Yakushima Traverse - Day 3

Third day, wake up at around 4:30, as that is when the earliest risers, a family of 4, has started up their stove to make breakfast. I was actually a little worried about making the ferry back to Kagoshima on this day at 3:30, so I wanted to be out on the trail by 6 AM. Thus I was not really that pissed off.

So, I packed up and was off by around 5:30, back out into the continuing rain. The only people up were ones I had not made the acquaintance of, so there would be no coffee for me today. This days hike was pretty uneventful. I worked my way down past the area with the giant ceders, which were fairly cool to see and eventually popped out on an area of the trail that was in the middle of an old railroad track. After several days of hard hiking, this was like heaven for my body, and I really flew down the trail.

This was also the time that I started encountering waves of Japanese day trippers who were making their way up to the ceders from the parking lot at the end of the railway trail. 1000 head dips and "Konishiwa"s later and I was off to the next fork int the road that would continue to lead me north. This trail was back to being a little more rustic, but not too bad. It actually was kind of scenic as it had extensive areas of stepping stones that looked like they had been laid in the feudal era. This gave it a nice appearance that made you think that a Samurai could come walking out of the mist at any time.

A little bit further down this trail I once again run into big groups of tourists, and as I find out I have merged onto a 2km nature walk trail that starts at a parking lot up the mountain. I had not idea how far this was from the perimeter road of the island, but like a horse that knows that the barn is not far away, I picked up the pace a little and started flying down the trail.

You can imagine my disappointment then when I cross the parking lot and discover that the trip down to the main road is another 4km, and once again it is on a pretty rustic trail. So I was a little disappointed, but soon the lower elevation made the sun pop out and I could see the ocean again in the distance, so things were not that bad. Also, about 1.5km down the rugged trail I came out on a logging road, which being Japan was beautifully paved. Coasting down this lonely logging road in the mountains of Japan, all I could think about is how unlikely it was that some kid from NH would ever be here.

The next thing you knew I was flying across the waves on the Hydrofoil and back in my comfy bed at the inn in Kagoshima.