The last and most difficult day of the Kumano Kodo, about 15km overall. Breakfast at the accommodation at Koguchi was at 6:15, to give people an early start to do the long hike and arrive at Nachisan in time to see the sights like the Kumano Nachi Taisha, the Nachisen Seiganto-ji, and the Nachisan waterfall.
From Koguchi, the first 5 km was a fairly constant, steep ascent. The path was rough in some places and in others it consisted of stone steps. Fortunately the temperature was cooler, about 20 degrees C, and it was cloudy but not raining. Perfect for hiking.
The forest consisted of evenly spaced, same-sized trees typically of logging. I heard that after the war the whole area was heavily logged to provide lumber for rebuilding. Between the trees was young bamboo growing like shrubbery.
Along the trail, over the past couple of days, there were 'poem monuments'. Some were so old the writing had faded, and some seemed relatively new.
There were also little bohdisatva statues that people made offerings to.
A little past the highest point there was a great view of the ocean, and I was lucky that the cloud lifted a bit for me to get a picture.
The path was up and down for a few kilometers, then in the last few km it dropped steeply to Nachisan. We made it!
The Kumano Nachi Taisha and the Nachisan Seiganto-ji together form a huge complex. In fact until the Meiji era it was a center for the combined Shinto-Buddhist belief system.
There is also the Nachisan waterfall, the highest single-drop waterfall in Japan. It is actually also a shrine in itself.
I made my way to my accommodation in for a much-needed hot bath and dinner.
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