Wednesday 3 April 2019

Nijodake 二丈岳, Onnadake 女岳 and Ukidake 浮嶽 Itoshima long hike 2019.3.30

Nijodake 二丈岳, Onnadake 女岳 and Ukidake 浮嶽 Itoshima long hike 2019.3.30

I headed back to the Itoshima region now spring is in full swing. The start of this hike is the same as the previous trips to Nijodake and the sights remain just as wonderful as in the previous visits. For this hike however myself and a friend decided to extend it to make it into a much longer day hike. 

The route
JR Dainyu Station >> Nijodake >> Onnadake >> Ukidake >> Mamushi onsen >> JR Fukuyoshi station

For the first part of the hike you can follow my previous posts on Nijodake which can be found here 1 2


 


On the way up to the the Yuranaiko bridge which serves as the start point for the hike it was good to take in the scenery of the river and the many sakura (Cherry blossom) trees that line it's banks. 




The view from the top was as good as ever and gives a fantastic view of Itoshima and sea. After a quick lunch we decided to embark on the next leg of the hike. This involved hiking back down to nearest clearing and taking the track to the left. It is signposted as heading towards the campsite. 

Itoshimashi Shinrin Koen Managokinoka Land Camping Ground 糸島市森林公園真名子木の香ランドキャンプ場


The track seems to be made for forest management so it is wide and easy to walk. After a while we arrived at the campsite and greeting the youth group that were having an event there. From here we heading into the overgrown area directly opposite to make our way up to a small road. 


Upon reaching the road we turned right and walked down until we found this trail which points up towards the mountain ridge and towards Onnadake 女岳. The trail here is quite steep but the aim was to get to the mountain ridge where the hike was much easier. 


Onnadake 女岳 summit sign post

We actually mistook the route and followed a much more difficult and direct route up the mountain. We followed the pink tape which is a good guide of the route. However there had been a lot of tree felling in the area and it made following the route. Instead head left at the top past the sign shown above and get to the ridge. 


Another Onnadake summit sign

The map shows Onnadake and Ukidake. Ukidake is actually bigger than Onnadake though!

The sign seems to point where to go





After following the ridge we eventually headed down and out of the forest to a road. Ukidake could now be seen in the distance and was rather imposing. We walked up the road and turned left towards Ukidake and followed the road on the meet the ridge. 


The area is clearly a managed forest and source of wood. Large areas we found had been completely cleared of trees
Large rocks littered 
A number of red Torri (Shrine gates) lead to a shrine.



The climb is steep and there are even ropes to help you out. Eventually we came to this great little shrine. It even appears that the large rock above is balancing on the top! 

Shrine gate at the summit of Ukidake
View from the small shrine



The shrine at the summit of Ukidake. Very pleasant and even hasa stone turtle hidden underneath. 

The view isn't great as there are a lot of trees on the summit however it was good to finally get to our goal. 

Ukidake summit sign post 浮嶽
I wonder how old that hammer is?
The border of Saga prefecture and Fukuoka prefecture


We finally made it down the mountain and to the road. On one side a a golf course the other goes back down into Itoshima and across the road heads up to Tomboyama. You can view my previous hike and follow it in reverse if you want to go for the fourth and final mountain. We instead choose to head down to the Mamushi onsen and take a well deserved rest. 



The walk down from this point goes though yet more forest where we could see sapling trees and many signs warning about Inoshishi (Wild boar) in the area. There were even cages set up to catch them, or maybe over curious hikers...

Sapling trees
Wild boar trap
The farmand is wonderfully beautiful in it's own right! 



The final stop was the Mamushi onsen まむしの湯

We took a bath and relaxed in the lovely hot water. They had a new ginger scented bath which replaced the green tea bath from my previous visit. A great way to soothe those muscles and regenerate for the final walk back to the station. 

The walk to Fukuyoshi station 福吉駅 is straightforward and takes about 20 mins or so. 





The last view over the Itoshima farmland of the mountains we had conquered. Another great hike for spring!



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