TNT Day 29 - roadside religion

 18 oct

Map 20 & 21: (tent) リフレ芥見 sports complex ->Iwatanishi -> hagi falls -> Nagaragawa Fureai no Mori -> iwasaki -> ishitani -> Kamisaigo community centre (tent)

Overcast, showers in the afternoon

I left my grassy park at 7:20 and made my way down into the streets of Akutami and Iwatanishi, before crossing the nagara river and climbing up today's only peak.

Down the other side there was some nice forestry trial, it feels like it's been a while since I last walked through this type of vegetation.

The trail then lead me to hagi falls.

The trail from hagi falls leads up to a view point and then around Mt dodogarmine. There was a counter at the start of the trail. I was the 968th person to press the clicker.

Mt dodo is the tallest mountain in Gifu city, reaching a whopping 418m, and is a very popular walking area, lots of people were out and about walking and enjoying the mountain scenery. Mt dodo and the surrounding forest is part of Nagaragawa Fureai no Mori, a recreation area with many trails, picnic areas and viewpoints to explore.

Leaving Nagaragawa Fureai no Mori I made my way through the streets of iwasaki.

The valleys I walked through today were unlike anything I'd walked through so far, gone were the big mountains, forests and overgrown trails, instead it's wide open valleys filled with rice fields and persimmon orchards. It was a nice change from previous scenery - I feel like I'm getting to see the many sides of the Japanese country.

Along the trail today there were many little shrines with relatively fresh flowers, and better kept than the majority of little shrines I've seen so far.

And because it is spooky season, someone has decorated the trail to the view point from hagi falls. Very scary indeed.

The forecast for tonight was rain and then more rain tomorrow so I was hoping to find somewhere with some shelter for tonight's camp. I had originally planned to camp near a cemetery which didn't have any shelter - knowing this I did check out a couple of other places on my way through Tsubakibora and Ishigai, there was potential at Ishitani Castle Ruins but it would require me to sleep under the eves of shrine which wasn't ideal.

I reached the cemetery at 5:30, but was on my way into Norimatsu/Kamisaigo after 15mins of scouring google maps and street view for a better option. There appeared to be a community centre with a playground, toilet and most importantly a small undercover area about 1km off the trail. To reach it I also had to go past a convenience store, what a shame that I had to buy a nice hot pre-made dinner.

My googling paid off as the community centre did infact have a nice largish undercover area, a toilet, a drinking fountain, a power point and lights. Only downside was the house directly opposite and motion sensitive spotlight, but luckily my tent was small enough to squeeze behind the divider for the toilet so that I was out of sight.

23.3km, highest point: 366m, elevation: +895m -935m