Since Ian had to go to Kirishima last Thursday for work, we planned to make the most of it. His company pays for gas and tolls to get there, and it just so happens that there are really good hiking trails in that area. Our plan was to hike a short trail on Thursday afternoon and then head into town so that Ian could go to work, camp on the beach overnight, and then hike a longer trail on Friday morning. One of our friends, Brian, joined us since he had the week off from work and enjoys hiking.
We loaded down the car and got away shortly after noon that Thursday. The Ebino plateau is a relatively famous area for hiking, and luckily for us is the next exit past Hitoyoshi on the IC. Even though it’s so close, none of us had actually been there to enjoy all the hiking trails it has to offer. (I feel as though that will change now!) The plateau was well marked with signs, and as soon as we got off the IC, we followed said signs waaaaay up into the mountains to the plateau. It took us a minute to get oriented and find the trail head that we wanted. (side note: Remember that volcano that erupted in Kyushu two years ago shortly after the earthquake and tsunami? That would be Shinmoedake, one of the volcanoes in the Ebino plateau. The hiking trails around that volcano are COMPLETELY off limits, and there were signs around printed in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English stating to stay off those trails.)
We decided to take a trail that lasted about two hours and hiked around three volcanic crater lakes. The trail was relatively flat most of the way, so it wasn’t difficult at all…..nothing like the rocky vertical trail at Aso we did the day before!! The first lake that we saw looked as normal as could be and reminded me of lakes at home…..despite the fact that it was full of so much sulfur that nothing is able to live in it. The second lake was my favorite. The water had a bluish tint to it and was surrounded by a thin strip of beach. It looked so welcoming and inviting for a nice swim. If only it wasn’t for that whole sulfuric-acid-burns-your-skin-off thing! That lake was the calmest of the three. Not one gust of wind made a ripple on it, so the water looked like a sheet of glass. It was beautiful! The sun peeked through the clouds as we rounded the trail to the last lake, also very beautiful.
Once we got back to the car, we grabbed a snack and got back on the road. We originally had planned to go to the onsen and clean up, but the hike took a little longer than thought, so we powered on to Kirishima. Brian and I dropped Ian off at work and decided to settle down at McDonald’s to work on our short stories for the writing workshop we have just around the corner. In the hour and a half that we were there, I managed to crank out a couple of pages and was pleased with my progress!
After we picked up Ian from work, we made our way to the beach to camp out for the night. I’ve never actually camped before. I went to Girl Scout camp a few times and slept beside Grandmother’s house in the family tent a couple of times, but I’ve never actually done the whole us-against-nature camping thing. It was quite the experience! Our first task was to find a suitable place. We weren’t exactly sure if camping on the beach was 100% legal, so we walked away from the main area and bright lights. Ian wanted to camp closer to the water, but I refused. We had no idea what time tide would roll in, and I didn’t want to wake up to a wave splashing over my feet, so we settled on an area away from the water.
While I hauled the stuff from the car, Ian and Brian worked on setting up the tent and putting out stuff in it. Brian had bought some beer, so once the tent was up, the boys drank a few to celebrate roughing it in the wild. Although it was night and we couldn’t see a thing, it was still beautiful out. The sky was clear, and the stars shined brightly. Waves lapped on the beach. Even though we couldn’t see it, Sakurajima loomed across the bay, silently and slowly erupting. It was the perfect night for camping! Before we laid down to sleep, we went for a short walk on the beach but couldn’t go too far because the tide had covered much of the beach.
Our tent sleeps two people comfortably. We told Brian that we would scoot over and let him sleep in there as well, but he insisted on sleeping on the beach instead. He laid down behind the tent so that it would break the wind rolling in from the water. That was the most restless night of sleep I’ve had in a while. I feel like I woke up at every little noise and twisted and turned every way to try to get comfortable. I tried to focus on the calming sound of the waves to lull me back to sleep, but it didn’t help. At one point during the night, I heard a high pitch animal call out across the water. Ian rolled over and whispered, “Did you hear that?” I said yeah and asked what it was. He said that he thought it was a whale. How cool is that? How often do you get to wake up to whales calling to one another? At another point in the night, I heard a few raindrops falling on our tent. I asked Ian if we should wake up Brian, but Ian said that if the few drops didn’t wake him, then neither should we. The deeper the night got, the cooler the temperatures were. At some point, the wind started picking up. It wasn’t too long after that I heard the zipper of our tent slide down. Initial panic struck, but then I realized it was Brian. “Brian?” I said. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s just a little chilly out here.” Ian and I rolled over to make room for him. With three people, the tent was DEFINITELY cozy, but the greater the body heat, the warmer the tent.
Ian and I both woke up at pre-dawn. He walked up and down the beach taking pictures at different angles as the sun rose while I stayed huddled in a blanket at our campsite. The morning was SO COLD! Even with my blanket wrapped around me, I was freezing and couldn’t imagine how cold Brian must have been sleeping on the sand!
I’m going to stop here and make this into a two part blog because I’ve still got plenty to tell about this trip, but I’d also like to give your eyes a break. :)
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