We had the best night’s sleep to date, last night. The parking spot was incredibly quiet, and the gentle patter of rain on the roof of the van lulled us into a deep sleep.
When we woke this morning, the Raccoon Dogs were howling in the hills around us, and the rain was still falling steadily from the sky. Everything was cloaked with cloud and dripping. It was so atmospheric, with the castle (which is actually a planetarium), behind us.
When the time came for us to move on, we set off along a road that followed the path of the river below. A sinewy route, clinging to the side of the steep valley, where the tops of the hills were hidden in the cloud, and the flanks looked as if they were smouldering, with clouds trying to escape the grip of the trees.
As we came around one corner, we surprised a macaque, sitting in the middle of the road, which turned to look at us, before leaping onto the barrier and off into the trees. We were more restrained in our reaction this time, but it was still rather a lovely start to the day.
We had decided to start making our way up towards the North Coast, trying to leave the mountains behind for a while, as they act like a magnet to the rain clouds.
As it was going to be another day of heavy rain, we had decided to put on our wet-weather kit again and to go for a walk, en route. We had scoured the maps for suitable walks and had found one that would take us from Lake Yogo, to the summit of Shizugatake, where (if the clouds cleared for a moment), we would have incredible views across Lake Yogo and also Lake Biwa
Having set the route through, we had our first moment of not feeling able to take the campervan along one of the roads on the way. It was a numbered road, but incredibly narrow with low trees too. As we have the biggest van available (3.2m high), we decided to find a different way through, with Andy having a chance to show off his excellent reversing skills, to get back on the main road.
It didn’t delay us too long, and we soon arrived at the car park, on the edge of Lake Yogo, and pulled on our waterproofs, ready to head off
It was such a shame that the weather was so poor, as it was a tranquil setting, with the lakeside lined with cherry trees that must be incredible in blossom season.
Even the birds were looking too bedraggled to be interested in flying,
although the tiny frogs were having a wonderful time!
We walked along the lake edge, following the quiet road, before picking up the signs for the walk up through the forest to Shizugatake.
It proved to be quite a wonderful route, on the well-marked path that snaked its way steeply up the hillside, through arrow-straight pines and cedars.
The only noise breaking the silence being our footsteps & chatter and the steady drip of the falling rain. Very soon we were soaked through, but loving every minute of the climb.
We’d seen lots of little brown frogs down by the lake, but all of a sudden, I noticed a tiny golden one hop out of my way. It wasn’t much bigger than my fingernail, and just sat on the edge of the path, whilst we admired it, before hopping off.
The woodland floor was covered in bracken and leaf-litter, which deadened all the other sounds and gave it a sense of calm. Which is very different to how it must have been almost 500 years ago, when one of the most decisive battles in Japanese history took place on the slopes, where there were a series of forts on this highly defensive spot.
It was a steep climb that got even steeper, the closer we got to the top, where wooden steps had been put into the path to help us reach the summit. Strangely, about 30 metres below the top, we seemed to rise above the rain, as all of sudden it stopped, even though we were still cloaked in cloud.
As we had expected, what we had read were incredible views across both lakes, were well and truly hidden beneath a heavy blanket of grey, and we did our best to imagine what it would have been like on a better day.
There are information boards about the battle that took place here and a striking and equally moving statue of a warrior, utterly exhausted and leaning on his spear for support. It is hard to imagine how terrible the battle was here, but this statue certainly made us think.
We headed down, following a different route that took us past other sites of the battle, and past the tomb of Nakagawa Kiyohide, a general killed with others at the fort on this site, as the battle took place in 1583.
Just after passing that site, we noticed something scuttle across the path, and immediately thought it was more frogs, but on closer inspection found a crab.
This was quite a surprise, as we were a long way from the sea and had no idea that crabs lived so far inland. In fact, it wasn’t just one crab, but many and we later found out that they are Japanese Forest Crabs that thrive in these environments, with the clean mountain water and plenty to eat.
We keep saying to each other that every day here is a school day,
After a very wet, but incredibly lovely walk, it was time to dry off a bit and move on towards the place we’d earmarked for tonight’s stop.
You can see a video from today’s walk here
We had managed to find an Onsen, almost next door to a launderette too, so managed to kill two birds with one stone, getting us and our clothes washed at the same time.
We nearly failed to get to the parking spot before dark again, arriving as the sky turned pink and orange with the last moments of the setting sun.
So much for all our promises to ourselves to make sure we’re set up for the night, well before sunset. But it’s another beautiful little spot, on the shore of Kugushi Lake, and if the sunset is to believed (red sky at night), then perhaps we may even be able to have a bike ride tomorrow.
Let’s keep everything crossed!
Vaucluse Dreamer 