My initial plan was to get both mountains done in one day. Temple 60, Yokomineji, and temple 66, Umpenji, are both at the top of very large mountains. The first temple for the day was Yokomineji back down the coast line. I took the train back to where I was yesterday and I was off to start.
YOKOMINEJI 横峰寺 60
I grabbed a bus from the Iyo-Saijo station to take me part of the way. Through the mountains it winded. The roads were nice and wide on this part and the travel was pretty nice. We ended up picking up another henro on the way. An old man with a light brown bowl type of hat. His staff was interesting because instead of having the sleeve, it had orange rope wrapped around the top. I thought it looked kind of neat and might be better for gripping. I am sure there are better ways to prepare the henro staff for use, but the initial one you get is a sleeve at the top with a piece of cardboard wrapped around in the inside to give some cushion. At one point I thought of getting some tennis grip or something and wrapping it at the top of my staff, but in the end I kept my staff the way it was. Soon the bus came to a stop at a cross roads and the bus driver informed us that this was the stop to get to the temple. We got off the bus and headed up a slope which had a building and some buses waiting. Initially I was going to climb the way, but it turned out the bus would take us all the way to the top and back down. From where I was there was really no path since I came up a different side of the mountain. The only path to the temple was the road. Might as well use the wheels of fate.
I am glad that I took those wheels. If I had not, I am pretty sure a car or bus would have slammed me right off the mountain or just flattened me. The roads winded and were one car narrow. I said this before, but the bus drivers in the mountains or seaside are incredible. I once saw a video of a bus driver going down a hill and he is flailing the steering wheel and back and forth full turn and some how just gliding down this steep mountain. It sort of felt like that. A couple of times we got stuck with cars or another bus trying to get down. If I ever re did the trip, I would probably do it on motorbike or something small. So that I could get through everything with out worrying about chipping half my car off trying to avoid sliding down a mountain. The parking lot was near the peak. A picturesque view and a little hut that served ice cream
View from the parking lot
From the parking lot you followed a hill down into the trees and then entered the temple by this large building.
The Temple itself was smaller then I thought it would be. So far the mountain temples had been pretty large. The driver said we had around 40 minutes to visit the temple. I wasn’t to worried about it, but the other henro that came with me was rushing a bit. As the temple wasn’t that large I prayed, got my book stamped and took a look around. I watched some families come and go, old folks pray and get their book signed. It was chilly, but the sun provided a nice heat for comfort. After just sitting for a moment I went back up to the parking lot where the shop was and took in the view. I looked at my time and realized that getting to temple 66 today was not a possibility, but I could visit 65 on my way back. I traveled back down the mountain and started to head towards temple 65, Sankakuji.
Temple bell
Main temple
Fall colors
The side of the mountain with the main temple
SANKAKUJI 三角寺 65
I took the train to the nearest station and started to walk south from there. The temple was in the mountains past a neighborhood and farms. The temple was deep in the forest. A parking lot sat low while steps lead to the top of a hill where the temple sat.
Back of the main gate
Colors starting to come out
The temple was two sided. Off to the right side was the main temple beyond a tree with a sweeping limb that was held by wooden crutches. The other side to the left was the daishido and temple office. The colors were starting to appear for fall and the sweeping tree had great color upon it.
Water basin
The main temple. The wood wok is amazing. (Need to take out the glare for this picture)
I walked back to the station which took a bit of time and the sun was heading towards the horizon. Tomorrow I would visit temple 66 on the other mountain. The day was a bit shorter than I wanted, but over all. It was nice.