A beautiful section full of natural trails through the mountains from Hiyoshicho to Ena. This leg is known for it's numerous (around 13) remote mountain passes with many shrines. There are a lot of signs for bears and one for hornets (a good day for rain). A great walk for experienced hikers otherwise, we recommend Ena as a great starting point.
DINK Details
Get ready for hills and nature, this was the most strenuous day.
Difficulty: Midium Start: Hiyoshicho End: Ena | Time¹: 7 hours Distance: 12 mi Elevation: 1,818 ft |
Towns²: 1/2 Food Prep: High | Tips: Pack lots of drink and food for today³ Bears and Hornets (signs) |
1. How long we took to walk it with breaks and all
2. Towns are places with food and restroom. There may be one convince store and a vending machine.
3. This is the only hotel in the area and the only food too.
How does the signs bear keep getting scarier!? Should we be here?
The Start
It was forecasted to rain all day.
We were prepared. Waterproof(ish) boots, pants, waterproof backpacks, and ponchos from Family Mart.
We awoke, well rested from our sleep at Daikokuya Ryokan. Breakfast was waiting down stairs for us and we were excited!
After, we showered and geared up for a long, wet road, the owners let us know there wasn't much food ahead and offered to make us rice balls if we are not prepared. We bought one just in case (it was very good). We said our goodbyes and headed out.
The Walk
Leaving Hiyoshicho - 7:15 am
If there is one place that looks beautiful in the rain, it's a rural village in Japan.
We picked up a (hot) boss coffee from the vending machine outside the last bus stop and found a picture of a cat that we related to.
Then we headed down the road into the forest.
The Trail
The path started as paved road from on village to another. Along the way we saw a beautiful shrine sits across a lake in a park. We gave our donations for safe journey.
As we came out of the trees we passed the most adorable school, Fairy Wood!; a center for dogs who don't read so good.
Good thing we left offerings at the shrine because we saw another bear warning sign! This one looked a little scarier so we were willing take any help we could get.
Okutecho
Eventually, we came to our next post station, 47 Ōkute-juku. This post town has a main street the with a few shrines, one being the remains of an ancient tree and the other on top of a huge flight of stairs. If you need a rest, there is also tourist center, tiny café and a convenience store.
Bears and Picnics
The rain picked up as we took on another mountain pass. Of course, things have to get interesting.... more bear signs.
What the hell?! This is terrifying! What are we suppose to do against that?! Welp, we are lazy and walking back is scarier than those signs.
Luckily, we made it through alive. All this "survival" made us hungry. We found a rest spot cover from the rain with benches and vending machines. There was also a box with paper and pencils for writing and submitting a Haiku. Linnea wrote short one about our travels.
We were are 2/3rds the way to Ena at this point. After a break, we packed up and headed through a dirty trail in the forest. Of course, there was one more obstacle...murder hornets!
I was really happy about the rain keeping the hornets way. We left the woods quickly and notice our path was a road containing little white and golden pebbles. They looked beautiful, like leaves falling in autumn. We followed this path the rest of the way to town.
Destination - Ena
Town - 2:15 pm
Ena is a good-sized town. Plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants. We stopped by a Family Mart for some supplies (sake) and to refill our snacks (since we used up our reserves from lunch).
Apparently construction and digging is a problem in the area so, they have a very serious method for handling it (see adorable sign).
Hotel - Route-Inn Ena
Details
15 walk from trail
Modern hotel rooms
We got a high floor
Public onsens down stairs (no tattoos allowed)
Western style bed
Comes with breakfast buffet!
A typical modern hotel was quite a switch from ryokans. The Route-Inn was close to our trail and the rooms had good views. The location also allowed us to explore town and try a local restaurant.
Dinner - Karubitaisho Enaten (Yakiniku)
Right across the highway from the hotel, this Yakiniku place had a huge selection of meats and a very kind, and more importantly patient wait staff. English was minimal but luckily we know the words for most foods in Japanese (or used Google translate).
The restaurant's menu and ordering system was on a tablet that came with a huge warning, "don't drink and drive!". It also included an interesting questionnaire with questions that ranged from "will you be driving?" to "will you drink and steal someone else bicycle?"
We got 3 different types of beef, marinated pork, sake, and shishito peppers.
Maps
AllTrails
Google Maps
Masupage
Its what we used to build our walking holiday.
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