Day 15 of the Journey

Saturday, December 9
8 km (5 mi) walked/climbed, 179 km (111 mi) in total
173 km (55 mi) traveled, 974 km (605 mi) in total        

The optician I had visited the day before in Yamagata to fix my glasses had enthusiastically talked to my about his love for hiking and skiing, and after I told him about my mishaps, he indicated that the trail to Haguro mountain, my next stop in the journey, would be physically demanding. Well, great for my blisters, then.

They felt worse that morning. I had spent the night in a business hotel by Yamagata station, after returning from the Buddhist temple of Risshakuji. I took a bus from the station to Tsuruoka, and then another one to the bottom of the mountain.?

I was not ready for the immensity of the five-story pagoda at the foot of Haguro mountain.

Then the trail started. Basho had spent here three days undertaking shugendo training, involving strenuous spiritual practices and seclusion in nature. Haguro mountain was not too high, 414 m (1,358 ft), but 2,446 stone steps and a 1.7 km (1 mi) trail would make the way a lot harder than I had originally thought, specially with my blisters.?

Flights of stone steps became more and more vertical among the green lush.

On the top, the early winter sun was not enough to melt the snow.?

涼しさや Suzushisa ya

ほの三日月の Hono mikazuki no

羽黒山 Haguroyama

Feeling the cool air

Look at the dim crescent moon

Of Mount Haguro

There was a bus stop that would take me back to Tsuruoka, but when I arrived to the bus stop a driver on the parking lot said the bus had just left. It was midday, and the next one would leave at 2:30 pm. I got a cup of soup from the food stall next to the stop, and decided to wait.

Ten years ago, I had obtained a scholarship and completed my 11th grade in a tiny town of rural east Texas. I had a Russian host brother, from the town of Angarsk, close to Irkutsk and lake Baikal, in deep Siberia. We did not get along until the end of our stay. I learned to play durak (an amazing card game based on strategy), to be accepting of very different cultures, and to lose during our never ending fights (I’ve always been on the chubbier side). He managed to escape the war and now lives in Eastern Europe. I had visited him right before coming to Japan.?

On that note, The New York Times newsletter recommended a novel on the travels of George Kennan, an American explorer who first went to Siberia to survey a route for a proposed telegraph line between Russia and the US. Fascinated by travelers of remote areas, I bought an online version of the book and read it among warm, thick noodles.

I traveled from Ohio to Siberia, but I actually reached Sakata city, north of Yamagata prefecture. I ran to the port while the sun was setting to find the Mogami river, and rain started pouring by the fishing ships. Wet, tired, and in pain, ironically, I read the following haiku:

暑き日を Atsuki hi wo

海にいれたり Umi ni iretari

最上川 Mogamigawa

River Mogami

Let the summer evening sun

Enter the ocean

Do you have any thoughts or questions about my trip, or are you thinking of coming to Japan? I'd love to hear about it!

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