Well after the blue gloaming has set in, the road stops climbing and opens up into a wide plateau.
At the very top of the rise, a large torii gate spans the road. It seems old--you can see the wind and weather damage, highlighting each wedge and sliver some old woodworker planed out of the original log. But on its surface, there is a shiny new coat of red paint with barely a scuff or a scratch in it.
Beyond the torii gate, there's a large wooden sign. Unlike the gate, this is very new, and surprisingly ornate. Each letter is routed into the sheet of tan wood covered in a shiny lacquer: "Welcome to Shimakuro, Gateway to Tomoe." Like the gate, its painted embellishments seem relatively fresh.
There are two arrows nailed to one of the posts under the sign. The one pointing left says "trailhead"; the one pointing right says "inn & overlook".
To your right, there's a two-story building made out of the same tan, lacquered wood. It is well-lit in all kinds of colorful paper lanterns. Beyond it, there's a loose collection of other buildings--a stable, a large wooden shed, and a couple of buildings that appear to be divided into apartments. Further beyond that, the meadow rises gently and rolls out of your view; you see only the navy-blue sky above it.
To your left, the highlands rise a bit more steeply towards a peak. In the dark of the gloaming, you can't make out much detail, but the woods and meadows seem to stretch into the distance quite a way. Patchy forest dots the landscape here and there; a particularly thick patch lies just down the road. On a small stretch of hilly meadow in the near distance, you see a scattering of little weathered houses and other buildings. Most are built of logs, with patches of grass or moss growing on the roof.
Before you, the road continues on across the plateau and through another torii gate before disappearing around a rocky incline.
Traveling the entire trail to the peak takes an entire day of travel and is Mountain 3 (10) difficulty. Traveling to the onsen takes half a day; spending time at the onsen takes the entire day.
The trail rambles its way into a wooded area, which seems to spread out for a good ways in every direction. White blaze is neatly painted on the trees every 10 yards or so, but you hardly need it. The dirt path is well-trod, even under a smattering of orange and red leaves, which snap and crunch with every few steps you take.
Druidic Wayshrine
About half a mile into your trek, you notice the trees becoming more dense and green. You notice moss, something you didn't see when you first started the trail. But now, it's thicker on every rock and tree trunk you pass. Eventually, the light dims and the leaves at eye level grow more sparse as the canopy grows denser.
It's very much the same as when you encountered the greenhouse back in that holler in the Lonely Mountains. Soon, you see why. In a slightly claustrophobic clearing up ahead, the dirt of the forest floor gives way to a tiled foundation. A narrow stone gazebo rises out of it--all in one piece, as if grown from the ground. It has three open archways; between the archways, the stone forms a latticework of rounded, narrow diamond shapes. A cool, babbling spring runs through the stones of the druidic wayshrine, collecting in a small pool under the gazebo.
The town has added its own embellishments. Grape vines covered with dewy purple and golden fruit weave their ways up the lattice. Wooden benches--with nary a scratch on them--surround the shrine. To one side of the shrine, an intricately carved wooden arbor hosts a mass of wild muscadines. One corner of the clearing is dominated by mulberry boughs, filled with plump red clusters of berries. And dotted along the edge of the wood are blackberry bushes and persimmon trees. It seems as if other travelers have helped themselves to the food along the way.
Behind the wayshrine, the trail continues deeper into the woods, but there's a wooden signpost stuck in the dead center of the trail.
The signpost says simply, "trail closed."
Onsen
You ignore the signpost and push further into the wood. As you leave the wayshrine's little clearing, the wood becomes more sparse again, filled with yellows and oranges and reds instead of deep greens. The trail also becomes more steep and rocky, heading up the mountain.
About an hour later, you climb up past the treeline. The rocky peak towers over you, and you're no longer sheltered from the crisp breeze. You pull your traveling clothes a little more tightly around you and press on.
About thirty minutes later, as you follow a bend around a sheer rock cliff, you come upon a welcome sight: a natural onsen. Rough wooden walls made out of whole trees, stained deep brown, separate the different pools and provide some shelter. Some of the pools extend back into the mountain, under rock outcroppings and into large, airy caves. A small wooden shack sits out front.
The Peak
As you pass the onsen, the climb becomes a little rougher. The trail curves a little more tightly as the mountain you're circling becomes narrower. You travel another hour or so, and the ground begins to flatten out a bit, coming to more of a dome that a point.
At this point, you see something concerning: up on the top of one of the craggy rocks on the peak sits a massive bird's nest, built from tree branches and leaves. It's big enough that your entire party could comfortably fit into it.
A Roc lives in a nest atop the peak, harassing hikers.