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This morning I lay in bed watching the sun rise over the Pacific. A rising sun does not have the easy drama of an ocean sunset. But I can’t say a setting sun is better than a rising sun. This rising sun meant I had a full day ahead of me to potter around Hilo…
Continue reading Tough Jobs and a Lascivious SeniorWe walked on lava through fern forests down to two calderas. We rested on chunks of lava with steam rising around us. Our nephews (7 and 8) were in good spirits but they got a little bored towards the end. To distract I demonstrated how to make a whistle by clamping a grass leaf between…
Continue reading Lava: It’s Scientific Fun!Every hotel room in Hawaii has a book or brochure pushing Hawaii as something to consume. Many first-time visitors are doomed to be unfulfilled by the activities they are seduced into buying. The experience depicted at the top of this post is dangerous and illegal: volcanic gases and Federal law get in the way. The…
Continue reading Insufficient RealityThe flight attendant showed me a handwritten note: “we will be landing [in Kagoshima] at 9:30 [a.m.].” I’m the only non-Japanese customer, and, by the look of it, just about everybody else on this 737 is flying for work. I like traveling with Japanese people because they are generally quiet, calm, and are considerate in…
Continue reading Finding JapanWhen I pulled open the drapes this morning, I decided to drop my plan to go directly to Kagoshima City. Instead of yesterday’s unrelenting rain, sunshine was trying to penetrate mist. It was time for a bonus hike. I had less than 60 minutes to dress, pack, slow down enough to enjoy breakfast, then check…
Continue reading Hiking Above CloudsAs I was stretching, clambering, grappling over rocks in Kirishima National Park, I replayed in my head the most recent encounter with a fellow hiker. The woman had made the usual greeting, then a look of dissonance flashed across her face. I’d seen that look before when I’ve thoughtlessly put a shoe on tatami, or…
Continue reading Travel Gear: Hiking PantsWhen I look across Japan’s Seto Inland Sea I see small islands, distant volcanic hills, ocean-going ships, sleek bridges, all sitting on a bright palette of blues and greens. The Inland Sea has energy: it connects three of Japan’s main islands (Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku), and the Pacific Ocean with the Sea of Japan. I’ve…
Continue reading Cycling Across the Seto Inland SeaThe Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage connects 88 temples over 750 miles on Japan’s Shikoku Island. It’s a circuit: temples 1 and 88 are 17 miles apart. It’s a journey: I’ve watched pilgrims making quite perfunctory stops at temples. This speaks to me. I walk to walk, not just to visit a sight like a waterfall or…
Continue reading Temple Plumbing 2016The last time I went through the town of Itoigawa (population 47,102) I was on an express to Kanazawa. Since then, the Shinkansen (bullet train line) from Tokyo to Nagano was extended to Kanazawa, and the new section opened in 2015. This week I rode the bullet train 97 km from Nagano to Itoigawa, just…
Continue reading A Small-Town Bullet Train StationTrain stations in Japan can be busy places, but boarding trains is an orderly process. In mainline and subway stations, symbols on the ground show where to form lines. When a train arrives, each door aligns with the queuing passengers. Train stops are brief, trains run on time. But things can go wrong. I can’t…
Continue reading Uncomfortable Scene, Comfortable Food
5:00 a.m., one final walk on PDX carpet.
My view for the next 7 hours, SEA–HNL.
I’m on the “wrong” side of Hawaii Big Island: rainy, no posh resorts, no ocean sunsets, tsunamis, crushed ice. Rich.
Posted Tough Jobs and a Lascivious Senior.
On my walk, plants and distant off-grid homes cling to new lava. Once, I drove through here before the lava flowed.
Hilo, HI, narrow-spectrum LED streetlight. I’ve posted about narrow-spectrum sodium lights.
Explored a Hilo supermarket: lomi salmon (Hawaii), kimchi (Korea), and tako (octopus from Japan) sitting together.
ITO (Hilo) baggage claim, waiting for my better half.
An offering to Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes. In the distance, Halema’uma’u Crater is active.
Our nephews, peaceful dinner at Volcano House, our hotel in Volcanoes National Park. They walked over 8 miles today.
