Our day started out at Temple 59: Kokubunji as soon as it opened, down at sea level.
Following this we made our way to Temple 60: Yokomineji (Temple on the side of the ridge) which could only be reached on foot today as the road up the mountain was closed due to snow and ice. Our walk took us from sea level to 745 m (2440 ft) up steep switchbacks. The out and back to the temple was approximately 30 km/ 18 miles with serious elevation gain and descent on Mount Ishizuchi. It is the highest temple in Ehime Prefecture.
Mount Ishizuchi is considered to be one of the seven most sacred mountains in Japan and the peak reaches 1,982 m/ 6,502 ft.
On the way up we met o-henro-san Frank (a Canadian originally from Hong Kong). It was fun chatting with him as we walked a few kilometers together up the mountain. At a certain point was a shuttle service which takes people up to the temple at a price, but this service was unavailable today because the weather conditions up the mountain had caused the road to be closed to vehicles but you could still walk up on foot. Frank departed at this point but we pressed on arriving at the temple in a winter wonderland.
What a fantastic experience! The difficulty of the trail rewarded us with the most stunning scenery and ambiance imaginable. We met Allessandro from Italy at the temple as he was leaving and chatted with him for awhile about our positive experiences so far.
On the way down we took the wrong road and ended up walking towards a different city to what we had wanted to, which was must further away. A troop of wild monkeys scrambled across the road and up the mountain right in front of us which was a great sight! Just as the sun was setting the last bus on this route approached and we flagged it down. Kindly the bus driver stopped and allowed us to hop on which saved the day and about 6 km of walking. We were completely exhausted from the day's ridiculously strenuous hike.
We are now safe and warm and in awe and wonder about our experiences today!
I’m glad the bus driver stopped for you 😊
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