Restless 9 - A Brief Encounter with a Trail Runner in the Minami Alps
At the summit of Mt. Hijiri in the Minami Alps.
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I didn’t think I’d be able to get away into the mountains due to all the rain we’ve had in August, but after it finally ended I managed to do two 3000m summit hikes within a week - Mt. Shiomi (塩見岳) and Mt. Hijiri (聖岳) in the Minami Alps. I’ve fallen for the Minami Alps. As I wrote in the blog post for the Mt. Hijiri hike, some of the peaks are so remote in makes it hard to believe that cities such as Tokyo and Nagoya exist. It’s a cliché, but the silence (and wind) is deafening. The Minami Alps summits are so difficult to get to that they become the perfect antidote to modern life - you’re away from everything and with the only goal being putting one foot in front of the other, back to basics. Unlike the Chuo and Kita Alps there is no cable car access (as far as I know) so even getting to the trail heads becomes a trek in itself. All of which makes it less visited by hikers — a blessing when you consider the popularity of hiking in Japan.
One moment on the second hike stood out. After I’d completed the majority of the climb up Mt. Hijiri I heard the familiar sound of a bear bell in the distance — a hiker descending towards me, but at a faster pace than usual. I was intrigued. I’d past only a small number of hikers that morning and they were all men with huge, heavy backpacks walking at a slow pace. Nobody had passed me at all that day.
As the hiker came into view it became apparent that it was a young female trail runner, perhaps in her mid-twenties. We said hello, she passed by, and I carried on the climb. What struck me was how little gear she was carrying and how nimble and light-footed she seemed on the trail. Yes, she was probably 20-30kgs lighter simply because she was a healthy-looking adventurous Japanese woman, but why was I carrying all the gear I had when she had managed it with much less? I wasn’t the only one carrying what was obviously too much — the few other hikers I saw that day had even more than me. It was also obviously that she had run up the mountain - a 2000m elevation gain! - which I confirmed with two other hikers later. I think the official name for this is fastpacking.
As I’ve written before, and will no doubt write again, over the years I’ve become mildly obsessed with the possessions I own. I don’t want to own anything that causes stress and in most cases if I haven’t used something for six months it’s time to say goodbye. Those are rules I’ve tried to live by for a few years now and they help me stay on track and focused. That day I was carrying rain gear, camera gear, too much food, an emergency kit, a 2L hydration pack, trekking poles, and more in my 24L Mammut Duncan backpack, and I had even more in my 40L Atlas Athlete camera backpack on the Mt. Shiomi hike a few days earlier. All of those things could easily be considered essential and hiking without them might be foolish. But she hadn’t carried so much gear and easily seemed the most confident and assured hiker out on the mountain that day. I don’t have any desire to fastpack but I do want to make things as simple as possible, both at home and outdoors.
It was only a brief encounter, perhaps no more than 10 seconds, but in that moment I learnt more about how I want the future me to exist than I’ve learnt in years.
So thank you unknown trail runner for showing me what’s possible and how far I have to go, and thank you Minami Alps for the silence. I can’t wait to return as a lighter version of my current self.
Posts this month:
Lake Katsura and Wajima
Lake Katsura and Wajima - SeanBreslin.net
A short summer road and camping trip to Lake Katsura and Wajima in the Hokuriku region of central Japan. Beaches, markets, and rice terraces.
Hiking: Mt. Shiomi in the Minami Alps
Hiking: Mt. Shiomi in the Minami Alps - SeanBreslin.net
One of my goals this month was to do plenty of hiking, with Mt. Shiomi (塩見岳) in the Minami Alps being the main objective.
Hiking: Mt. Hijiri in the Minami Alps
Hiking: Mt. Hijiri in the Minami Alps - SeanBreslin.net
Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya—big cities all unimaginable while stood at the summit of Mt. Hijiri (聖岳・3013m). A hike on a remote Japanese mountain.
Books read
Cloudstreet- Tim Winton
Music
Unity - Gordon Koang
Haiku Hands - Haiku Hands
Mood Valiant - Hiatus Kaiyote