Yakushima Traverse - Day 1

So after a dip in an Onsen and a nice breakfast I headed out on my 3day hike to traverse Yakushima island. Basically this hike wouldcross the island, taking me through rain forests with giant ceders,and up a mountain the size of Mt. Washington, starting and ending at sea level.

Before I left the guesthouse the owner warned about the difficulty ofthe traverse, but because of the limits of his English I did not knowexactly why. Anyway, I figured I would start up the trail, and ifthings got to hairy I could always go back. Also, another layer ofdifficulty is that the only English language info I could find isLonely Planet's Hiking in Japan from 2001, so I knew that someinformation could be out of date. However, the goal for today seemedpretty straightforward, hike to the Yodagama hut at 1250m.

So, I started off on a hot sunny day, looking up at the clouds andknowing that rain would come eventually. But this is one of therainiest places on earth, so what are you going to do? The firstcouple of hours of the hike were uneventful. The trail was a littleless well cleared then what I am used to in NH, but was well markedwith florescent tape markers. The rain also held off until I made thenice waterfall at 450m above sea level.

After the waterfall however, things started to go downhill (despitethe 800m of uphill climbing to go). It started to pour, as I hadexpected. The forest got denser and denser, also as I had expected.

The trail got worse and worse, this was not expected.

This trail was the worst of both worlds. It continued to bewell marked with tape, and even had occasional signs indicating, inJapanese and without distances, that I was going in the right direction. However, the track seemed close to abandoned. I had to circumvent numerous giant ceders that had fallen across the path, noeasy task in a rain forest I assure you. The underbrush had not beencut, meaning I had to brush up against vegetation with every step.The other problem was that with the hard rain and the overgrown trailI could not figure out where I was on the trail based on the descriptions in the book, so I had no idea how far I need to go. The only landmark that I knew I could not miss is the road that ends 1km before the hut.

So I was getting more and more aggravated, and this is when it gets really bad. I reach what turns out to be the largest stream that Ihave to wade across, it was no big deal to get across the stream, butI looked down at my legs, and there were at least 3 leaches on me. Ifound the nearest stick and swiped them off, luckily before the reallygot settled in. For the next 2 hours I was hiking threw more heavyunder brush, now having to swipe off a leach every 5 minutes. Where they were coming from I have no idea.

At this point I am really questioning my decision to come up here,because if there is going to be 3 days of hiking like this, it is justgoing to be miserable. I am seriously considering finding a ride back down the road when I get to it or worst case walking back down. Anyway, at about the lowest point I pop out at the top of the road(about 1000m elevation). There is no drink machine, which is very disappointing, but it is incredibly nice to know where I am for once,and to be out of that jungle.

I decide at this point that since it is only 1km or so to the hut, I will see what the trail is like up there and then decide what to do. Starting on the trail to the hut, it is entirely different, in fact itis one of the best maintained trails I have ever been on. It is stillraining mind you, but the trail is cut very wide and there arecountless wooden stairs and ramps to keep you out of the mud and to make the climbing easier.

In a few minutes I get to the hut and since the trail is improved I decide to spend the night as planned. My spirits are greatly improved by some dry cloths and a place to sit out of the rain on the porch of the hut. The hut is an unmanned cabin that is about a 20 foot square room with sleeping lofts on either side. I did not really want to be solo out in the woods, so it was really nice that a couple from Tokyowere staying there as well, they were also very friendly and spoke English, which was nice.

The only downside of the cabin I was first turned on to by a sign in English and Japanese that read in English "The rats haunt near theYodagama hut. Please keep your foodstuffs in your rucksack". Ghost rats sound pretty scary, so I ask my new Japanese friends for a better translation and they tell me that the word for rat and mouse in Japanese is the same (Nazumi) and the sign just says to keep your food in your bag because of the mice. I am happy because this is a lot less scary.

We all go to bed at around dusk, as Japanese hikers do, and then the noises start. I got only fits of sleep all night long, because some animals, that were a lot bigger then mice, were banging around outside the cabin. Needless to say, I think ghost rats was actually a pretty good description. Anyway, I am glad I was not alone, or I might have headed for the hills.