Day 53-55: Lake Hinuma to Abiko Fureai Campground

Day 53: Lake Hinuma to Ishioka

Hours walked: 6:30-3:00

Distance walked: 25 km

Cumulative: 1,136 km

The morning started out very misty, you couldn’t tell where the lake met the sky. We got an early start, munching on tasteless granola and delicious nashi pears as we tried to beat the heat. But it was 30’ by 8:30AM and we had such a hot day. 

Much of the walking was on quieter country roads today. We saw fish jumping in the lake (Zadie saw one skipping a long way along the surface), a family of swans preening, and several stone shrines and cemeteries. The landscape stayed flat and agricultural, with a few cattle farms among rice fields. 

As we approached Ishioka, there were a few flushed cheeks and headaches. Fortunately, there wasn’t far to go. We dumped water bottles over our heads, guzzled sports drinks, and managed the last few kilometers to a Starbucks with blessed air conditioning.  We decided to splurge on a Route Inn for an evening of cool air, onsen and soft beds.

Bamboo gives a brief relief from the sun

Tova will be 100% golden by the end of the hike

Levi’s spirits were the highest by a wide margin at this point 

Kimono baby!

Day 54: Ishioka to Ami

Hours walked: 8:00-3:00

Distance walked: 21 km

Cumulative: 1,157 km

(Co-written with Tova.) We had a yummy Route Inn breakfast. I had a bowl of rice that came out of a machine very aggressively, a half bread roll with butter and jam, a mini-croissant, a stack of corn, and two cups of milk. I managed to chew a corn kernel 43 times, though by the end I’m not sure if I was chewing anything. I’ll try again tomorrow morning.

It was so unbearably hot. We stopped at three convenience stores in the first three hours. We got ice cream, frozen drinks, cold milk and yogurt drinks, and cooling packs to put on your forehead, but these ones weren’t as cold. 

Someone said something to Tamar that she didn’t understand then drove away. We found a beautiful knife in the grass. But Tamar said it would “cut everything in the stroller”, so we had to leave it behind. Papa taught Tova how to spell some new words like conscience. This is Tova spelling it: conscience. We passed a nashi pear orchard and got really good, juicy pears. We didn’t have much water so Tamar rinsed one by wiping it on her sweaty face, which grossed out Tova so much she wouldn’t have any. 

We got lunch at a convenience store and ate it in the parking lot. Tova ate a non-husked grain of rice that was freshly picked off the plant. She named all her toes: Bindi, Shabbir, Stale and Spark, Santiago, Medley, Husky, Hentely, Copper and the last one we can’t remember so it’s nameless again. We made up a connections game, there’s a photo below if you want to try to solve it.

We got to the Comfort Inn, which is nice, but the only non-Comfort inn is that Tova stubbed her toe on the door (barely, she just brushed it, but still, that’s not called Comfort). We bought dinner at the grocery store: bread with avocado and cheese, more nashi pears (7 giants for $10!), rice and sashimi, and little brownies for dessert. Everyone ended up wired and playing games like Start the Rumour or Climb the Ladder. 

Noshing on nashi 

As beautiful as it is exposed 

Tova’s closeup

Happily carried

One of our Connections (forgot to add it, sorry!)

Day 55: Ami to Abiko Fureai Campground

Hours walked: 7:45-4:30

Distance walked: 31 km

Cumulative: 1,188 km

We’re all dying of heat and can barely stay upright! Our tents act as greenhouses in the nighttime and nothing grows! Well, it’s the nighttime! There shouldn’t be any greenhouse effect because there’s no sun! We got drink at Starbuck! These are some of the sentences Aurora, Tamar and Tova contribute to the blog today. 

It really was so hot today. We walked from convenience store to convenience store, Levi got flushed at one point so Tamar sat by the side of the road and breastfed her while she cuddled with a bottle of ice water. Jakob got cold drinks from Starbucks, then had to power-hike up the road for ten minutes, catching up and sweating as the drinks gently melted. 

Apart from the heat the day passed smoothly. Sophia and Jakob made a Connections game for the others. We saw a really low-flying biplane. Tova and Jakob finished the Hobbit and started A Wrinkle in Time. We ate a bunch more nashi pears. We read essays from the American Discovery Trail and imagined what it would be like to write a book about this trip: “Walking Without Tantrums “, maybe. 

Our campsite appeared right before dinnertime. It was a cute spot near the river with two other campers. Mosquitoes attacked as we wolfed down pasta, and we bailed to our tents by 6:30. Unfortunately it was still 27 degrees after sunset and our tents were hotter than they’ve ever been. Tamar, Jakob and Aurora sweltered until almost midnight while the others somehow slept. 

Misty levee

That’s a hot baby

Quiet country roads in the sun