TNT Day 3 - a spot of fishing

8 Sept 

Map 1 + 2: (campground) Bakansumura Camping Ground -> bus to Aone -> Kannogawa Camping Ground/Ebira falls (campground)

So very very warm, some clouds in the afternoon

No sign of that forecasted rain, instead the sky was clear and sun scorching by 8am. I had a slow start to the morning trying to catch up on some sleep but was on my way be 9:30. My thermometer was already reading 28°c at 9am.

Having woken up to not feeling super crash hot - maybe dehydration, maybe getting sick, I have opted to have a zero day and try to get to Aone and hopefully stay somewhere with a shower/bath and somewhere I can wash/dry my gear (also realised that my boots were wet from the river crossing at the campground😞). I will then walk the northern route instead of tackling Mt Yake-yama, which based on the current weather and lack of trail legs may not go too well. 

Being a Sunday, there were only two buses to Aone, one at 7:19 and one at 15:45. 

This left me with many hours to kill, after walking the 1.5km into town and the convenience store  (becoming drenched in sweat yet again), I set up at Nishinonojichi Hall, which had a toilet, some shade, a vending machine and a green pheasant - what more does one need really?

I spent the day drinking my weight in water (might be an overshare but I peed like 6 times today - stark contrast to the previous two days), drying out my boots, socks, clothes and backpack, walking to Suwa shrine (which has a disabled toilet that could be slept in in a pinch), and people watching.

At 3pm, two tired and hot looking hikers with very large packs, came down from Yake-yama, consulted the bus board, exclaimed at the times and then I presume went off to the convenience store to cool down and wait.

The temperature kept climbing throughout the day and by 2, my thermometer was reading 32°c.

After catching the bus to Aone I started walking at 4pm, the first campground I came across was closed today and the gentleman shutting the place up for the night was telling me to go to the road station (I think) he was also asking how big my tent was, so I'm unsure if he had other ideas he couldn't communicate due to my lack of Japanese. This left me with nothing else to do but walk, so I did. 

It was a lovely 4.5km on a winding, flat road that hugged the Doshi river, there were a couple of potential places to camp if the need arose but I still had a bit of light left. I then came across another campground, said screw it, and walked in. Luckily they had over 100 available tent sites! And I could go trout fishing too!

There are four other groups here, we are all very spread out, so it feels like I've got my own private riverside retreat for the night. This campground must be very pretty in spring as they have planted cherry trees throughout the site.

They also appear to be lengthening the trout run, so I'm assuming business must be booming (maybe just not tonight tho).

 I have also hit gold facility wise, as they have a bath, showers, power outlets, laundry machines and a ?steak vending machine, hallelujah!

Having a warm shower, and then being able to put on my set of clean clothes (and clean socks!) was quite euphoric after 3 days of sweat, stink, and general dampness.

As I eat my dinner at 8 pm, it has cooled off considerably, and the humidity has dropped meaning I can comfortably sit around in long sleeves and pants. Fingers-crossed that this is a sign of cooler weather to come (it's not but one can dream).

I am hoping to do less campground nights as the trip goes on and I get a feel for good and acceptable places to free camp. But for now I am happy to pay for the safety and amenities that a campground brings.

6km today, so not exactly a zero, but my legs are definitely thanking me (still managed 24000 steps tho?!?). I skipped 2.4km of backtracking and ~9km of the northern route by taking the bus.

Tomorrow: It's 6.2km to Inugoeji pass and shelter hut and then 4km more to Nishitanzawa visitor centre - were I will need to ask about the state of the 12km south portion of the southern route as it was closed in March due to collapse.