going up and down ridges, behind subdivisions and cutting through forests

起伏に富み 街中の森を抜ける道

As I head out to hike this old road, I wonder if I will get caught in a storm

この古い道では 色んな事が起きる予感がします

or get lost in the forest where I'll get stuck in the dark.

都会の知られざる側面です

One thing is for sure, you would never guess to find something like this here.

ここがスタートです

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

多摩よこやまの道

OK, after some searching, I think I found the way to the entrance of this path

10キロ歩きます

It's called the Tama Yokoyama no Michi

段々登り坂になってきました

And it's a 10 km path that I've been wanting to do since I discovered it.

まだ大丈夫

It this hike—this climb—is any sign of things to come, we're going to be up in the hills.

緩やかな坂

OK this right here is a very good sign.

地図アプリに従います

Right here the path goes up...

楽しみです

And it's right here that my phone says we should be going this way.

3時です

I don't know what too terribly what much to expect,

暗くなる前に完走できるといいです

And it's about 3 o'clock

3時5分です ここがスタート地点

So starting this late, I sure hope I can make the whole trail before it gets too dark.

出発します

OK it's 3:05 PM, I found the head of the trail here

残り10キロです

Here we go, it's going off in this direction

唐木田駅を目指します

And we're going to go 10 km

この日を楽しみにしてました！

Hopefully I have enough time to the end, to the Karakida station

良い予感がします

This is going to be an adventure, here we go. I've been looking forward to this.

地図を見つけました

Here we go, very good sign.

現在地が見えます

This means I have found it and look, here we are

唐木田まで道が続いています

We're all the way at the top of this map here

出発します

And going to follow this puppy all the way down here to the end at Karakida.

よく運転する道です

So here we go.

今まで気付きませんでした

This is just crazy, I don't know how many times I've driven on that road

夕方までには完走できるはず

and had no idea that this is up here.

方向を間違えなければ

Ten kilometers before it gets dark should not be a problem

所々 紛らわしい分岐があります

The problem is you have to watch out for the signs to know which way to go

正しく地図を見て 間違えないようにします

And there's some places on the trail that are a little tricky to know where the turns go

乗ってきた路線が見えます

And not to get off.

だいぶ登って来ました

And so I really hope that I get those right.

いい日です

That will determine whether I can make this all in time or not.

楽しい気分です

The train line where I started is all the way down there—

都会の中に こんなに豊かな ハイキングコースがあります

There's the train I came on

ワクワクします

And I had to hike all the way up here, so that gives a little bit of perspective.

沢山歩きますが 逆に気持ちは充電されます

What a gorgeous day.

分岐です

If you talk about things that get my excited, let me tell you what...

どっちが正しいか？

Hidden trails that go along ridges through the middle of the suburbs,

こっちが本道だと思います

Through the mountains and up back through different places,

おそらく

That gets me excited.

このコースは偶然知りました

That charges my battery

ルースと近くのブックオフに行った時

Even though I use a lot of energy to walk something like this.

公園で看板を見つけ

There's lots of little turn offs like that and that way.

このコースを知りました

Which way do you go?

ビックリしました

Well in this case I'm going to go the way that looks like the main route if there's no other marking.

そして今日 歩いています

And hope I stay on.

面白い発見をしました

Finding this trail was a happy accident.

多摩を貫くハイキングコース

'Cause I took Ruth to go shopping at BookOff

面白そうです

And I went to a nearby park

その後調べて

And as I was walking there I came across a big sign

写真を見つけました

And discovered that I had stumbled upon this huge trail

それで行く気になりました

That then I got really excited to do.

解説があります

And I've wanted to do it since.

日本語が難しいです

I just discovered something I had no idea was here.

漢字はまだまだ勉強中です

This map I came across, and look at this huge trail that goes through Tama.

サインがあります

And it looks really cool. I really want to try this sometime.

"多摩よこやまの道" 迷子になってないようです

I went and looked it up later at home

この道は 昔は交易路でした

And found a guy who had done it and posted pictures of it.

街を繋ぐ道です

And I was like "Yes! I've gotta do that the next chance I get."

人々が行き来していました

These are the plaques along the way.

現在は幹線道路が整備されています

I wish my Japanese were a little better.

昔の交易を思い起こさせます

I understand a number of these kanjis but there's a bunch I don't.

すごいです

But there— that's the good sign right there.

2キロ進みました

Tama Yokoyama no Michi. We are in the right place.

いい感じです

I read that this route follows and old trading route that used to be the road through the Tama Hills

いいペースです

It connected several areas.

登り坂が続きます

And people and the traders would go and use this road to get around.

