End of Obon break: Re-engerize through mountain running!

It is almost the end of the Obon break and work starts again on Monday and will be busy. I went for a trail run over Iimoriyama and Takasusan. I started out from Hashimoto station and ran in a big circle which also brought me back here again at the end. I first ran to Iimori shrine which is a beautiful shrine. The climb for Iimoriyama is steep but the views are good. I actually found the best views at nearby Hinatayama which I had never been to before. It is very easy to get to Hinatayama and well worth it. After that I ran to Koshidake and then round to Takasusan. I ran down to the river following a mountain stream and then hiked up to Kanodake. The route I used to climb up to Kanodake is very steep with Lots of steps! Kanodake has a large shrine on the top and there are a number of choices to hike down. I choose to hike down via Mt. Ura, it is a small peak with no view and was honestly not really worth it. The route was slippy with no ropes and lots of overgrown ferns to wade through. The worst bit was the spiders, lots of them everywhere and I must have walked into at least 30 large webs, it was like Mirkwood from the Hobbit!!! I came down and ran back to Hashimoto station. There are many convenience stores on the way so I stopped for some Skal (The best soda!) and was happy to arrive at Hashimoto station. It really makes you appreciate vending machines being everywhere with cold drinks to refresh you, there are so many more here in Japan than back home in the UK and they have a much better selection of drinks!