Hiking Kuju
Aso-Kuju National Park, Kyushu, Japan
There are times in a girl’s life when she just feels the need to escape. Living in Japan constantly surrounded by foreign ideas, customs and people, so many people, those times are quite frequent and the idea of a weekend in Osaka or Kyoto doesn’t quite cut it.
With this in mind I packed up my tent, my sleeping bag and hiking boots. I made my way through the Kyoto and Osaka transit systems, holding my breath as the trains filled to over flowing and eventually found myself aboard the evening ferry bound for Beppu, Kyushu.
The ferry between Osaka and Kyushu is a great way to travel. The overnighter offers a budget option that provides basic bedding and a spot on the floor so as you can comfortably enough sleep your way to your destination. It docks around 6.30 in the morning so you’re usually up early enough to catch the sun rise over the pacific. A great start to any holiday.
My destination for this trip was to be Choja-bara, a small town in Aso-Kuju National Park. After the information center in Beppu finally opened for the day I found out that I could either catch a bus leaving in 5 minutes or wait 5 hours for the next one. It was a tough decision I was planning on an overnight hike. I hadn’t been to the supermarket so didn’t have supplies yet but catching the later bus would only leave me a few hours of daylight to get to camp and set up. I was still contemplating it when a bus went past the window and a Japanese lady started telling me to run, which of course I did.
Fortunately the small town of Choja-bara is equipped with those last minute needs of hikers and campers such as food and hats. I left mine on the bus as I was rather absorbed in how many statues of bears the town seems to have.
The hike I was taking went up through the hills behind Choja-bara to a small camping spot by the name of Bogatsuru. The second day would involve climbing to the peaks of Naka-dake and Kuju-san before descending to Makinoto-toge where I could catch a bus back out. This is a beautiful and fairly easy hike, popular in May when the hills are covered in Azaleas. Unfortunately this was March, so I found mud and lots of it. Despite the weather there were still a few people on the trail, clad in wet weather gear.
The views of both Choja-bara and Bogatsuru are quite magical. Alpine grass lands sitting quietly between the steep, rocky, mountains.
The Bogatsuru camping area has both free camping and a hut. The hut, however, is rapidly falling down and the floor strewn with broken glass from windows and beer bottles. I pitched my tent in the rain. It never pays to be too cheap with tents but in this case I had been. The tent didn’t really stand up to the challenge of the wind blowing through the valley or the rain. With every big gust half the tent folded, the leaking was continuous.
I managed to stick it out until darkness fell, lying all alone in a cold puddle, everything soaked and worrying about bears that might come and try to steal my morning muffin. There is a point though that you just tell yourself to stop being so cheap and indulge in one of the benefits of hiking in Japan.
Throughout many of Japans trails there are Ryokan, guest houses. This trail was no exception. Clean sheets, a warm room and best of all a long soak in an onsen, hot spring are worth every cent when you’re covered in mud and trying to sleep in a puddle.
Well-rested, I felt in great shape to take on the peaks the second day. The first part of the morning involves climbing straight up. Since a good part of the trail was covered in snow it was a real challenge though worth it. Again amazing views, when the cloud clears.
When the cloud decides to linger, extra caution does need to be taken as it can easily lead you off trail, especially at the top. Coming down from Kuju-san there are a couple to trails back to the bottom. I took the wrong one. The trail down the south side of the mountain is well maintained and clearly marked out. Though in March it is one of the muddiest tracks I have ever been on in my life. I eventually ended up covered head to toe in mud by the side of a road having no idea where I was.
When I did stumble on a shop and discovered the phrase ‘koko doko’, where is here? I found wonderful people only to willing to help me out. I was even very kindly given a ride to the nearest train station 25km away, mud and all.
Escaping the crowds in Japan is a wonderful experience but so is returning to the people.