Steam vent. “Get back from the edge” was repeated many times today as the nephews sought closer looks.
Hiked on pahoehoe (“smooth, billowy, ropy”) lava for several miles.
Posted Lava: It’s Scientific Fun.
Walked to a monument to Cook’s “discovery” of Hawaii. Polynesians discovered and settled Hawaii 600 years earlier.
Kona Coast, 1,100 feet up: 70% solar eclipse then sunset within one hour.
Rusted corrugated metal shuddered as it clung on, as I balanced on rusty a’a scree. 55 mph gusts on a coastal walk.
On our walk: fishponds where ancient Hawaiians raised fish.
Posted Insufficient Reality.
Sunday lunch in a tiki bar with a nod to the observatories 14,000 feet up Mauna Kea.
Stepped back to old Hawaii, returned to Honoka’a for a couple nights.
At Honolulu HNL. My better half has boarded the MSP flight. 25 minutes later I board the ANA Tokyo Haneda flight.
Wednesday, 10:00 p.m., on my way to a comfortable, clean, $83 hotel near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
Morning, off to Kagoshima for more hikes in Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park.
Today, unrelenting rain. Glad, yesterday, I went from plane to trails that included Lake Onami and Mt. Karakuni.
Posted Hiking Above Clouds. My hike today.
Followed symbols through farms, villages, woods, and by the ocean in southern Kyushu. My first-ever OLLE hike.
Riding a bullet train, Kagoshima–Fukuoka, through lots of tunnels. My inner child is being satisfied.
Posted Travel Gear: Hiking Pants. My efforts not to get arrested.
Walked on a lovely beach, about an hour by train from Fukuoka. People were digging holes, foraging in the sand.
Found this crumbling shrine in a forest, on a mountain, near Fukuoka.
Today (Thursday) two trains, 400 miles, Fukuoka (Kyushu Island) to Matsuyama (Shikoku Island).
I love Matsuyama’s old streetcars. Some go back to the 1950’s.
Cycled across the Seto Inland Sea on bridges and islands: 45 miles between main islands Shikoku and Honshu.
Saw the sea from Matsuyama Castle, so went to the sea. At the sea realized two Shikoku 88 temples were near… . etc.
My urban hike included an ancient pilgrimage trail in the hills above Matsuyama.
Posted Cycling Across the Seto Inland Sea.
Now in Tokushima (on the island of Shikoku) for two nights.
So many choices today: –Getting cash in a convenience store–Reviewing the operation of my hotel room toilet
Hiked via temples 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 of the Shikoku 88 (temple) pilgrimage. This section is near Tokushima.
Ferry, now train around the Kii Peninsula, heading for Shingu.
In Shingu, I have a no-smoking, Leviticus-free room.
Hiked part of the Kumano Kodo, an ancient pilgrimage route. I appreciated the beauty of the small tea farms.
Posted Temple Plumbing 2016.
Went for an urban hike on a grey, rainy day. I enjoyed the splash of color at the Hayatama Taisha shrine in Shingu.
Meijimura, huge building museum near Nagoya. Amazed to learn part of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel was saved.
Now in Matsumoto in Japan’s “Alps”
The mountains taunted me as I walked around Matsumoto today: the trailhead bus I wanted doesn’t run until mid-April.
Futon on tatami. Traditional inn (Ryokan), Yudanaka, a small town near Nagano.
Posted https://t.co/JMINHUkO67 A Small-Town Bullet Train Station
“My” street: ryokan’s, restaurants run by couples, homes. If the snow monkeys come out at night, I’ll be asleep.
Six hours in Tokyo:☑ Walked across Tokyo Bay☑ Explored Imperial Hotel lobby☑ Sipped beer above Tokyo Stati
12:30 a.m., Tokyo Haneda, about to board a flight to San Francisco, along with all the other jet-setters.
My first long-haul on a 787 Dreamliner (HND–SFO). Skeptical the LCD windows would be effective: they are.
Bloody Mary at SFO after a night in a hotel (to avoid a red-eye) and a night in flight. No need to rush the journey.
Worn shoes and 35 liter backpack on MSP carpet.