景色がいいはず

Now there some main roads right down into the valley next to this which have become the main roads

いい眺めです！

But this path exists as a reminder of the ways that people used to get around.

尾根沿いに道が見えます

Pretty cool.

先が見えてきました

My phone says I've walked 2 km so far

晴天ではないですが

So we're doing good, making good time.

太陽も出てくるはず

I think we got this. I hope we got this.

雲り空も綺麗です

This has been going up for awhile, I bet there's a view coming up.

丁度良い気温です

I bet there's a view.

肌寒くもなく

And sure enough... what a view!

雨が降るかもしれません

You can see the trail continuing along that ridge in the distance.

分岐がいくつかありますが

Oh boy, that's where we're going!

標識や印を見逃さなければ なんとか大丈夫そうです

This was not a sunny day

距離と方向を示しています

But now as I get out here the sun's coming out some

こっちのようです

But the clouds are still beautiful.

現在はコースの一部は 街中の生活道路になっています

It's one of those beautiful Spring days that isn't too hot

面白いです

And it's not chilly either

途中で色んな物が見れます

It feels like rain might be coming here.

大学の裏手です

There are a lot of different places where it veers off

運動場が見えます

But if you look for these plaques and especially these signs

見つけました！

I've seen a lot of these signs here, they're very helpful.

よこやまの道

They have distances and they show you which way the trail goes

こっちです

And you can know "OK, here we go, we're going across the road here."

一般道が続きます

Now not all of this trail is an actual trail.

もうすぐのはず

Some of it follows along the road or pass the backs of businesses.

標識を見つけました

And different things—some schools are along the way.

現在地はここです

There's lots of different interesting things that you find along this trail.

出発がここ

Well it appears to cut through a university here

3分の1 進みました

There's all kinds of ballfields, it looks like a nice place.

いいペース

And then look at that— there you go!

標識です 森に戻ります

Yokoyama no Michi

こっちに進みます

This way

行きましょう！

I must say it's a little disconcerting to see me walking on a road here.

行きます！

Hopefully that doesn't last long.

起伏に富んだ尾根です

OK, good sign, good sign here. There's another one.

蝶や蛾がいます

Alright, here we go. We are right here.

ジョークをひとつ

We started up here

じっとしている蝶に 何と言いますか？

And it looks like maybe roughly a third of the way.

"ちょうちょ 待って下さい"

Making decent time.

"少々待って下さい" に 似てますね

Alright, I found the sign, we will not be on the road anymore.

"ちょっと" と "ちょうちょ" を 掛けてみました

That's the road, and here comes our path.

言葉遊びです

Alright! [laughing]

感想をコメントで教えて下さい

Here we go!

尾根を登ってくると 下が良く見えます

You can tell you're walking a ridge, because there's a lot of ups and downs.

下はこんな感じ

There's a nice little butterfly or a moth.

いいですね

Here's a joke for you.

尾根を進みます

What do you tell a Japanese butterfly who you want to stay still and not move?

まだまだ大丈夫

"Chyo chyo matte kudasai"

また一般道ですが

You see it sounds like "Shyo shyo matte kudasai"

標識が見えてきました

Which is like "Wait a moment"

ありました

But the word for butterfly is chyo chyo

こっちに登ります

So it's a play on words in Japanese

この場所を知っています

Hey, if you don't like it, then just let me know in the comments. I don't know.

この道を見つけた公園です

Every once in a while you can kind of get a sense that you're up on this ridge

以前も歩きました

You can see down the valley that way,

覚えています

And this definitely goes down over here too.

雨が降るかも

Very interesting.

まだ大丈夫

And then the ridge just keeps going.

最初に見つけた看板です

Like my feet walking this ridge, here we go.

これを見てビックリしました

Just when you think you've been walking on the street a long time

綺麗なトイレ

Then comes another sign that lets you know it's time to veer off.

トイレ休憩します

There it is.

1時間18分経って 5キロ歩きました

And we'll be going up this way, here we go.

いいペース 360カロリー消費しました

Oh wow! I know exactly where we are.

この道以外も歩いています

We just happened to come across the park where I stumbled across this trail for the first time.

1キロ多めに見る必要があります

And now this part of the trail, the next 2 km or so, I've walked already.

今日のおやつは？

I know it.

1パックで180カロリー

I tell you what, it sure does look like it could rain.

チーズとフルーツ入りナッツ

I hope not yet.

この古い交易路のゴールに 何があるかご存じですか？

Oh! Here's the sign I originally stumbled across.

コストコです！

And I was like "What? What a huge trail!"

暗くなってきました

And look at this, a proper bathroom.

日が暮れてきました

I'm going to have to use it.

