Thrills and Relaxation in Kawara

What?
Kyushu Olle (九州オルレ) is an organization that has put together around 20 walking courses in Kyushu (九州), based on a similar initiative on the Korean island of Jeju. While there are various degrees of difficulty, all the courses focus on nature and rural landscapes, making for a relaxed atmosphere. The Chikuho-Kawara course (筑豊香春) connects the stations of Saidosho (採銅所駅) and Kawara (香春駅), meandering over hills, through forests and an area full of temples. The course passes near Mount Kawara (香春岳), a triple peak mountain full of rocks and boulders, topping 511 meters.
Where?
As the course connects two stations in Fukuoka Prefecture’s (福岡県) rural eastern part, the walking course is very easy to access from Kokura Station (小倉駅). Just take a local train on the JR Hitahiko Line (JR日田彦山線) and you get there. However, as it is a fairly local line, there are only one to two trains an hour.
URL
Kyushu Olle Visit Fukuoka

The idea of a goodbye hike is that it would be the last hike. At least for a while.
In that sense, my report of my climb towards the peak of Mount Ishizuchi was a unintended lie. I stated that it would be a goodbye hike, but here we were, managing to squeeze another hike into our schedules.
Well, “hike”…
As we’re both no heroes when it comes to snow, we opted for some easy and soothing walks in Kyushu. And if I say Kyushu, my avid followers say Olle. Kyushu Olle.

As stated many times before, I love the Kyushu Olle trails. They are walks that border on hikes, meandering through forests, farmer’s fields, traditional neighborhood back alleys and the highlights of that specific rural spot. Some of them are just nice, others have left a marvelous impression, all are worth the detour, I think.

But it is true that they can barely defined as “hikes” though. And that is why, for today, I decided to add a small peak to the course. Nothing fanciful. I thought.

The Chikuho-Kawara course starts at Saidosho Station, a rural, unmanned station that was built in 1915, it crosses the train tracks with a probably equally as old tunnel beckoning you. A short walk further the route leads through a forest, marking the real beginning of the course.
This forest trail leads you to the top of Yayama Hill, and this should have been the highest point of today’s trail, shouldn’t I have made the casual decision to add Mount Kawara to our itinerary.

As many times with a Kyushu Olle viewpoint, the Yayama Hill viewpoint isn’t breathtaking. It’s just a stop along the winding, picturesque road. As was the trail through the forest, through the paddies that were recovering from their hard work in 2023, through the area dotted with shrines and temples, and at the end of the course, through the slightly more urban area with a huge cement factory dominating the views. I would have enjoyed the Chikuho-Kawara course anyway, although it might not figure in my top 3 of the Olle trips.
In that sense, to spice the course up, it might not have been a bad decision to add Mount Kawara to the course. I’m not sure how my buddy felt though.

We didn't know it yet, but we would climb that mountain to the top.

A bamboo forest that should be as famous as the one in Arashiyama.

Imagine this without the trees; ridiculously steep.

The top was equally rocky.

I know he has some issues with exposed heights. He conquered the chains of Mount Ishizuchi, but it took all his courage and concentration. I assured him Mount Kawara would be nothing like that, if anything it would be a boring walk up a small mountain for the sole purpose of a sweeping view of the surroundings.

After a short walk on a paved road, a short walk on a surprisingly broad path in the forest, there was what would make all I said to my buddy a lie: a split.
Both ways would lead to the Sannodake peak of Mount Kawara.
One labeled as “family route”, the other as “rock climbing route”.
Now, of course you know the family route would deliver my promise to my fellow hiker. But the rock-climbing route just sounds so more enticing! And it’s just 511 meters. What could possibly go wrong??

Well, in the end nothing did.
But even for me it took some summoning of courage.
The rock-climbing course is exactly what it says. At no single point was there a trace of a path. The way was indicated by red arrows and pink ribbons, but it was up to ourselves to climb, dangle and stumble from one arrow to the next ribbon.
I personally love such monkey business, as long as the area is covered by trees and vegetation. At one point though, the rocks were bare and then it dawned on me how high and exposed we were. I was also quite surprised by the steepness of the mountain side. My heart skipped a beat and I shifted my balance a bit more towards the safety of the rocks. But as we needed to dangle from here to there, I realized how one silly misstep could lead to an in the best case nasty drop.
I focused on looking upwards and looking confident for my faltering companion, but I have to admit that in a split moment I feared about getting stuck here on the side of the mountain. Luckily, there was only one exposed area, and once under cover of the trees again, the scary heights disappeared until the summit. The trees opened up again for the top which was equally boulderous, but this time the area was flat enough to let us enjoy the surroundings. The weather didn’t really play along, but still we enjoyed the vistas.

Taking the same route down wasn’t an option, and after a brief search I found the access to the family route. After we had an onigiri to charge ourselves, we took this course back down, and the difference couldn’t be bigger with the way up. A gentle descent on a clear path through a beautiful forest.
It was the perfect way to slide back into the relaxed feeling of the Kyushu Olle walk.

In the end we were both happy to have added Mount Kawara to our itinerary, but the thrill of the way up the mountain and the relaxed nature of the Kyushu Olle courses don’t really match. If you are an adventurous spirit, by all means try the rock-climbing route (maybe bring a helmet). If not, taking the family route both up and down is a valid alternative, but the Kyushu Olle Chikuho-Kawara course can also be enjoyed in itself.