So one day I went for a walk...

As a quick update to yesterday's entey, I ended up deciding to take the train around to Atami rather than risk taking the intended route up into and back down our of the park. I woke up with my alarm at 6am to make the decision on if I was going to hike or take the bypass. While my leg was feeling passable, my digestive system was not.  So I slept for a few more hours before checking out and heading to the train, getting off a stop early. I wasn't content with taking a zero on the day, so I intentionally took a long and circuitous route before ultimately getting to my hotel, landing me with 15km on the of odometer for the day. This helped me avoid any sense of guilt. Along the way I visited a shrine, which was buzzing with activity, and got another stamp in my book. I also pressed my luck a little and explored up into the hills beyond the temple for a while.  I have gotten to the point now where I am very comfortable carrying my pack when fully loaded. But hitt...

Yesterday I set out from Shizuoka, leaving behind me the ongoing festivities of the Daidogei street performance world cup and headed towards Fuji. Originally I had intended to break the trip to Fuji into two shorter walks, as the route was 35km long in a best case scenario. I am deeply appreciative of how much physical progress I have made over these past two months of walking, but I know that 35km in a single day is beyond me, both physically and logistically (the sun sets so early in the day now). However my plan to divide the journey in two was thwarted by an inability to find a place to stay, or locate a reasonable looking site to camp.  Along the coast to Fuji the terrain is very hilly at the best of times, so what little ground that might be good for camping was long ago developed. With this in mind I found a hostel in Fuji that was available, booked myself in, and devised a new plan. The route to Fuji would first be through a very urban section, about 10km long, be...