曇りなのもあります

Well my app says I've been walking for an hour and 18 minutes

一般道に戻ります

A distance of over 5 km

こっちのようです

I'm doing pretty good, I've burned 360 calories so far.

あの駐車場

Now not all of those kilometers are on this trail

前に来た時使いました

Because I had to walk at least a kilometer I would say, maybe more to get to the trail head

ルースの気分転換は買い物

So what's my snack today?

僕も嫌いではないです

It would be cheese, fruits and nuts

自販機もあります

180 calories in this one pack, it's perfect.

飲み物を途中で買えますね

Like I said, this used to be an old trade route

沢山あります

But what's really interesting is that at the end of this trade route, do you know what there is?

5台あります

A Costco. There you go.

ここです

It's amazing how dark it gets under these woods here.

面白い場所です

You can tell it's getting later in the day.

森を歩いていたのに

And the sun's hidden, so...

突然の一般道

Here we go, back out onto a road.

斜面になっていて 逆は運動場

"Go this way please" it says. Well OK, I will.

森の隣は都会の景色

This parking lot over here

”一体どんな場所？” って感じです

Is where I came and I parked when I left Ruth at BookOff.

予報では曇りですが 雲行きが心配なので確認しましょう

A good shopping trip really recharges Ruth's batteries.

雨は避けたい

And it can for me sometimes but not always.

まだ大丈夫そうです

There's just all kinds of vending machines along the way

以前 この場所で迷いました

I brought water with me but I really didn't need to.

道は向こうに続きますが

Because look at all these vending machines.

道を渡る為に 迂回が必要です

I can count 5 right now.

でも標識は向こうを指しています

Right here.

この看板を見るべきでした

This is one of the parts that surprised me last time

YouTubeでハイカーの人がしていました

Because all of a sudden you're walking on this trail

飲み物を荷物に入れず

And it goes up next to this road

沢山飲んでおくらしいです

It's a drop-off on one side and the other side is a big drop-off down to all kinds of sports fields.

荷物が軽くなります

And then you look out and you have an awesome view of the city.

乾杯

It's just like "Man, what is this place? What is this trail?"

春は桜が綺麗でしょう

There was no rain in the forecast

桜の木です

But I'm going to check my weather app because it sure looks dark over there.

以前ここで蛇を見つけました

I would not want to get stuck in the rain.

驚きました

It doesn't look like it's supposed to rain just yet. Let's hope it stays that way.

サラがビックリします

Now this part really messed me up last time

蛇です

Because the trail actually continues up there.

離れていきます

But in order to get up there you have to cross here, go over there, and then go up.

ビックリしました

But according to this sign, I thought "Oh 3.2 km that way?"

この茂みです

Oh man. At least they have this one right here to make it much more clear what you're supposed to do.

驚きの発見です

So I learned something watching some of the hikers that I like to watch on YouTube.

日本で蛇を初めて見ました

It's called "Cameling up"

都会です

And basically what you do is instead of carrying your water on your back

ここは私道みたいです

You drink a lot of it and carry it in your stomach.

誰かのガレージもあります

And then it's lighter on your shoulders, and it's easier to carry.

迷子になったか 勘違いしましたが 大丈夫そうです

Cheers.

賞を取れそうな花です

This part right here would be absolutely beautiful during the Sakura.

見事です

All of these are Sakura trees here.

ここらは今日が初めての道なので

And right up here is where I saw the snake when I first came up this trail.

標識に注意します

That was... that was pretty exciting.

少し寄り道

Sarah would absolutely freak out! I came up on a snake.

セブンイレブンで休憩して

Yes, a snake!

来ました！

Look at that. He's slowly moving away.

よく運転する道なのに 遊歩道に気付きませんでした

Oh my goodness, that's right. Move away snake!

面白い建物です

In these bushes here, amazing.

子供が喜びそう！

I guess you just never know what you're going to find on the trail.

レクリエーションホール

That's the first time I've seen a snake I think in Japan just out in the wild

この向こうが道です

It's not even the wild.

また森に戻って来ました

This part right here feels a little strange because it's like you're walking up somebody's driveway.

気持ち良いです

There's their garage and you're like "Oh hey! What's up?"

ゴルフをしています

I was like "Did I get lost, am I still in the right place?"

おにぎりを食べます

Yes, I was still on the right place, it just happens to be his house is built right on the path.

多分体に良さそう

This little section right here might win the award for the pretty flowers that were along the trail.

湿っています

At least it does so far.

おにぎりです

Here's as far as I came last time.

出発です

And now from here on out I have to really pay attention to signs

ラストスパートです

Because I'm not quite sure where to go.

最後の数キロ

But I think I know where my first stop will be.

唐木田駅

A little stop at the 7-11 for an onigiri and a drink