Day 4: Limping back to base

There aren't many times I get into the shower fully clothed.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

This morning I was on top of a mountain just outside Osaka, laying in tent, listening to the forest.  A hundreds of insects sprung to life at the first hint of dawn. What little sleep I had managed in the warm night was over and it was time to return to Osaka to regroup.

The humidity meant that none of my clothes had dried from the previous day's hike. Still soaked in sweat, and the unmistakable aroma of ammonia.

Funny thing when you drink 5 litres of water and hardly pee, your body has other ways of removing waste.

So I put back on my wet, stinky clothes, broke camp, ate a depressing meal, and headed back down the mountain.

The last 2.5km of the hike up the mountain to the top where I camped for the night was all stairs.  And I wish I was exaggerating.  It was brutal.

Going back down was a welcome change in that regard, but not much easier on tired legs. Any doubts I had about the value of carrying hiking poles had evaporated on the climb up.  But coming down they were worth their weight in gold.

Coming down those countless stairs set into the mountain, a careless misstep with my left foot cause me to catch myself with my right, and those poles.  Thankfully I didn't tumble down the hill and remained upright, but the damage was done.

About 3 weeks before leaving Canada for Japan, while hiking in preparation, I strained my right knee slightly. I opted to stop hiking and training for the last few weeks with a hope to giving it time to heal, but progress was slow and time was short. 

Now, I have re-aggravated that knee, and each time i step up or down, it is considerably painful.

So, I limped down the remaining stairs, and thanked the mercy of reaching pathways down for the rest of the walk back.

On roadways and other low slopes there is little pain, so I was able to make it back to my hotel again with minimal pain, save for the stairs throughout the metro stations). 

Greeted warmly by my host, he was happy to see me return. He checked me back in and kindly let me know that I could shower in first floor facilities, as the second floor were being cleaned.  This may have just been the usual information he gives to arriving guests, or it may have been the sort of thing he kindly says to guests that he could smell coming before they arrived!

And with that I walked into the shower fully clothed and washed away a stink to foul that you wouldn't have guessed a human was the cause.

Tonight I am going to rest, eat and sleep like a log.  But now I am faced with two important questions;

1. When will the weather break?
2. Will me knee heal again before then?

The latter has far broader ramifications on my time here.

But for now the ramen shop across the street is calling to me.  Those questions can wait until tomorrow.