Day 35: Karakuwaosawa to Kesennuma
Hours walked: 7:45 to 3:00
Distance walked: 24 km
Cumulative: 738 km
This hike has been hard lately! Our day started smoothly, with an easy trip back to yesterday’s endpoint and sidewalks part of the day. We walked into Kesennuma via the not-so-charming industrial fishing area, which was a bit pungent and whose imposing seawall has windows set into it.
The town got a lot cuter, though, when we reached the waterfront. We enjoyed some boba tea and an excellent coffee. Then we walked along the docks checking out the longliner fishing boats, each with long rows of brightly colored rainbow fishing rods lined up. A tugboat was busily pulling one out to sea.
Jakob had found an indoor trampoline gym as a special treat for the girls, who were ecstatic; but within half an hour Tova came off, her face a mask of pain and disappointment. She’d strained her back, and that sucks. Jakob is borderline phobic about his kids getting bad backs, given his is quite the mess, and his stomach was tied up in knots of anxiety. We cut the jumping short and headed to the Route Inn.
There it turned out Jakob had managed to reserve us two lovely rooms in completely the wrong city - you win this round, Japanese website! But the staff were gracious and fixed the booking, leading to a more expensive but otherwise easy stay. Our vibes were a bit dark all evening, sad to say, though we had good pizza and tofu salad in the restaurant where our waiter was a neat robot on wheels.
 |
| Thumbs up from Levi, our littlest optimist |
 |
| We passed this random rock garden being tended with devotion |
 |
| This guy pulled over twice to give us candies! He brazenly parked on the highway too. |
Day 36: Kesennuma to Shiokaze Baseball Field
Hours walked: 7:30 to 3:30
Distance walked: 24 km
Cumulative: 762 km
Tova’s back was still achy this morning, but she didn’t want to take a rest day so we kept going. Her backpack got carried by the others, which especially put more stress on Tamar, who dealt with a cranky baby, pushing the stroller, and extra pack weight all day.
Fortunately our road continues to have sidewalks much more often, which made the going easier. Jakob stayed back with Tova and Zadie almost all day, doing math, telling stories and reading half of Danny, Champion of the World.
We got to the campsite at 3:30, and the attendant sucked in air through his teeth like our arrival caused him physical pain. He said, through a poor translator, that we needed to book more than 24 hours beforehand, otherwise they didn’t have staff to man the campsite. Regrettably, they could not accommodate us and all their rooms were full. We back-and-forthed for 20 minutes, gradually giving way and invoking our poor children, until finally his much more dynamic and capable coworker came with a big smile and thumbs-up: she’d sorted it! We paid them $40 and set up our tents on a nice empty patch of grass overlooking a baseball diamond.
It was nice to camp again after a long break. Levi in particular was thrilled to have a giant springy grass lawn to toddle around on, and made unbelievable progress in walking - from just a couple of steps she made it to 20 meters in a single afternoon! We were all jubilant and are proud of our little toddler.
 |
 |
| Another ruined building with a chilling waterline |
 |
| Bad weather’s coming…maybe a harbinger of Typhoon #10? |
Day 37: Shiokaze Baseball Field to Kitakamigawa Kasen
Hours walked: 7:30 to 3:30
Distance walked: 31 km
Cumulative: 793 km
Today was (hopefully) our last big day for awhile - campsites are few and far between, so we had to push 31km to a place where camping isn’t even technically allowed. We got up early, wiped down our wet tents as best we could, and set off with a short pit stop for breakfast at a convenience store.
We spent much of the day split up into two groups 5-10 mins apart; this has been happening a bit more lately, probably because more cheerleading and cajoling has been needed.
As Tova, Zadie and Jakob walked through Rikuzen-Yokoyama, we saw a large, grayish-brown animal lope across the road; too big to be a raccoon or skunk, but too ungainly to be a deer. A bear cub?! We beat a hasty retreat and huddled near a house 100 yards away. After a few minutes we scurried past, and no mama bears came to disembowel us. Maybe it was a raccoon dog.
Anyway, soon after we saw a pure white bird, maybe a stork, taking a stately walk down a narrow path between two immense rice fields. Quite lovely.
The day wore on smoothly enough. At a rest stop we got soft serve, and Levi toddled across some more grassy lawns all by herself. We accidentally bought alcohol wipes for the baby. Danny the Champion of the World was finished the day after it began.
Tova’s back is still hurting some, plus she has a case of Hiker’s Rash on both legs; it’s been a bit hard for her lately. Levi’s had an upset stomach, Aurora has a sore throat, and Zadie’s wasp stings are only now fading. It’s a good thing we have some lighter days coming up!
We walked over three bridges to a small island with our stealth camping spot. It’s nice and right next to some historical hydraulics, but also near a surprisingly busy road. Nobody’s bothered us though, and we have a bathroom and water tap. We made soba noodles with soy sauce, corn, carrot and sesame seeds for dinner; pretty gloopy but filling enough. The light faded at 6:30, and we all crawled into our tents for a mellow evening and an early bedtime.
 |
| Levi sets up the tents at our stealth campsite |
 |
| Rice fields are still our peaceful companions |
 |
| One lovely white bird |
No comments:
Post a Comment