Day.111-112: The End

 Day 111: Minamiosumi to Cape Sata!!!

Hours walked: 6:30-5:00

Distance walked: 36 km

Cumulative: 2,495 km

Cape Sata at last! Today we made it to the southern tip of mainland Japan and, after setting out from Cape Soya so long ago, all seven of us reached our goal. 

The day itself was smooth and successful, if harder than expected in some ways. We started before dawn, and the road wound up and down through the hills lining Kagoshima Bay. Zadie and Tova speculated what the “final boss” of the hike might be, when suddenly a wild boar appeared on the road not far ahead! Zadie freaked out. But it just trotted into the undergrowth and disappeared. On a steep hill, Tamar yelped and snapped her arm: wasp sting! Sophia freaked out, having vivid memories of her allergic reaction a few weeks ago - but that was the only sting. Then we had to choose between a 3-km stretch of brutal tunnel or a closed, barred road; we opted for the latter and thankfully it was beautiful, deserted, and crossable. 

In the end, the hills were the final boss: it was a very steep day! Tamar gamely pushed the stroller up and down, again and again, with assists from Aurora and Sophia. Some very excited locals gave us Vitamin C sodas, mochi, tiny sweet mandarins, and matcha wafers in a beautiful gift bag - one woman jumped up and down, exclaiming as if we were winners on a game show. 

Our campsite was closed for “weeding” so we went to the far inferior Plan B campsite, set up a tent and dropped off some heavy backpacks before continuing. As we approached Cape Sata, Tova was so excited she kept bursting into a sprint to see if it was around the next corner. 

We finally reached the beautiful lookout, portaging the stroller and sleeping toddler through some difficult staircases, and there we were - the Cape! Everyone had some chocolate, admired the view, and generally basked. Even Levi woke up to share the occasion. We were all feeling great, though also aware we had an hour of so of tough walking back to camp, and a long day of hiking tomorrow to the ferry. “It felt like the end, but it also didn’t feel like the end,” as Sophia so aptly put it. 

That evening, Jakob discovered he’d accidentally bought dry udon noodles, not somen - but they were actually quite tasty. We turned in at 6:30, pooped from a whole lot of kilometers but also glowing with the knowledge that we really did it!

Trail Magic’s final trick

The best 5 daughters there ever were

We did it!

Day 112: Cape Sata to Minamiosumi

Hours walked: 6:30-1:50

Distance walked: 30 km

Cumulative: 2,525 km

We woke up at 5:30, an early start for our very last day! We packed up with chilly fingers as the sunrise gradually pinkened the horizon, and set out at 6:30 am with a final goal: to make it 30 km back up to Minamiosumi by 4:30 pm, the last ferry of the day across to Ibusuki. 

It was very windy, but not too cold, as we retraced our steps over all those hills, singing to a cranky baby and doing one last round of Morning Math. Zadie managed to defeat the Citadels of Chaos on her very last try, and Jakob passed round his traditional Secret Stash of treats (today: Almond Pocky). 

With the hills behind us, we made excellent time and decided to skip a beach break in favor of pushing onward and trying to make the earlier ferry at 2:30. With Tamar setting an impressive pace, and Jakob reading The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid out loud in the rear, we stormed ahead: 10 km left … 5 km left … 1 km left … done! 

We’d come 30 km in 7h10m, our fastest 30 km of the whole hike. Tamar procured ice cream, mochi, oranges, puffed rice sticks and “a weird fruit that we don’t know what it is yet” which we are now eating on the ferry. 

Our walk is finished. We could have given up lots of times, but we kept each other going and succeeded in crossing Japan with good cheer and good memories.

Walking back up: Cape Soya is mighty far away!

On the ferry across Kagoshima Bay, letting the ending sink in