Introductory Paragraph.

👟 Weekly Summary

Monday - Day 44 - Fujimi to Matsumoto (51.97 km)

It had been a cold night, waking me up a couple of times, which, after a late night, meant starting the day already shattered. It chose to rain shortly before we got up, and continued until about half an hour after we had packed away and set off. Neither Joy nor I had fun packing up in the rain.

We made our way out of camp past a sports ground filled with children having fun as they warmed up to play football. They didn't care about the weather, but also they hadn't just slept in it.

The rain eased off, and we were treated to some beautiful scenery that was not unlike Scotland. As the day progressed, it turned into a lovely day, but whenever we stepped out of the sun, it was cold. While I was able to warm up by running, Joy had sustained periods of downhill, and without pedalling, she felt the cold more than I did.

We passed Lake Suwa before a steep climb with 200 metres of ascent over 1.5 kilometres. It was my turn to push the bike, and I had to stop for a breather a couple of times. Once at the top, we were rewarded with a wonderful view of the lake, along with Mt Fuji in the distance. This view was captured by Hokusai in A View of Mount Fuji Across Lake Suwa.

We stopped to admire the view before heading down the old Nakasendo road to Matsumoto. The Nakasendo was another of the 5 major routes in Edo-period Japan, and we will be following much of it on our way to Kyoto over the coming days.

We had a smooth descent into Matsumoto, but as evening set in, the temperatures plummeted. Joy was particularly glad we chose a hotel and a rest day, as it will drop to 1ºC tonight.

Tuesday - Day 45 - Matsumoto rest day

We had a relaxed morning before setting out to complete our goals for the day: get food and see the castle. We stopped by a soba place for noodles for lunch, one of those typically local-feeling ones where you pay for your order using a vending machine. We were still hungry after that, so we went to a Mos Burger to add some extra calories.

Matsumoto Castle was fantastic. It was one of those perfect days to visit, snow had settled on the northern Japanese Alps beyond the castle, while the autumn colours had set in on the trees surrounding it. A week earlier and we'd have missed the snow, a week later and the autumn colours will have gone. We’ve been so lucky so often on this trip.

Wednesday - Day 46 - Matsumoto to Harano (50.26 km)

Another late start from a hotel, 10 am. The first part was smooth, if somewhat boring, as we made our way out of town and towards the Kiso valley. It took a while for my body to warm up today, with various little aches and pains, and just not having any speed in my legs at the moment. That's our biggest issue at the moment, I'm just too slow.

The day was a gradual uphill, and soon the town was replaced by mountains on either side, covered in forests that were preparing for winter. There were still plenty of greens to be seen, but also plenty of yellows, oranges and reds as we made our way along the old Nakasendo paths. For much of the day, we managed to stay on quiet roads through historic hamlets and villages that lined the old route between Kyoto and Tokyo.

As evening fell, we found ourselves climbing back up to 950 m for what should be our last high camp of the trip. This was perhaps one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far, but we've had so many, I couldn't say for sure.

Thursday - Day 47 - Harano to Magome (64.16 km)

We woke up early, ready to set off on a cold, misty morning around 7.30 am. I'd been awake on and off for the last few hours, and below 5 °C is a little too cool for my sleeping bag. Today, we continued along the Nakasendo Way, mostly downhill, with a long mountain pass at the end.

We made our way downhill, past farmhouses and shrines, to the halfway mark of the Nakasendo trail. There wasn't much there, just a stone marker and a sign. We'd continue for much of the day through slightly more villages and larger roads than yesterday, making it clear we are beginning to enter civilisation once more.

The views were stunning, and perhaps, overall, once again, this was the most beautiful day so far. We had blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Everywhere we looked, there was something to see: rivers, forests, traditional houses, and we even made time to step into the grounds of a Buddhist temple to see the autumn colours around the gardens.

It was after three when we started to make our way up the final climb, and with 450 metres to climb, further to drop, and at least 15 kilometres until camp, I was starting to worry we'd be out well into the dark.

It was dark as we began the descent. We weren't going terribly fast, but making good progress right up until we heard a noise. There was an animal rustling in the fields near us. We couldn't see it, but Joy panicked. She fixated on trying to see what it was, worried it was a bear, and didn't look where she was going. She drifted off the road, sending her bike into a little gulley and cartwheeled over, with the bike on top of her.

I watched it unfold in almost slow motion, but I was unable to do anything about it. I checked she was okay, lifted the bike up and began scanning around to see if the noise was actually a bear. Whatever the animal was, it moved away, leaving us to sort Joy and the bike out. Miraculously, she escaped relatively unscathed. She has a few minor cuts, the worst being on her fingers, and will almost certainly have some bruises tomorrow, but overall, she was physically fine.

