Wednesday- 9th of July 2025
Leaving the boat at 5:15am, I headed to Yawatahama station and promptly arrived in Iyo Saijo Station at 8:18am, with plenty of time until the 10:27am bus to Ishizuchi ropeway.
Whilst I used that time to grab a coffee and buy some fruit, I couldn’t foresee the next part.
The bus didn’t come. Ouch.
Instead, I waited around for over half an hour expecting the unlikely, but the bus still didn’t come.
Luckily (and expensively) it was a 35 minute drive, and a taxi driver agreed to take me there. This set me back about 40 pounds, significantly more than the bus, but this made me even more determined to complete the challenge.
However, this was not in reach. By the time the taxi had got me to the ropeway, it was still a walk away. And once I was there, I waited for the next ropeway which was 15 minutes still. Then a small trek to Joju shrine where the trail starts which took me to 12:40pm. It is a 3 hour hike up and 3 hours down and being tired and having many blisters, I doubted I could shave much time off of that. And then to buy a ticket for the trail and complete their entrance ceremony took me to 12:55pm. The last bus leaves at 17:20 and whilst a taxi back is not cheap it would be possible but the killer problem is that the ropeway closes at 6pm. It’s a 6 hour hike, plus 20 minutes each way to ropeway from the trailhead, and the ropeway itself.
I decided to go for a bit of a hike anyway, understanding that it was next to impossible to summit Ishizuchi, and whilst I enjoyed the scenery (pictured below), it was the bus that had let me down (I should have been climbing by 12 latest with the bus). I got about 2/3rds of the way up the trail (about half way time-wise as it gets harder towards the end) before it reached 2:30pm and I decided to head back down as the chain ways were difficult and time consuming. Even though I had not control over it, I was still disappointed.
Challenge failed.
Unfortunately, public transport isn’t always going to get you everywhere. One day I hope to come back to this challenge, more organised, fitter and with a little bit more luck.
I am still going to try to complete Mount Yonaha, which would end the challenge on a high at least.
Once the goal of the challenge was not achievable, it took the time pressure off of my back, allowing me to walk slower through the trail, enjoying the natural beauty of the forest, wildlife and plants. En route, I watched as pilgrims prayed, donated, performed rituals and blew the conch at a Torii gate as it is the time of year when many believers climb Ishizuchi at its opening ceremony (1st-10th July) As well as this, I got to practice my Japanese and talk to the various Shinto priests who were interested in my religion too. I could see into the buildings of Joju shrine (but I didn’t go inside for religious reasons) and took some time to explore the various parts of Joju shrine area. I also got to enjoy the onsen (pictured below) at the base of the ropeway before taking the bus back to Iyo Saijo station (which did come this time) and then headed on to my room by Kansai Airport, ready for tomorrows trip to Okinawa.
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