Nakasendo GPX data

As I've mentioned before, a lot of the enquiries I get from readers of this blog are about maps. Usually they're from people who want to walk the Nakasendo but can't find a map of the route in English. The bad news is, as far as I know, there are still no commercially available maps of this kind. But for those of you looking for GPX data, I have some good news.

A couple of years ago, Léonie van den Haak, a Dutch ultrarunner living in Tokyo, ran the length of the Nakasendo. Yes, she ran it. In a time of 5 days 7 hours and 32 minutes. (For comparison, it took me 22 days to walk the same route.) She took along a GPS device, and posted the data she collected here:

https://fastestknowntime.com/route/nakasendo-way-japan

I've had a look at the map displayed at the above site, and apart from a minor deviation in Kumagaya, which meant she didn't run through the Yagibashi Department Store, it looks pretty accurate. So if GPX data for the Nakasendo is what you're after, look no more!

Note: As mentioned in this post, if you have an iPhone, there are also apps for the Tokaido, Nakasendo, Koshu Kaido, Nikko Kaido and Oshu Kaido. All the information about the posttowns and so on is in Japanese, but you should still be able to follow the routes even if you can't read the language. 

Christchurch 360

I may have mentioned it before on this blog, but there's a 135 km-long loop trail around my hometown called the Christchurch 360 Trail. Affectionately known as The Meurky Way in honour of its chief architect, ecologist Colin Meurk, it was designed to highlight the diverse ecology of the area, which ranges from marshes and wetlands to dry savannah ecosystems, from verdant bush remnants to the exposed hilltops of the Crater Rim. It was officially opened in 2015.

Though I've done a lot of hiking around Christchurch over the years as part of my training for longer walks in Japan, with the exception of Te Araroa (the 3000 km trail extending the length of the country), the thought of doing an epic walk in New Zealand has never appealed to me. But times have changed. I've already had to cancel a planned trip to Japan next month due to the corona virus, and it's unlikely I'll be going there again for a while. Who knows when we here in New Zealand will be able to indulge in international travel as freely as we once did?

This new reality got me thinking about doing a longish walk closer to home. And what could be closer than a trail almost literally on my own doorstep (the Christchurch 360 Trail passes less than 2 km from my house)? I wouldn't have to travel to get to it, so I could do it all at once or in stages, choosing fine days and taking breaks if the weather turns bad or if my knees start to play up again.

Of course, I'd have to wait until our lockdown ends before attempting this. And since I'm so out of shape, I'd have to do some training first. But after the ignominy of having to abandon my last walk, I'm looking forward to trying something a little less challenging.