by Hitoshi Bandome
Date: April 27, 2019 (Saturday)
Location: Mt. Hiei in Kyoto
Weather: Partly cloudy, windy and chilly.
Participants: Estella, Branko, Joerg, Sachiko, Kumiko, Jeongmi & Tosh.
Trip Report:
Notwithstanding the JR delay, participants were able to meet at JR Hieizan Sakamoto station right around 9:30a.m. (Good job!!)
The weather was not too bad except for the wind chill which was quite unusual at this time of the year. (We even observed some snow flurries while we were having lunch at the garden.)
We began our hike from JR Hieizan Sakamoto station overlooking the western shoreline of Lake Biwa. Passing through the renowned Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine, we reached the entrance of Mt. Hiei “Omote Sandou” hiking trail. It’s was a relatively short and easy hike through dense forest of cedar, and we reached Enryakuji Temple shortly before noon but had to walk another half an hour to reach our destination. We had lunch at “Azalea Garden” as originally planned. Unfortunately, not all azaleas were in full blossom, but we enjoyed our lunch overlooking azaleas in different shades of pink. After lunch, some of us took Eizan Cable Car for our descent to Yase, while Estella and Sachiko opted to walk down the trail. I’m hoping they got home safe and sound.
Thanks Tosh …. we did! The hike down was along a really pleasant and well-signed trail and included areas of fallen trees: a result of the 2018 typhoons! It took only one hour of leisurely hiking to reach a road and from there we just kept walking straight ahead until we reached Shugakuin station on the Eizan Main Line, which took us to Demachiyanagi station.
Total hiking distance was about 16 km. A lovely day!
Hitoshi Bandome
