Driving tour of Okinawa

I arrived in Okinawa with one of the worst cold-flu-plague combinations of my life.  In return, Okinawa greeted me with rain and gray skies for my first two days.  Not instant chemistry by any stretch, but both of us were beginning to feel better by day three on island, and so we decided to explore a bit.

Highway 58 runs along the west coast of Okinawa.  From our home, we took the Okinawa Expressway to where it ends in Nago, at which point we caught Highway 58 and took it almost to the northernmost point.  

The drive is a scenic one, with good views of Nago Bay.  About a month earlier, one of the worst typhoons in recent history hit the island and caused some serious damage to some of the roads.  The road signs are almost overly apologetic for the pauses in our trip.  Bob's Barricades could take a lesson, and with THREE flaggers at some checkpoint, I think Okinawans are more serious about letting them live and work. 

After getting our fill of the road, we tried to visit one of the most popular waterfall hikes on Okinawa: Hiji Falls.  Upon arriving at the large parking lot for the trailhead, there were several signs, including one in English, stating the facilities would reopen in April 2013.  We optimistically thought that only the hiking path was closed, and decided to drive up to the falls.  Sadly, the storm seemed to have impacted areas further inland as well.  We will be waiting until spring 2013 with everyone else it seems.

The afternoon was still young, and Ryan suggested another hike that didn't offer a waterfall but instead offered 360-degree views of Okinawa.  Sold!  Mt. Katsuu is a short hike, maybe 30-minutes to an hour, depending on how many photos you take.  This was my first introduction to hikes on Okinawa.  Initially, the trail begins as a narrow footpath along a dirt and stone trail.  Shortly, the ascent turns into a stairway that individuals worked diligently to make wider than the footpath and with even steps, very similar to hikes in the US.  The attempt is a noble one, but it quickly dissolves into a much steeper rock scramble along sharp stones, and this scramble leads you to the top.  I've attempted to represent these phases of the hike, but I'm not sure these photos full capture the transitions and steepness.

The views at the top were well worth the scramble.  Okinawa is more mountainous than I'd anticipated, almost like a sub-tropical fusion of the Rockies and the Smokies: not very high peaks, but extremely jagged and steep.  I'm not sure this shows in the photographs.

We spent a bit of time at the top to catch our breath, down a granola bar, and survey our new home from our perch.  No smooth rocks for lounging up here!  Navigating the rocks at the top is almost as treacherous as the hike up, but eventually we found comfortable spots for sitting.  This is our first winter out here, so we're not certain if the naked trees are another casualty of the recent storm or simply proof that it's wintertime. Time will tell.