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...