Hike at Mt. Hiwada

17.11.2019 - Confusion between Mt. Hiwada and Gojo Waterfall 日和田山 and Gojo Waterfall 五常の滝

If the hike last Sunday has shown me one thing, it's that even after over 2 months and several hikes, preparation is essential 😅

This time, it was supposed to be in the mountains of Saitama, about 1.5 hours northwest of Tokyo. As usual, I had looked up a hike online with a short description and kept the route description to the starting station open on Google Maps, so I knew which line to take and wouldn't get lost at the station (it has happened before 🙈). Prepared like this and with food in my backpack, I set off on Sunday at 7:30 am - funny how I wake up earlier on weekends than during the whole week 😄

A not so relaxing hike

At Ikeburo Station, I joined the line of waiting hikers and read the hike description again. Did I notice that the description was less detailed than the others? Yes. Did I think anything about it? No. On the one hand, most of the other descriptions were ridiculously detailed: with photos of every turn and photos and descriptions of every little stage and what you pass by. On the other hand, there were usually good overview maps with all the hiking trails at the station or the starting point, which I took pictures of and thus also had the Kanji characters of my stages (in case the signposts are only in Kanji). According to the online description, there should also be such a hiking map at Koma Station.

Well, too bad if Tina can't find it 😑 Fortunately, some other hikers also got off, and I could at least follow them in the right direction. The only problem was that apparently I first had to go through the small, branching streets of the village. Thanks to Google Maps, I knew the rough direction, but couldn't see exactly where the actual hiking trail started. And most of the signposts indicated something else, not Mt. Hiwada 日和田山. Well, there's nothing I can do about it, so at the next intersection, I approached 2 older ladies who seemed to be going in the same direction. From the babble of Omi 1, I could (with remaining uncertainty) deduce the way, which I followed in the hope that she understood me and my destination correctly... Actually, shortly afterwards, I came across a parking lot and the beginning of the trail to Mt. Hiwada - which was no longer to be missed because of countless other hikers and small children. I could totally understand why so many families with children were out here: at least one of the trails led up over rocks that had to be climbed. That would have been fun for me earlier too! -and today just as much 😉

From the summit, there was a beautiful panorama of the surrounding mountains all the way to Tokyo. However, it was also quite crowded, so I continued rather quickly. Here, there was actually a signpost on which I recognized my next destination, Mt. Takasashi 高指山 😎 After a few smaller junctions, the path led to a forest road - and on the signposts, I couldn't recognize any of the Kanji from the online description of my route... I must have looked a bit lost between the signpost and my phone because an older hiker approached me - this time even in broken English! I could hardly believe my luck, understanding something for once 😄 The grandpa then tried to explain the not-so-easy route to me in an old-man-style - including a scribbly sketch on a piece of paper 😅 From his slow explanation, with him searching for words, I could gather that I had to continue straight ahead first, then cross a street and go left... I also found out that he had even been to Germany once, specifically in Karlsruhe (between Munich and Frankfurt) - if I understood correctly, he was apparently involved with nuclear power plants..

Equipped with the, as it turned out, not at all helpful sketch, I set off again. Well, a few wrong turns later and then at the next signpost, where I recognized a destination that definitely didn't go in the right direction for me, I turned back again, and then I finally found the path on the other side of the street, where the Gojo Waterfall was signposted 😅 It went through the forest and later on forest roads down into the valley.

And the waterfall, well, it wasn't exactly spectacular. With its 12m and located in the dark valley, it reminded me of a small copy of the Trusetal Waterfall... so, the hike wouldn't have been worth it just for that 😅

All in all, a nice hike, but by no means the most spectacular one of my trip. And because of the constant feeling of having somehow taken a wrong turn and the quite a few other hikers (whom I overtook first, but who then overtook me when I stood at the signposts for a longer time, only for me to pass them again shortly afterwards...), the relaxation effect of a hike didn't really kick in.

But I wanted to take care of that anyway: on the way back, I had already looked up an onsen in Ikeburo 😋

A much more relaxing visit to the onsen

The onsen turned out to be quite a luxurious spa 😅 I'm just saying: Dyson hairdryers. Hair straighteners. Resting rooms with TVs in front of beds that resemble fully foldable chairs... and so on...

Well, today I'll treat myself, I thought, and also booked a Thai-style massage on top of everything else. If I'm doing it, I'm doing it right 😂 After the obligatory washing and a short bath, I slipped into the spa clothes consisting of socks, a shirt, and loose beige and brown ¾ pants, and walked out of the women's area through the huge lounge to the massage area. There, I could first choose a few scented oils, which were then placed under the headrest so that when lying on my stomach, my face was directly above them. Unfortunately, I was a bit confused when the lady asked me what scents I wanted and started listing the options. I thought she was asking me about allergies or scents I don't like (somehow I thought the oil would be used for the massage). Accordingly, I said everything was okay, and promptly received a mixture of all the oils in front of my nose 😄 but it wasn't so bad, it still smelled good 😉

The massage was not done on a raised table, but rather on a wide mat (but also with the face hole). I kept my sexy clothes on during the massage, during which the lady moved around me in the Thai massage-style and worked on me with her hands, elbows, and feet. During the head massage, she even said that my brain was quite tense - oh yes, sometimes it really feels that way 😄 Finally, she stretched me in all directions, and I went to the relaxation area, where I wrapped myself in a cozy blanket and read a bit.

Later, I also tested the other hot springs and the steam salt sauna. I coincidentally entered the sauna just at the right time for the sauna yoga 😄 You can imagine it like this: a staff member shows 5-8 sweaty naked women which stretching exercises to do for their backs and necks. Of course, I didn't understand their explanations, but I diligently copied the stretches 😉