Karakunidake

One last blog post, and then I’ll be all caught up from Spring Break and can FINALLY move onto last week’s happenings.  I left off the last blog with us waking up on the beach after our night of camping.  It was a lot of fun, but the three of us were exhausted afterward.  There’s just something about sleeping on the ground that is not as comfortable as a bed……..

Anyway, we grabbed breakfast along the way and headed back to the Ebino plateau for another hike.  Instead of getting on the IC (expressway) and taking that to Ebino, we decided to cut through the mountains for a prettier, more scenic drive.  Indeed it was MUCH more beautiful!  I’d rather take a tiny mountain road that snakes through the hills than a four lane highway that cuts through the mountain with tunnels! 

I’m really glad that we took the back roads because that led us on another adventure!  We kept seeing signs for Kirishima Shrine and didn’t really think about going until we topped a hill, and BAM!  a huge concrete torii stood across the road.  We all looked at one another with the same thought, do we want to go check that out?

Within the past year and a half, I’ve seen more shrines and temples than I can count, so I’ve reached the feeling of “seen one, seen ‘em all.”  However, this shrine really intrigued me with its giant concrete torii.  All three of us were glad that we went.  The shrine was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen.  The brightness of the red paint and detailed carvings on the woodwork of the shrine were phenomenal.  Since it was up on top of the mountain, the sakura were just blossoming and the Japanese maple leaving budding, which made for absolutely beautiful pictures.  (Unfortunately I don’t have any to share because they’re all on Ian’s camera!!)  There were several Korean tourist groups there, and I remember reading that that shrine is famous for……something.  After walking around and taking pictures of everything, we decided to hit the road again.

 

It took about thirty minutes to reach the plateau, and since we were there the day before, we knew exactly which trail was ours to hike.  I’m not going to lie….it was a tough hike up.  The trail was steep and rocky, and we had to periodically break.  We met more Korean tourists on the hike up, and one even offered me her bottle of water.  It was so sweet!  Of course Ian, the Asian whisperer, made friends and chatted them up even though they didn’t speak English, and he didn’t speak Korean.  We were wondering why there were so many Koreans hiking that mountain, and it didn’t dawn on me until later that the name of the mountain was Karakunidake, and it used the same kanji for its name as Korea does.  Supposedly, the peak is so high that you can see all the way to the Korean peninsula.  (No way in HECK is that actually possible.  Karakunidake is in the southernmost prefecture on Kyushu, and therefore you’d have to be able to see ALL THE WAY ACROSS Kyushu in order to see Korea.  Not happening.) 

 

The higher up we got on the mountain, the better the views became.  We could see the volcanic crater lakes that we hiked around the day before, the tiny cities and towns below us, and once we got high enough we could see all the way to Kuma-gun.  Even though the weather was nice and warm at the base, on top of the mountain, the wind whipped around, and it was FREEZING.  We climbed all the way to the tippy-top to peer into the crater.  It was so surreal to look into it.  While there wasn’t a molten hot pit of lava bubbling around in it, it was QUITE a way down.  (The picture doesn’t do it justice, but trust me, it was a loooooooooong way down.)  With the wind swirling around, I was honestly a little scared to get too close to the edge for fear of the wind shoving me in.  I wedged myself between two rocks and found it to be a rather nice little spot.  The cold wind couldn’t get to me, and I had no fear of going over the edge. 

The way down took significantly less time, but it was a little bit more dangerous.  All three of us slid at least once on the trail but thankfully recovered before we twisted any ankles or tumbled down the mountain.  At the base we decided to rest and enjoy some ice cream at the tourist shop before getting back on the road.  After a restless night’s sleep and rather arduous climb, the three of us were BEAT and headed home.  Poor sleepy little Ian fell asleep in the back seat while Brian and I chatted.  Once Ian and I got home, the bed was tempting, but I didn’t want to fall asleep at 4PM, sleep for a couple of hours, get up, and then go back to bed for the night shortly after.  So we showered, washed a couple loads of clothes, ate dinner, and did a few other things around the house until it was a proper bed time.  Needless to say…it wasn’t difficult to fall asleep that night!