Wonderful bike & train tour in Fukushima 福島大好きおじさんの自転車・鉄道旅日記

Today, I visited Goreibitsu Pass (876m) and nearby Mount Taisho-hatayama (1056m) in the western part of Koriyama. It’s already the end of spring and I enjoyed some of the late spring mountain flowers. Goreibitsu Pass was 25km apart from the central part of Koriyama and I went there pedaling my bike. Mount Taisho-hatayama was about 1.5hr hike from there. Photo above shows Goreibitsu Pass trail toward the mountain where wild azalea flowers were in their last bloom.
本日は、郡山の西部にある、御霊櫃（ごれいびつ）峠（８７６ｍ）と近くの大将旗山（たいしょうはたやま、１０５６ｍ）に行きました。春も終わりになり、晩春の山の花を見ました。御霊櫃峠は、郡山の中心から２５ｋｍあり、チャリで行きました。大将旗山は、そこから１時間半ほどのハイキングです。写真は、御霊櫃峠の登山口の様子で、山ツツジがまだ少し残っています。

Some of the flowers I met today are shown below.
今日見た花を、以下紹介します。


On the way to Goreibitsu Pass, I found some wild iris flowers on the roadside as shown above.
御霊櫃峠に行く途中の林道わきに、アヤメが自生していました。

There was a wild flower garden along the trail path just before reaching Mount Taisho-hatayama. Some flowers I found there are shown below.
大将旗山の少し前の登山道沿いにお花畑が広がり、そこで見た花を以下紹介します。


Tiny flowers of gentian family called Harurindo or Gentiana thunbergii which bloom in spring are shown above.
ハルリンドウが咲いていました。


The area was a habitat of Azumagiku or Erigeron thnbergii which was a kind of wild chrysanthemum as shown above.
アズマギクの群生が、あちこちに見られます。


Alpine flowers of Maizuruso or Maianthemum dilatatum were also seen as shown above.
高山植物のマイヅルソウも見られました。


Of course, late bloom of wild azalea was also found as above.
山ツツジの遅咲きもありました。


Photo above was the summit of Mount Taisho-hatayama which was the goal today.
本日のゴールの大将旗山です。

The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。



You can trace the route and altitude in the map below.
下の地図で、ルートの標高を見ることができます。

Today was a fine day with clear blue sky and I visited Mount Takashiba (884m) in Ono Town. It took about 23km bike ride from my home in Koriyama to Ukigane trail entrance point. The summit of the mountain was about 30-minute easy hike from the point. The view from the observatory on top was panoramic as shown above with wild azaleas in full bloom on the mountainside.
今日は、真っ青な晴天で、小野町の高柴山（８８４ｍ）に行きました。郡山の家から、チャリで約２３ｋｍ、浮金登山口に着きます。ここから頂上までは、３０分の易しい登山です。頂上の展望台からは、写真のような山ツツジのパノラマ景色が見えます。


A board shown above describes how this wild azalea garden was made. More than 90 years ago, a large pasture area for farm horses was created on top of this mountain. Large trees were cut down and grass was eaten by horses, but azaleas were not eaten much because they were a little poisonous. After the World War Ⅱ, the pasture ended and local people have taken care of the wild azalea garden for preservation.
山の説明板に、この山ツツジのガーデンができた経緯がありました。


Another view from the top observatory with a little bit different angle is shown above.
頂上展望台から、少しちがう角度の写真です。


A view while climbing is also shown above.
登っているときの、写真です。

Some of the flowers of wild azaleas were starting to fall off onto the ground today. The peak season has just passed.
山ツツジの花は、少し地上に落ち始めていました。最盛期が過ぎようとしています。

The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。


You can trace the route and altitude in the map below.
下の地図で、ルートの標高を見ることができます。

Basho left Kitamachi, the central part of current Fukushima City, and continued his journey. Photo above was an old Oshu Highway Site remained as it was in Kunimi Town. The site is located about 200m apart from the current National Route 4 and is called Nagasaka Site of an old Kunimi Pass. Basho traveled through this route and his memorial monument stood there.
芭蕉は、現福島市の中心にある北町を出て、旅を続けました。写真は、国見町に残る旧奥州街道がそのまま残る場所です。国道４号から２００ｍほど離れており、旧国見峠の長坂跡と呼ばれています。芭蕉はここを通り、記念碑も残されています。




The first destination of Basho after leaving Kitamachi was Mochizuri Kannon in the east of Fukushima City. As I visited there today, I found Basho’s statue in front and his monument of Haiku poem in the central precinct as shown above.
北町を出て、芭蕉がまず向かったのは、福島市の東にある文知摺（もちずり）観音でした。本日、そこの入口には、芭蕉の像が立っており、境内の中ほどには、芭蕉の句碑がありました（写真）。


The old historic temple dates back more than 700 years. Since then many historic buildings and monuments had been built at the site. A board above tells us the history.
由緒あるこのお寺は、７００年以上前に遡ります。それ以来、数々の建物や記念碑が境内に建てられてきました。写真の説明板が、歴史を語ります。




Then he visited Ioji Temple in the west which was located in the current Iizaka Onsen district. The temple started in 826 as described in a board above. The precinct was large as shown in the picture above.
そのあと、飯坂温泉の近くにある医王寺を尋ねました。このお寺は、説明板の通り、８２６年に開基しました。写真のように、境内はとても広いです。


Basho then visited hot spring site of Iizaka Onsen. I went to the site he was said to have visited, where a panel shown above stood. It said that this site called Takinoyu Site had long been considered Basho’s bathing and staying place at Iizaka Onsen. But the recent research showed that he might have been to other places such as Sabakoyu or Tozayu, both of which were within this hot spring resort.
そのあと、飯坂温泉に泊まりました。芭蕉が訪れたとされる場所に行くと、写真のパネルが立っていました。それによると、ここ滝ノ湯跡は、芭蕉が入浴したと長らく伝えられてきましたが，最近の研究で、ここよりも鯖湖湯か当座湯が有力とあります。両者とも、飯坂温泉にあります。






Finally, he headed toward Miyagi Prefecture in the north. There was a historic site in Kunimi Town where he traveled on the way as I introduced at the beginning. At Nagasaka Site of an old Kunimi Pass not so far from border with Miyagi Pref., there was a board as shown above which described his hard journey in his own words from “Okuno-hosomichi”. He said that he struggled through Kunimi Pass getting some illness and recognizing his long way ahead north. But he managed to pass the route with his innocent and vital spirit.
次の早朝、宮城の方に出発しました。最初に紹介した通り、国見町に芭蕉が通った旧道が残っています。宮城県境からも遠くない、この国見峠の長坂跡には、芭蕉の綴った厳しい旅の様子（写真）が、記念碑として残っています。彼は、まだ行先も長いのに、病にもかかり、そのときの心境を語っています（奥の細道より）。


The picture above shows the current border between Fukushima and Miyagi, where I ended this journey which followed Basho’s tracks in Fukushima.
写真は、今の福島と宮城県境です。今回、芭蕉の福島路を追った私のチャリ旅はここで終わります。

The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。