We tiptoed down the rest of the way to our little wild-camp spot. Stopping by a vending machine, where I got us both some hot tea. Joy recovered through the evening, but has set herself up for a rough night, as I am sure she'll wake up when she knocks a couple of her bumps.

Friday - Day 48 - Magome to Tajimi (59.85 km)

We set off on a cold morning downhill, heading towards Nakatsugawa. It was more downhill, surrounded by autumn colours, and we were enjoying our start to the morning. I felt tired and lacked the energy to push, but other than that, we were doing fine.

We headed past a bright red bridge that crossed the valley and marked the end of the mountains. Within a couple of hundred metres, we went from being out in the wilds to being in a town with small hills around the outskirts. The change was surprising and not something we were quite ready for. It was sad to see the mountains go, even if we are ready for some flatter ground. The abruptness of the change made it feel like we didn't have a chance to say goodbye to those mountains before we left.

The morning saw us always heading up or down, along the small roads of the Nakasendo trail. We crossed paths with some Australians who were interested in hearing about what we were doing. They had been walking some of the Kumano Kodo and were now embarking on a hike through the Nakasendo. It felt like it had been so long since we've stumbled across other people off on adventures.

We continued up and down, past viewpoints and trail markers, then onto main roads as we headed to Tajimi. I found a little pace towards the end of the day. I was never flying along, and it always felt like hard work, but it kept us getting there.

The day ended on busy roads as evening set in. We stopped at a Lawson at 6.30 for our evening meal of yet another convenience store dinner. It'll be an early start tomorrow for another long run.

Saturday - Day 49 - Tajimi to Tarui (61.88 km)

I woke up cold a few times in the night. A tired start followed, downhill to the nearest convenience store for a hot tea. When factoring in stopping for breakfast and snacks, and the first part of the morning being uphill, we actually made good time. There was perhaps the added pressure of knowing it was going to be a long day, which prevented me from coasting.

We visited a nice shrine hidden away in the countryside up the hill. Then came across a big Buddha before lunch. It wasn't as big as the one we saw at Tsukuba, but it claims that at one point it was the biggest in Japan. We got a good photo of the Buddha with train-signal lights for sunglasses. We hadn't planned to visit the big Buddha at Hotei; we didn't even know it existed. We were just running along and suddenly we saw a big Buddha head, and then the body, and it was close enough that it would have been rude not to stop.

We passed fields and ran along a river before entering towns with narrow streets that seemed to go on forever. We kept going, and I kept concentrating on just putting one foot in front of another, all the way until the sun set and we approached our hotel in the dark.

Our hotel is a strange box. It resembles a shipping container on wheels. It had everything that we needed, and was actually rather warm and soundproof. The only problem was that I was too tired to enjoy it.

Tonight, my body is broken, but my mind is broken too. I am tapped out for the night, totally useless. I’m falling apart. My right shoulder hurts so much that I can hardly use my right hand. My legs are so sore I can't sit down or get up without using my arms. My brain is so tired, I'm reliant on Joy for everything. I am every bit as pathetic as that sounds. I'm hoping a good sleep will get me through the next couple of days - still 100 km to Kyoto.

Sunday - Day 50 - Tarui to Lake Biwa (46.23 km)

We left our little box at 9am. I was still tired, my shoulder still hurt, but I was in a much better position than if we had camped. The aim had been a long 60 km day, followed by a shorter day into Kyoto. With my body broken and the rain pouring down, we decided the smarter move was to do the shorter day today, in the hope that we'll recover to have another push on Monday.

The day started cold and wet uphill. The rain never got too bad, but I struggled whenever we stopped. My body temperature dropped, and my legs seized up, making it hard to get started and get warm again.

We made it over the hills and towards Hikone, where, for a brief moment, we got a view of the castle before the rains and clouds covered it again. From there, we ran along the lake to our campsite. It's a free campsite overlooking the lake, but with the weather we have, there's not much to overlook. Still, it was the first time we'd managed to set up the tent before dark in quite a while.

☀️ Photo from the Road

📺 In Case You Missed It…

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🚀 Next Up

A change of pace next week as we make our way through Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Himeji. More cities and sightseeing, and a little less running.

🏁 Finish Line

That’s all for another week. I’m exhausted, Joy and I both have some aches and pains, but otherwise we’re all okay.

Thank you for reading and for all your support.

Take it easy,

Phill