Our journey around the mountains of Myokosan encountered ups and downs, much like the terrain we walked on. My last expedition with UWC made me push all my mental and physical boundaries, and it definitely was a tribute to an amazing program.
Skipping ahead to the first day of walking, our group took a bus, train and then a 30 minute walk up to to the Lizuna campsite. We had until 6pm to relax and purchase food and drinks before we were in “survival mode”, so we took full advantage of the warm onsen and Meiji milk vending machines before returning to our campsite to cook food in our thin aluminium tins precariously balanced on the small metal stoves.
The sun set at 5:30pm, so we were in our tents and fast asleep by 7pm, ready for the long day ahead. On the first day, we were trekking from Lizuna campsite to Togakushi Eastern, and our path required us to climb up and down three mountains (the third was quite small, but equally tiring). Our team of five was called ‘Thousand Miles’ as a tribute to a song, and the fact that we had to walk a path that somewhat felt like it was 1000 miles.
The first day was quite tiring, but we worked as a team and managed to make it over the mountains. However, as the sun started to set, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a desolate ski resort parking lot. It was getting dark and cold and we were lost, frantically calling the teachers, who managed to send a pickup truck to find any students with giant backpacks. By 6pm, we were rescued and brought to the campsite. Initially, it felt a bit demotivating to mess up our navigation on the first day, however, we committed to walking at a faster pace and trying to make it to the campsite on time over the next few days.
The second day of trekking was the hardest for me. I woke up at 1am, and it had started to drizzle, but I drifted back to sleep, only to wake up 4 hours later lying on the freezing cold floor as our tent started to let water in. We packed up our tents in the pouring rain and ate our granola bars as we set off to the next campsite, Sasagamine. Every step as we walked on the road was painful. It was bitterly cold and the rain had started to seep through my waterproof pants. As we approached the base of the hill we were going to climb, I was ready to turn back. I felt cold, my legs and shoulders were cramping up due to my extremely heavy bag, and I was still slightly hungry. However, as I walked, I knew that if I had come this far, I could finish the expedition. I kept one slogan in my mind throughout the walk that day: “one step at a time”. We pushed on ahead and only stopped for a quick water break.
After a few hours, the rain had reduced to a drizzle, and we finally took off our raincoats. As we were walking, we came across a large stream. We immediately messaged our teacher asking if we should risk crossing it as every minute more water was filling up. She instructed us to walk back to the original campsite where we would be picked up, so we ended up walking 2/3rds of our daily requirement in the cold rain. Even though we didn’t finish the day’s climb, I still found this day the hardest, and pushed myself the most. We were all cold and miserable as we trudged back to the campsite, but were thrilled to be picked up by our teachers.
Having spent the night at the Sasagamine campsite, we had the luxury of sleeping in until 6am, as we didn’t need to pack up our tents. Today was the day we were to climb up Mt. Hiuchi. The initial plan was to spend the night on the mountain, however, due to the heavy rains, the campsite was flooded. We trekked up with a small day bag with food for a picnic at the hut. This trek was easier as we didn’t have the heavy loads on our backs, and my tentmate and I came up with a smart solution to walk more efficiently. I noticed that I was slower climbing up, and she was slow at coming down the mountain, so she took the back on the way up. We walked with one of the teachers, and she encouraged us to walk without stopping. Initially this was really painful – as we were walking, my legs were begging for a two-minute break. However, when we finally reached the hut after almost slipping numerous times in the slippery mud and moss-covered rocks, it was an amazing relief. We sat in the warm sun, and ate a delicious lunch, before heading down to the campsite. We had a brisk walk down the mountain as the sun was setting and we didn’t want to walk on an uneven surface in the darkness. This day wasn’t as challenging as the previous two days; however, I learnt that even when your legs are throbbing in pain, you should just push on until you reach your destination.
On the final day, we had to walk from Sasagamine campsite back to the Wakatsuki Hotel. We packed our tents up for the last time, stuffed our bags and started our walk at 7am. We walked along the road towards the last mountain, and the view was breathtaking. All I could see were the large mountains towering around us, lined with yellow and orange trees. The sun was peeking out from behind the mountains as we admired the view and looked back at the mountains we climbed.
Even though we were walking on the road the majority of the time, the uneven surface was painful and nearly blistered our feet. However, as a large group of 11, we played our favourite music and ran down the empty mountain roads as fast as we could, reaching 3 hours before our estimated time.
The trip to Japan was extremely memorable, from the spectacular views to forging strong friendships. It was extremely refreshing to be out in the wilderness, breathing in the pristine Japanese air and admiring the sensational autumn colours. Over the four days of trekking, – from freezing cold nights, long days of walking hundreds of meters up in elevation until our feet couldn’t take it –I pushed myself physically and mentally, and my greatest realisation was that as long as I believed in myself, I could achieve any goal, one step at a time.
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