We began the Kohechi trail at Koyasan, made our way over the Mizugamine Pass and onto Omata. It poured rain the whole day but luckily we were very prepared and honestly, mountains are always quite beautiful when they are foggy.
This was definitely the easiest day, theoretically. It was hard because we both had new backpacks, at least 15L larger than what we were used to carrying. Of course the weather made it a little challenging but it was very beautiful.
We were very lucky and didn’t run into too many wild animals but did find quite a number of skulls. March is still much too early for hibernating bears, right?
As with every hike in the world, the sun came out as we finished our 17km first day and we stayed at a charming lodging where we were promptly driven to soak in the onsen baths to regroup for the next day.
Tea, Sweets and Trails 