Mount Maya (摩耶山), Japan

Mount Maya (摩耶山) has a cable car to take you up to the top if you want to enjoy the view without a hike. Since I wanted a half day hike I chose to take the cable car up and then hike down to Nunobiki Falls. 

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

 The views from the top are spectacular and there is an open park at the top with viewing decks.

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

The trail starts up the road towards where the road dead ends at a building (hydro?). From there the hike down is very nice and not extremely challenging.

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Along the trail some places have little detours that go up to rocky areas with a view. 

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

 The trail is very nice and well-maintained. There are maps every so often and it would be very difficult to get lost. This was very different from the trail up to Mount Rokko where all of the signs are in Japanese and there were no maps to show you where you are or where to go. The shade is also very lovely on a hot day.

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

Mount Maya (摩耶山)

 Nunobiki Dam (布引五本松ダム) contains a massive amount of water for Osaka city and is quite scenic in the mountains.

 Nunobiki Dam (布引五本松ダム) 

 Nunobiki Dam (布引五本松ダム) 

  Gohonmatsu Waterfall (五本松かくれ滝) is just below the dam. It is a small waterfall but is still nice. When I first saw it I was a bit confused because I didn't think I was at Nunobiki Falls yet. Turns out this was just an added bonus waterfall on my hike that I wasn't expecting.

Gohonmatsu Waterfall (五本松かくれ滝) 

Nunobiki Falls (布引渓流) is only a short distance further down the river. It is called the curtain waterfall and it really does look like hanging fabric. You can't swim at the waterfall but there is a viewing area to look at it and relax.

Nunobiki Falls (布引渓流)

Nunobiki Falls (布引渓流)

Nunobiki Falls (布引渓流)

Nunobiki Falls (布引渓流)

Kazurabashi of Iya

The Kazurabashi of Iya or the Vine Bridge in Iya Valley is a bit of an overstated tourist attraction. It is a small walking bridge that you pay to cross. They even built a pedestrian bridge on the side of the road so you can view the bridge.

Kazurabashi of Iya

Kazurabashi of Iya

The Japanese Wisteria (purple vine in the photos) smells extremely fragrant and although it is very common throughout Shikoku it set the scene very nicely by blooming right in front of the bridge. It smells amazing and pollinators love it so you can almost here their buzz over the crowds of tourits.

Kazurabashi of Iya

I didn't pay to cross the bridge because the view is nicer looking at it but it was incredibly busy and is quite impossible to get a photo without anyone on the bridge. There was usually a line-up to cross and the best was when there was a bit of a lull in customers and I had only a few people or people in dull colours crossing.

Kazurabashi of Iya from behind

The waterfall nearby the bridge is really really close and is just right on the side of the road. It is a small but nice waterfall flowing into a small pool and down into the main river. A lot of ferns, moss and marchanita growing on the rocks with bright green Japanes maples making a nice canopy made the spot look intensely green.

Marchantia

Waterfall near Kazurabashi of Iya

There was a Japanese Brown Frog by the waterfall  that was a lovely treat to see and photograph.  There are a lot of frogs in the genus Rana that look quite similar to this in Japan so I hope my ID is correct on this one. I have been using a Japanese field guide and google translate only works so well with it.

Japanese Brown Frog (Rana japonica)

Sentier National

After a relaxing morning a group a friends and I went for a walk along the Sentier National (national trail). With beers and lunches packed we biked the five minutes to the closest entrance of the trail which was beside Riviere de Trois- Pistoles and hiked up along the river.

Within a few minutes we were seeing picturesque scenery's with rapids and small waterfalls. We stopped to have lunch and a beer nearby a small waterfall.

Further up the trail we found the large waterfall that we were actually looking for. It looked beautiful but we had been cautioned to not swim there because 13 people have died in the past. We found a shallower calm area to swim in lower down the river.

In the hills a lot of collected water had formed vernal pools.... Yes my mind went to herps as soon as I saw these beauties. You just know somethings gotta be living around this area.

As I was drying off from the swim I was joined by a really pretty metallic wasp.

 

 

Sentier National is one of my favorite places in Trois-Pistole. I would go there every day if I could. 

Beach and Waterfalls

Again to celebrate Friday we went for a picnic on the beach nearby the waterfall. Again the tide was very low when we got there at 12 but this would be a great place to kiteboard. We watched as the tide came in VERY quickly and were pretty glad we hadn't tried to walk to the islands.

Students relaxing and checking out the tide pools

The tide pools had shrimp, fish and sea worms in them that would scatter away from you as you glared into the waters.

Tide pools

A friend and I stayed after the others had all left and a few more people met up with us later during the day. We swam and hung out by the falls until the black flies were unbearable to most.