And now, the big one.
Deep in the mountains of Yakushima is Jomon-sugi, the biggest tree on Yakushima. Its age is estimated to be between 2000 and 8000 years old. But it's deep in the mountains, which means hiking. Call us crazy, but like countless others, we made the decision to go for it: ten hours of hiking. The entire route is highlighted in red on the Yakushima map I linked to on the previous page.
On the final day of our trip, we had to get up at 4am to be ready to catch the bus around 5.40am, which would take us to the start of the trek. At 6.30am, we began walking but we knew we had to return before 5pm; after all, it wouldn't be good if we missed the only other bus of the day...
For the first two and a half hours, you follow a mountain railroad which leads through the forest and over streams and rivers. Take a look at the picture above, there's a nice drop beneath that bridge.