Kumano Kodo - Day 4

September 2, 2023, from the itinerary:

You will get an extra bento from Minshuku Omuraya delivered today – directly to your accommodation – which you can take on your hike.

This morning, take the bus at Yunomine Onsen to get to the continuing section of the Kumano Kodo. Get off at the Ukegawa stop and continue on foot. Arriving in Koguchi, you will discover a really sleepy Japanese village, which is, however, quite different from the places you have usually experienced on the way here.

Walking time: 4.5-6 hours (13 km)

Tonight I stayed at Koguchi Shizen no le which used to be a school.

Ukegawa to Koguchi - Stage 3 of the Kumano Kodo - the stats from the above and things to remember for the day:

-Distance 8 miles

-Time 4.5-6 hours

-Markers 54-29

-670 meters elevation increase - 2200 feet

-3 stamps today - beginning - at 54, between 40-39, end - at 29

Pick up an extra bento at reception that was delivered since Adumaya doesn't offer any lunches and check out

Take the bus: Yunomine to Ukegawa= 340 yen (towards shingu)

Ishido- Jaya (40-39?)- is a nice place to rest

Also- try to visit the Takakura-Jinja shrine once to get to koguchi

Here are some photos of the Adumaya Inn

Here is my room and the lady who took such good care of me. I wasn't able to understand her name:(. Breakfast this morning was another amazing meal and the lady who served it (I didn’t get her name) was very cute. I hated to leave and she waved to me while I was waiting for the bus.

Also, here are the photos of the World Heritage Onsen which I talked about 2 days ago:)

Here's where you can cook vegetables directly in the hot spring (and where you can buy the eggs and vegetables to cook)

Today’s experience was less than ideal. The route was about 9.5 miles and was described as “passing over small clouds” - referring to how high you climb. It was described as an easy hike with a gradual ascent and a wide trail through the forest.

It was rather boring. The trail felt like it was going through cultivated/husbanded forest land with a number of cut trees. Much of the trail had evergreen boughs covering the trail.

There were not many animals except I did see a number of small brown lizards and some "danger" signs.

The people along the trail weren’t particularly friendly. I missed Eric and Tessa from Australia who left the route this morning to start back home.

It took about 5.5 hours and the last uphill was in direct sun and I got overheated.

The hiking group, in general, included most of the people who were on the bus this morning from Yunomine Onsen.

I took the bus from Yunomine to the start of the walk which was Ukegawa. I have to say this section of the walk was probably the worst signed. There was really no indication where the start of the trail was from the bus stop. luckily I had All Trails set up and found it that way.

There were 3 stamps today: Ukegawa, Ishido Jawa and the Kowaze Ferry Ruins. What’s so interesting about these three places? The Ukegawa stamp is simply a memorial stamp marking the location of the Kogumotori-Goe Trailhead. This is the name of the trail for Stage 3 of the Kumano.

There are three areas of tea house remains. One of them is the Ishido-Jawa which is named after a cherry tree that was once there.

The Hyakken-gura viewpoint was really stunning which overlooks what is called the 3600 peaks of Kumano.

Here is the area around the ruins of the Matsuhara Tea House

Along the way today were many poem monuments

And small shrines.

Coming down was slick on some of the flagstones. Luckily I was using my poles as I did slip, very slowly and caught myself. I thought I was going to break my left pole as it really bent as my left foot slid into it.

There were many fungi moments

It was also good that for the most part the weather was a bit cooler and less humid until descending from the mountains. The rain seemed to have passed us by.

I had my box lunch when I arrived, at about 2:30. It had some local specialties.

And finally coming into Koguchi there are the remains of the ferry which would ferry pilgrims across the Agaki-Gawa River before the bridge was constructed.

The accommodation for the night was Koguchi Shizen-no-Le Lodging which was an old school. It's the pointy building in the photos. There are also photos of the approach to the village. I can't say this village lives up to the hype in the description, but it may have been because I was overheated....

It definitely had the feel of a hostel with common toilets and baths. Air conditioning cost 100Y for 2 hours - best 400 Y I spent on the trip. The one plus is there were washing machine facilities - also for 100 yen - meaning clean clothes for the next day!

Dinner looked awful, but was a nice surprise - the beef was very tasty.