TNT Day 10 - Never alone. No no.

 15 Sept

Map 5 + 6: (tent) Saiko athletic field -> saiko wild bird forest park -> lake shoji -> lake motosu -> asagiri roadside station -> picnic shelter (tent)

Mid high 20s, overcast, very light showers. Today is the first day that I haven't been completed drenched in sweat! 

So I definitely regretted not setting up my tent in the gazebo last night as it rained, not heavily but pretty consistently for a couple of hours, last night. So I had a disturbed night and then a wet tent to deal with this morning. Luckily the sun was out enough between 6 and 7 that I could get it dry before pack up.

My camping companions were packed up and on their way by 6:30, which just left me to muddle my way through a morning 'routine'.

The bird park I wanted to go to this morning opened at 9 - well the building opened at 9 but the grounds, picnic areas and toilets never shut. So I meandered my way through some forest trails, but only managed to lay my binoculars on some varied tits and white wagtails.

I was back on the Tokai Nature trail by 9:45, walking through the spectacular Aokigahara Forest. Being from a warm dry (and not to mention non volcanic) climate this forest was completely different to any thing I'd seen before and I definately took too many photos of what could be the same bunch of trees today.

 By 11 the trail had led me to one end of lake shoji, where I grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch.

Then it was onto lake motosu, where all manner of watersports where happening under the imposing presence of Mt Fuji.

From here the nicely maintained forest paths turned into a very old vehicle track around the back of the Fuji motosu garden. This track then turned into some slightly down trodden grass. Track signage and any sign of the track itself was pretty much non existent, and there were multiple wrong turn and quite a bit of just walking and hoping that my GPS/maps would lead me in the right direction.

Eventually I hit the prefecture border, crossed into shizuoka (new trail signs) and was spat out on route 139. Online trail closure information said that the nebara suspension bridge trail was closed but there was no indication of this at the turn off. I decided not to chance it and headed down route 139 to the asagiri roadside station for an early (3:45) dinner of soba and a look around.

At 4:45 I headed towards the picnic shelter on the trail just 800m away. Due to last nights rain and the persistence clouds today, this shelter had been my goal for the day so that I could make camp undercover tonight (and maybe get some Fuji views if the cloud clears).

Unfortunately most of the shelter is taken up by a table just too small for my tent to fit on, so I've had to put it up at the edge just under the roofline but it should at least keep me a little drier. 

I had more unexpected camp company tonight, and even though this spot feels secluded the highway is just right there. As I was setting up I could hear voices and smell bbq - low and behold there are 4 different groups camped in the field (cattle normally if the smell is anything to go by) just over the hedge (I know they are there, but I don't think they know I am here).

~17km on trail, which brings me over the 100km mark

tiger keelback/ yamakagashi: 1