{"id":2035,"date":"2025-04-28T22:33:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T22:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/cr\/?p=2035"},"modified":"2025-04-28T22:38:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T22:38:53","slug":"mon-28th-april-hike-kitayamazaki-cliffs-to-hiraiga-fishing-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/?p=2035","title":{"rendered":"Mon 28th April – Hike (Kitayamazaki Cliffs to Hiraiga Fishing Port)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CR:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a bit of a freak out this morning due to: insufficient lunch plans for tomorrow, poor sleep as a result of tatami mat again last night and tonight, sore knee, cold (max 12 degrees today), room temperature fish for breakfast again and then the cab driver says, in broken English, ‘ooooh, your walk today is very hard’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Declan does an admirable job to restore morale over the first hour the walk. He finds me a walking stick and waits frequently for me to ascend\/descend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk is quite challenging today. It’s only 10kms but just took a similar time to other days as we were either climbing or going down a coastal cliff. There were also a few scrambles and caves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A not insignificant amount of the track had been eroded away, making some sections harder than they needed to be. When walking along a cliff contour, it could be pretty scary. Some sections were skinny with very little between you and a sheer drop down to the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end 3km were on a road that follows the coast back to our hotel and we’d never been happier to see pavement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow is the last day of the hike. We fly out on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
DW: The day starts where we finished yesterday. We have a 200m descent to kick it off.
CR: This photo only captures about 20% of the full descent to start the day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: Followed immediately by a 200m ascent. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: Caitlin’s friend for the day (Steve the Expedition Stick) is clearly visible here. Steve was requested early by Cait as a mitigation against gammy knee issues. I located Steve and he worked well for Cait.
CR: It did help, thank you Dec.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: There were two extended cave sections today. These came straight off the beach and tunneled straight through. Presumably to avoid too many 200m ascent\/descent combos in a row. In case you are wondering, yes, there were bats.\u00a0
CR: These were pretty spooky. We turned our torches off for a bit and it was pitch black.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: The steps out of the bottom of the cave just sort of end. I think anything you put in this area is not able to withstand the ocean over a long period.
CR: This rock scramble was probably the most dangerous walking of the day. Easy to see how you could have a fall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: Being at sea level is not good. It means you will have a climb to get back up on top of the ridge at some point soon.
CR: The astute reader will notice a theme here. Down then up then down then up then … I am always in frame today because I am always behind Declan. He must have taken a lot of these pics as he waits for me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: This marker is at the height the 2011 tsunami reached. The fishing village below was completely destroyed and has been rebuilt since.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
CR: There is a very nice hikers hut at the tiny village. We retire here for lunch. Quite windy (cold cold cold) so we are grateful this is here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: I am aware it’s the same Pacific Ocean from Australia, but it doesn’t feel the same.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: Thank you Steve (insert respectful bowing emoji). Steve now lives at the intersection of some bear’s territory and a french restaurant with coastal views. Enjoy your new life brother!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
CR: It might look like a long way away but it’s so exciting to see the hotel from a distance, especially given it’s all tarmac from here on out. I can feel the warmth of the onsen from here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: This section of the seawall is left as a memorial to the tsunami. The 9m high seawall collapsed over a span when the tsunami swept over the top of it. They have built a newer taller seawall behind it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: Caitlin claims to still hate tatami life, but this improved upgrade has elements she definitely enjoys. I continue to embrace tatami culture.
CR: I am conflicted between loving the view and hating the mat. Huge advantage of this place is we get real seats (in the alcove where Declan is sitting) which provides respite from the mat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
DW: We have some insane feast again. I am contemplating what lives these crabs had before they ended up on my plate. I say a thanks to the fisherman who delivered me this bounty of Neptune. Lullabies play all dinner over the speaker PA system for some reason. It does this 24\/7 on all floors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japan-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2035"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2055,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions\/2055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}