Seppiko Death Hike!

Climbing Seppiko was one of the things on my “have to do list” for a long time. Well, I finally did it! It would have to be the most difficult hike I have ever done by far – it was even more difficult than climbing Mt Fuji, so that is definitely saying something! At some stages, my legs were so tired that they felt like lead, but I soldiered on till the very end!

Thomas, Steve Harvey, Tina and I all set out at 7:40am to catch the bus on a Sunday morning on the way to Seppiko.

Now that for a start, was pretty impressive for a Sunday morning! When we got there, we were amazed by how tall the mountain actually was. It was HUGE! My adrenalin started kicking in at that stage as my heart pounded in excitement with the mere thought of what I was about to do! This photo shows how high the mountain actually was and we hiked all the way up to the very peak of the mountain that you can see behind us in the photo.

The first twenty minutes of the hike was the most difficult by far. It was so steep and each step was a huge effort. I felt like I was going to die! I was happy to have our first break and have a nice, cold drink of water!

Some of the sections we had to hike through required the use of ropes and chains to pull ourselves up the mountain.

To be honest, it wasn’t really that necessary to use these chains, but they were there for support for the people who needed them. We used them just for the sake of taking a good photo, but that’s just a secret between you and me!

There were also some really small, tight passage-ways that we were required to walk through. This was a tight squeeze, but we all managed to get through it. If I were another few kilos heavier, I’m sure it would have been almost impossible to get through! Thankfully, we all made it!

This was the very first mountain-top we reached. It was such a beautiful view from the top and it was nice to eat a few cakes and sweets after a tough climb to the top. We were all pretty excited that we made it that far!



After a little longer, on our way to the second peak, Thomas was in trouble. He was in need of a toilet which was absolutely non-existent on the mountain, so he had to resort to a squat! Thomas left his little present on the mountain and we continued on with our hike!

This is the second peak that we reached.

We felt pretty tough by that stage and really proud of ourselves. It was easy-street from there – or so we thought! Actually there was nothing about the entire hike that was easy!

After having our delicious bento lunch and a few more snacks, we trekked on to another part of the mountain which consisted of thousands of tall, thin, straight trees. They looked so cool!


As Thomas had already previously climbed Seppiko, he couldn't help but tell us stories that would worry us on the hike. The last time he climbed it, he and all his friends who went on the hike got leeches stuck to their feet. They all had bloody feet and had to take their shoes and socks off and wait for the leeches to fill up before falling off their bodies. After hearing this gruesome story, we all started to get a little worried when we were walking through the damp, swamp-like surroundings. Every two minutes I would check my shoes to make sure that there weren’t any leeches in them! Luckily we were all OK this time! Phew!

This is Tina and I at the waterfall. It was so beautiful to see such greenery and the water looked so clean and clear.


Five hours later, we finally reached the bottom of the mountain. I was relieved to see a seat so that I could rest my legs. We slept for one hour throughout the entire bus ride home!

I loved being in Seppiko and I would love to go back. It was the most challenging and exciting hike I have ever been on. I hope that I can fit in a few more hikes before I have to go back to Australia because I just LOVE hiking! Japan has so many mountains that the list of places to go hiking is endless. Maybe next weekend I will get to go on another one…fingers crossed!