On the Ise-ji, Yakiyama terrifies most. The height and length of the pass are well out of scale from that of anything else on the entire walk. Getting an early start out of Owase is a good idea, and the road leading from town is narrow and straight but for a long detour around the quiet neighborhoods that now squat atop the former masagata curves. The trail proper starts as a gentle ascent, but then the path begins to switchback sharply up until the peak itself. The old rock-laid trail has grown uneven with centuries of erosion, and the irregularity of footfalls are an unwelcome challenge. Near the top is a new-ish shrine that would make for a great place to overnight. There is another smaller shrine out back, each anointed with dozens of identical bottle of sake, complete with white plastic caps for partaking. They spread across the hillside like the kodama forest sprites of Princess Mononoke. The peak comes up sooner than I’d expected, and the climb is done.
I take a long lunch break in a large open area of grass nearby, enjoying the view of the fishing towns stretching along the peninsula below. I note an adjacent Meiji trail that hadn’t been on any of my maps, but the path looks pretty hairy, so I stick with the Edō route. At its lowest reaches, the tree graffiti begins. These are complaints from local woodsmen that granting World Heritage status to the Kumano Kōdō would deny them the livelihood their families had had for centuries. The final stage of the trail is a bisection of chest-high Shishigaki stone walls that had been built in older times in order to keep out foraging deer and marauding colonies of boar. These served the same function as today’s electric fences, yet have a look and feel that are truly ancient.
On a previous visit here in the attractive beach town of Mikisato, I had met a young couple with shared interests in kayaking and yoga and taikō. Sadly they aren’t at home when I drop by their guest house, so I instead take a chocolate break at the water’s edge, before climbing up and through the village and around the other side of the bay.
Entering forest again, I’m not prepared for how the rest of the day will go. The trail hugs the forest walls above the road below, and climbs and drops before returning to tarmac for short stretches. These roller-coaster routes are always the most tiring for me, and I had already had a pretty full morning with Yakiyama. Like some kind of punishment, the trail drops all the way down from Miki-tōge before climbing back to the heights again. But the trail along the Hago-tōge that follows proves ample reward, running smoothly beside more beautiful stone walls, before eventually depositing me on the edge of Kata. I pass school kids on their way home, as I move through the village toward my accommodation on the other side of the bay.
Owase Seaside View is my splurge this trip, with luxuriant dinner and baths overlooking the quiet waters of the bay.
My room proves massive, and I am happy for my early arrival, rewarding myself post-soak with the view and some quiet reading and the generous yet dangerous complimentary samples of plum wine.
