Mt. Miyanouradake

Yakushima hiking - day 1 Yodogawa to Aragawa

The lot of us, 10 strong, had come from Hong Kong to this island, Yakushima, situated to the south of Kagoshima, Japan, with a view especially to hike.

On the first day of hiking we divided the group into 2 teams, A of 3 and B of 7 persons, to tackle 2 different routes. This video was taken by a member of team A.

We set out at 5 am, taking a taxi to arrive at the trailhead 26 km from our minshuku. From there we set off on foot, passing Hananoego, to reach the island’s highest peak, Miyanoura-Dake, at 1936 meter, from where we began our descent to the famed Jomon-sugi, the 7,000-year-old cypress. After we cleared the last of the mountain trails we followed the railway track to walk on, meeting up with team B and finishing the hike at Aragawa trailhead.

In all Team A covered a distance of 24 km in 11.5 hours, ½ hour more than as planned. As we ascended and descended from the peak, we were heavily impeded by ice having formed on the paths going up and down, thereby causing much delay. It did not help that one of us, the videographer himself no less, was feeling less than well. Fortunately, given the slipperiness of the trail, the worst injury that we sustained was but a few scrapes. And what a magnificent day it was, for us to be able to admire the mesmerizing sights of the mountains and streams along the trail under a rare, sunny sky.

Team B took another taxi to set out an hour later at 6am to arrive at Aragawa trailhead at 7am, followed the railway track to Jomon-sugi, where they doubled-back to return to the trailhead, finishing the hike in 10 ½ hours.

Teams A and B rejoined each other towards the end of the hike on the railway track and together we arrived at the Aragawa trailhead, where the same 2 taxis were already dutifully awaiting us.


Cottage Morinokokage

Japan 2016 Part 1: Arriving in Yakushima

Japan 2016 Travel Video Series - #1

Took us two days to arrive in Yakushima, and boy was it worth it. Many beautiful sights to be seen just from wandering around the main town of Miyanoura on its own.

Music
SANDR - Miles High