Kumano Kodo 5: so steep

Stairs never ending
Rising toward misty sky
Takes my breath away

In the year 1201 the famous poet Fujiwara Teika climbed to the Echizen-toge Pass and wrote in his diary: ‘This route is very tough and difficult; it is impossible to describe precisely how tough it is.’ It’s no better 800 years later.

We have walked longer, and gained and lost more meters in a day, but this was one of the toughest days we’ve experienced. The combination of extremely steep without switchbacks, very slippery broken path, and hugely high humidity rather broke us. And realistically, we spent weeks climbing hills not that long ago so we were much fitter than most of our fellow walkers.

The walk was beautifully atmospheric in the trees and mist. I was put in mind of a story I read ages ago about people traveling the world by walking forest paths. You’d start in one place and end up in another: One misty forest can look much like another. But then we’d see a sign in Japanese characters or undergrowth of bamboo and it was locked into Japan.

By the time we got to the Pass my clothes were literally soaked – I couldn’t have been wetter if I had jumped in a pool. Partly rain, and lots of sweat. The Pass itself is some two paces long, so after all that slogging uphill we immediately started downhill. Downhill was tiring and somewhat treacherous. Jennifer fell and scraped her arm and broke her phone.

The end game here was another shrine which has a very famous waterfall beside a pagoda. Sadly the pagoda is being renovated and is covered in scaffolding. The waterfall was still very pretty.

And then we were done with the Kumano Kodo. We caught a bus to the coast, relaxed in hot baths, and are now in a hotel with a great view of a bay.