I get the sense that some western pilgrims expect the Shikoku pilgrimage to be a sort of “Japanese Appalachian Trail.” Woods, wilderness, nature. It’s really not like that at all. The bulk of the path follows alongside roads, with only some sections of off-road hiking trails. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like a lot…

A big part of the draw for me with Shikoku was the accommodation. Besides the appeal of a warm bed every night, I had no desire to add a tent, backpack, and sleeping pad to my pack. So what were my accommodations like? I stayed in five different places: a guesthouse, a ryokan, a minshuku,…

After blogging daily about my pilgrimage, I failed to write anything about my last day on the trail, or any final thoughts. It’s been three months since I returned, and I feel obligated to do some kind of wrap-up. First, just a bit about the final day. I really can’t say enough good things about…

Absolutely perfect weather, easy hiking, and a spotlessly clean room awaiting me at the end of the journey … makes for a delightful day but a boring blog post. Really quite little to report from the trail, just a serene trek down the mountain. My day ended with a communal meal with other pilgrims; one…

Today I’m doing a circular route, returning to the same hotel for another night. Which has the awesome benefit that I can leave a bunch of my things in the room, so my pack is super light. I got a late start this morning, unfortunate because I had the longest and hilliest hike to date:…

Today was the day that I was most worried about. Off-road hiking for the first time and 800 meter ascent. The day started off with another lovely, thoughtful hand-drawn map from my favorite henro so far, Eiko. She laughed at my stupid attempts at humor, and was so patient with my pathetic Japanese skills. It…

Unlike every other pilgrim I meet, I’m bad at keeping track of my distances. In part because everything is tracked in kilometers, which I can’t “feel” in the same way as I can miles. And maybe also because tracking the distances requires adding up a lot of numbers on the map in my head, and…

Day Two started in Matsuyama with a tram ride and a train to take me to the start of my pilgrimage, a small village called Uchiko. I’ll walk back to Matsuyama, taking a more meandering route up through the mountains. The train (a single car, actually) filled up with about 75 middle school students on…

Phew boy! What a day. Hiked 30km, 90 heat, swarms of sand flies. hahahaha just kidding. I RODE A CHAIR LIFT. I toured a castle. I ate a delicious set lunch. This pilgrimage thing isn’t so hard after all!

This is crazy this is crazy this is crazy!!!

On my pilgrimage, I’ll need to hike anywhere from 7-12 miles a day, with an elevation gain of about 2500 feet. Yikes. Back when I had to had to do homework, there was two kinds of homework. There was homework with an endpoint: math problems,  chemistry worksheets. And then there was the endless kind: essay…

You guys! These maps! I’m totally not kidding with these maps. These maps are from David Moreton’s Shikoku Japan 88 Route Guide, the only English-language guidebook that I’m aware of. That is, if you consider these maps “English-language.” I ordered the guidebook a few months ago, and when it arrived, I confess that I was a bit … overwhelmed. And,…