to the rope and just slide down! There’s no way it would have been passable without some kind of protection for your hands – another reason to make sure you’re always kitted out properly.

As per our usual pattern we found ourselves on a small, deserted road eventually and still not being entirely sure where we were, decided to follow the road all the way back to the station. It was cold and we were tired and didn’t want to risk getting lost again. We arrived at the station just as the train was pulling out but joy upon joy, there was a little yamagoya (cafe type place) where they sold oshiruko with hand-made mochi. It was absolutely delicious and exactly what I needed to warm up again while we waited for the next train. On the way home we stopped off at a book shop and bought a hiking map of the area; something we should have done quite a while ago, given our track record!