Strangers on a Sushi Train: Climbing Mt. Yufu

So anyone climbed a mountain lately? We have! We did it, and partly Bear Grylls Style

A hike that was supposed to take two hours… turned into a five hour climb to the top, following no track, but instead two “knife bearing” Japanese men, in their seventies….

The story goes like this;

The other day we woke up early, walked down to the beach and caught glimpse of our first Sunrise in Beppu. It was a lovely start to the day, we later returned to our accommodation, Spa Khaosan Beppu, where we enjoyed a cooked breakfast, Shota left over pasta and noodles, me English muffin with cheese.

Next we took a short walk to the station and caught a bus that would take us to the base of Mt. Yufu, where we were to begin our hike. I had read in the information book back at the Hostel suggesting we take the “east course” as it was mostly flat. We met two friendly Japanese men at the base, one was sixty eight and the other seventy, and we decided to walk with them. The four of us set out at 9:00am, following the markers tied to the trees to guide us.

After 1.5hrs of walking we stopped for a quick drink break, it was here we realised we couldn’t see the next marker. The last marker was a few metres behind us… but as the men were “experienced walkers” we thought we’d just stick with them, hoping we’d eventually find the path again. Shota did ask me if I wanted to turn back, but at this stage it was easy hiking, although the top seemed miles away and I trusted the two men. I must also make mention here that the ground was covered heavily in fallen leaves, so it was impossible to see a path in the ground, hence why we had been relying on the markers in the trees.

As we hiked on Shota discovered that the men were both retired geologists, who in their spare time enjoyed hiking together. The sixty eight year old was actually a long time Boy Scouts member and lead his boy scouts in a 50km hike once a year… sometimes twice. So we were both feeling comfortable following the two men, even as the path we were taking was getting harder by the minute. The men decided we would continue up the mountain, in the hope that we would met up with the proper path, we continued to do so for another hour. By this stage I had completely cracked it at Shota, blaming him for the fact we were lost, I was scared, because we were lost and kept on breaking out into fits of tears… not a fun place at all. It was emotionally draining, as I am not an experienced climber/hiker, and every time I looked up, the top seemed to get further and further away. The trees were getting denser and the rocks we were balancing on were dangerous, and so scary when one comes loose and you watch it roll back down the mountain.

See we were getting higher, the view was great! It was just we had no idea exactly where we were going. The old men were fine though, laughing and joking with each other. They were continuously saying “It’s okay, I can see a path, someone has been here. This will lead us to the top.” When Shota translated what they were saying, he added that we were, in actual fact, following an animal tracks, either deer or wild pigs’. Funny enough, when we watched an episode of Man vs Wild back at the backpackers later that day, Bear mentioned that animal tracks are always worth following for a little while as they can often lead you to water and food. BUT don’t follow them for too long as they can also lead you off-course. Which was exactly what we did. And when they heard my cries of distress they apologised to Shota and said they’d look for an “easier” route and offered me their hiking sticks and gloves… yes those men were prepared. As there was no path the men had out their knives and were hacking at trees and branches to make one.

One of our guides... you can just make out his blue shirt.

At 12:00pm we stopped for lunch, yes we had been hiking for three hours.

We were quite high up and I had wanted to give up countless times. As I was at the tail end, it was horrible watching Shota and the men slipping and losing their footing on the muddy dirt and it scared me even more. At this stage I realised there was no easy way off that mountain and I had to toughen up and follow the men. So I stopped crying, ate a tuna filled rice triangle and continued on our voyage.

We were already as high as we could go, because above us was just a steep rock face that we were unable to climb. Instead of continuing up, we had to go across, this was more dangerous than going up, as we could see the steep decent and constantly were looking down (something that Bear Grylls tells you not to do). More rocks were falling and my pink canvas volleys were not up to the challenge…. Many times they became emerged in dark soft dirt and my heel would come out…. Not ideal when you were balancing on precariously placed moss covered rocks. My hands were also filthy, from climbing and my Ray Bans scratched, from the many branches that brushed my face.

Then out of nowhere (it seemed) the two men and Shota could see our path…. Well it was a darker track running down the mountain, with a rope across it. It was the happiest moment of my life! We only had to get to that rope, then we would be able to finish climbing the Mountain. Our spirits were lifted, I started smiling again and posed for the camera and we continued the dangerous trek to the rope.

My hads actually were black... sadly you can't see that from this picture. The volleys are though! Our new friends lent Shota a pair of gloves, but his arms are fully covered in scratches :(

Once at the rope it was a rock face, but with lots of crevices for your feet and hands, which actually ended up being quite fun to climb. It took us another hour, but we were following a path and there were many rope and chains placed securely into the rock face, to help you climb up.

How easy do I make this look? I'm like a natural "mountaineer" hahahahahaha........

The missing marker ;)

We were all very excited and kept on pausing for photos, the two old men included.

So high, yet not even at the top!!

Can you see one of our guides at the top :) Also this was rather hard, even with the chain, I had trouble finding a place for my feet... a good upper body workout!

Now how could one get lost with signs like these???

As we were getting closer to the top we came across trees covered in frost, they were beautiful.

Then after FIVE hours from the time we began, we made it to the top!

I was ecstatic! It was the longest and hardest adventure I have ever had, and I was so proud of myself to have made it. We met other climbers on the top of the mountain, serious ones dressed in thermal tights and brightly coloured jackets, Shota and the men shared the story of our adventure, they were impressed with our five hour trek and congratulated us on our victory. We all posed together for photos and I shared our Oreo cookies.

With our guides/new friends

Other climbers and Shota and I

The packet had expanded with altitude!

After the photos, it was time to begin the decent. Our new Intrepid friends had suggested we take the “west course” back down the mountain as it was easier…. And my goodness was it ever? It didn’t involve ropes and chains and followed an almost flat zigzag path. Our two Old men, were disappointed with the track, stating it was built for “children”! However I was thrilled with the track and quietly sucked on black sugar candy… to get my sugar levels back up of course.

We arrived back at the base of the Mountain at 3:30pm, 6.5hr return trip, Shota and I were exhausted. Our two new friends even offered to drive us back to Beppu, which we graciously accepted.

Mt. Yufu behind us