Ibukiyama 伊吹山 1

I had planed to walk around Omihachiman YH before leaving. But I talked a lot to a woman who shared a room with me, the time flew, I had to jump on a bus without walking around there. I took a train at Omihachiman JR station, then I changed trains at Maibara, I got off at Ominagaoka. A small bus was waiting for passengers in front of the station, I got in it. There were 4 hikers and 3 local people in the bus. It took 12 minutes to get Ibukitozanguchi where I got off. There was Sannomiya shrine near the bus stop, approximately 100 elementary school students were listening to their teachers talking there. It seemed they would climb up Ibukiyama.
I passed the shrine, headed to the station of ropeway. When I got there, the ropeway was waiting for me quietly. I said “Good morning” to the staff, he said “Good morning. Get in the first gondola. I’ll start it.” It was six-passenger gondola. It started to move up. I could see houses, rice fields, hills, mountains, and so on. It moved up to the third stage of Ibukiyama (720m above sea level).

朝、近江八幡YHの周辺をお散歩してから出発しようと思っていたが、同室者との話がはずんでバスの時間きりきりに出発。近江八幡駅からJRに乗り、米原で乗り換えて、近江長岡へ。駅前では約20人乗りの小さなバスが待っていた。ハイカーが４人と地元の人が３人。伊吹登山口で下りる。バス停の近くに三の宮神社があり、小学生100人くらいが座って先生の話を聞いていた。これから登山なのね。三の宮神社を過ぎ、ゴンドラ乗り場へ歩く。
ゴンドラは止まっていた。お客さんが来ると、動かすらしい。ゴンドラからは景色が良く、田植えが終わった田んぼがたくさん。ぐんぐん登っていっきに３合目（標高720m）へ。


There were a restaurant, a shop and a bath in a hotel that was next to the station of ropeway. The staff of the hotel said “There are usually clouds on the mountain. Today is perfect!”
There were lots of wild flowers.

３合目にはホテルやレストランがあり、薬草の湯なるお風呂もあるらしい。「こんなに天気が良いのはめずらしいですよ」と言われ、なんだか得をした気分。頂上まですっきりと見渡せる。
３合目ではいろいろな花が咲いていて、写真を撮りながらゆっくり歩く。ほんと、ここは季節ごとにたくさん花の咲く草原だなと実感。




This is odorikoso (dancing girl grass). I could see them in many places.
今回のお気に入り、オドリコソウ。あちこちで見られた。


There was a vending machine at the fifth stage (880m). Some hikers took a rest under the shade of the hut. It was the last shade on the trail.

５合目（標高880m）には自動販売機があり、ハイカーが休憩していた。建物の日陰で休憩している人も。このハイキングコースには日陰がほとんどないので、貴重な日陰。


While I was walking, I heard the songs of birds, such as kakko (Japanese cuckoo), hototogisu (little cuckoo), uguisu (Japanese bush warbler), kiji (pheasant) and so on.
I named a tree “kakkos’ tree”. Three kakkos flew from the tree, flew over the sky, and flew back to the tree. They sometimes laughed like kookaburra in Australia.

歩いていると、カッコウやホトトギスの声がよく聞こえる。時々うぐいすが鳴き、たまにケーンとキジの声。草原に立つ一本の木をカッコウの木と勝手に名付けた。３羽のカッコウがそこから飛び立ち、また戻ってくる。時々、オーストラリアに住む笑いカワセミのように笑う。



The cute flowers encouraged me while I was climbing up.
もう少しで山頂。かわいい花達が励ましてくれる。