Kongo Falls - July 3, 2020

Today was a hiking day. We wanted to try something new and Kongo Falls sounded interesting. We hiked through Komine Park and up a lot of steps first.

Eventually we followed the trail out of Komine Park..... There were signs warning of pit vipers in the area, and later we learned bears also consider it home. Happily, we did not meet any of the local wildlife. For future hikes, I now have the cutest little bear bell attached to my hiking pack.

Most of the hike was in the woods, but we were treated to a nice view during occasional breaks in the trees.

Some of the trail was a bit "unique". For example, this ramp was placed at a very steep angle. It was interesting to navigate on the way down but much easier on the way back up.

This was our first peak at the first waterfall:

But it was a tease because then it went out of sight again.

Finally we got a close up look at the beauty.

A smaller waterfall located above and to the left fed into the waterfall.

At the right of the waterfall was a cave.

We had to stoop down to crawl through it but were rewarded with an impressive waterfall on the other side.

Looking around we could see a small statue hidden in the greenery.

...and looking back we could see the feeder waterfall from a better angle.

We retraced our path back. Once we got back to Komine Park we stopped to see Yasaka Shrine and enjoy the view before heading home.

I didn't think the hike was overly strenuous. It was a short 2.6 miles round trip with the usual never-ending steep steps the Japanese love. Apparently it was harder than it seemed though as both David and I's leg muscles were trembling by the time we reached the shrine. This is officially one of my favorite Japan hikes.