Day 7 - Kumono Kodo Pilgrimmage

I am not going to write about Day One. Okay, just a bit, but I will be posting a video of all the snapvideos I compiled and that will really be enough. That will come when I return from Tokyo. Suffice to say I started a 9 hr hike woefully unprepared and way too late. I hiked into the pitch black and it scared the street cred out of me. Imagined dangers, real dangers, relentless enemies (frogs, crabs, spiders). Ive come to the conclusion that I completely understand how living in Japan could give rise to the idea of Pokemon.

Today, wow-ow, today...

I awoke early in the AM and my whole body ached. This city boy is not used to 8-9 hour hikes or the profusion of terror-inspired sweat and tension. I knew I had not really planned this day out and so I hit the maps and began preparations immediately. I plotted what I thought would be a fine journey for the day -- 5 kilometers, up and down and again, into the Hongu Grand Shrine. 

I do a quick check of my finances and clothing. Im down to about $5.50 and on my last pair of clothes.

Bus comes in about 25 minutes and I need to pack. Now! I throw all my stuff together and Im out the door, hoping to retrace steps that took me about 40 minutes last night, in just about 15 minutes. Im off and down the road and end up in a dead out sprint after the bus. Im carrying my walking stick thinking to myself, this is what it is like to be a scout in ancient battles that took place here.

I was so dazed and confused by the time the bus took off. I also (already) managed to work up a significant morning sweat, which, I assumed (correctly) did not bode well for spending the rest of the day hiking and night traveling. I fell back on the efficiency my business has taught me in the morning, because the second I stepped out of task-managing, I was a lost little puppy. You should have seen me, but Im glad you didnt.

After 35 minutes on the bus, I attempt to ask the bus driver whether this is Hossimin-Oji. Driver says Hossimin Oji? Hai! I say, what, HERE_ Hossimin Oji here? Hai. And then Im ripping through my stuff trying to pack a jacket maps books and a journal into my stuff, while finding my wallet -- wherever I put it. An entire tour is boarding and I say F it. I throw all my stuff into my jacket, sling it over my back, with my other two backpacks and approach the driver ready to pay. The tour guide says a quick word to the driver and turns to me This isnt your stop. You have about 30 minutes. I felt pretty embarassed, after my confused attempt at leaving the bus. I turn to the bus and all the seats are now taken so I sort of fall and stumble to somewhere in the middle of the bus, where I take some time to collect my things and self, and Im standing until we reach Hossimin Oji.

By this point Ive had a chance to collect myself. I should also mention that I have 5 dollars to my name and am also out of food and water at this time. I take my final shot of granola and Im clean out.

This amplified my shame on that bus. Im out of everything -- really -- headed into another long ass day of hiking, after what had happened the night prior. I am very, very out of my element and feel a bit like a fool.

Unlike the day before, where, because I started so late, I didnt meet anyone, my hike intermingles with the tour group and tour guide who jumped in for me on the bus and I hear a lot of great stuff from him. That tour seemed really cool and perhaps Ill consider attending in the future.

A big difference from the day before is that Ive started meeting people. I averted connection on the first day, but today was very different. I met a bunch of different couples. I was the only idiot out by myself and the only 20 something. I think this is actually awesome, in retrospect. One couple I met, I got to speaking with at a rest stop. We discussed our trips in a friendly tone and parted way. About an hour down the path, we passed eachother again, and a greeting serendipitiously changed into a conversation about the word namaste and what it meant to each of us. How cool is that? We actually had a beautiful little discussion and then went on our ways.

The final 2 hours of the hike were ardouous. I brought way too much stuff. I was carrying a 10 pound backpack on my front and a 20ish on my back and those spots on my body were sweating like none other and my legs began to fail. The 500¥ walking stick I bought in the beginning was so essential. I told my legs they were too big to fail and they acquiesced.

I just wanted to get to the end. Fuck making friends. Fuck reading Dune. Fuck the forest. Get me out of here. I came across a few beautiful views and kept just talking with everyone I met. It felt awesome but my body was whimpering under duress, at this point.

There were many take-aways from the home stretch of my journey. The landscape is breathtaking. The body perserveres. Hiking provides alot of time for thought. You fleetingly meet people at their best. I dont enjoy hiking, and am unsure if I ever will. I prefer the times at shrines or ambling and reading aloud. I would absolutely do this over and again, though, because what springs out of me under stress empowers me in the moment and after it. This difficult pilgrimage, I will never forget.