"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Mount Hiei Trail Run - Feb 2026 - Kyoto

Daulot and I were keen to run up this sacred and iconic mountain, famed for the Tendai "Marathon Monks" of Enryaku-Ji. Amalendu was keen to join us for the ascent, having borrowed my trekking poles to get a decent hilly hike in while we were attempting the run to the summit.

We began by getting a taxi to Manshuin, one of the many temples that fringe the city of Kyoto at the foot of its ring of forest and mountains. The driver ignored the signs and followed his satnav, ending up on an alleyway that became too narrow for cars, so we jumped out there and started to walk through the houses to the temple and the start of the trail. We'd picked a route on MAPY that led straight up the steep part of the ridge, with the option to descend on an easier gradient back to our part of Kyoto near Higashiyama.

We had our meditation for protection on the trail at the Bentendo shrine on a tiny island in front of the temple, then we were off through a Tori gate and on to the lanes. Someone was just driving up our chosen trail and closing a gate behind him, but we politely asked if it was OK to hike this way and he had no problem with it. It was a recognised trail, kind of. It was hard to follow at first under the thick layer of dry leaves still here from the Autumn, but we managed to pick up red trail markers here and there - some painted, some as red ribbons in the trees - and slowly but surely gain height from the city below. After a hard ascent, we made it to the spot height at 442 metres that was shown on our map app and then joined the wide and well-maintained Kyoto trail coming up from Higashiyama. Here, at a Tori gate in the forest with a sprinkling of unmelted snow on the ground, we parted ways - Amalendu heading south solo, and myself and Daulot going onward towards the summit and breaking into a run on the easier gradient. We were hoping to meet up again later, but that didn't work out!

The trail MAPY gave us was the fast and direct route to the summit , and it had a few dead-end routes alongside it. After a brief stop at a wayside shrine to pray and clap (as you do) we took the most likely route through an area of forestry, following logging wheel-ruts, only to find it petered out into nothing. Retracing our steps a couple of times we eventually picked up the familiar trail of red markings and - with some difficulty - stuck to the route. It was a very steep spur, covered in snow, so going was tricky.

Finding the best line was a real challenge. Low trees made the going even more difficult and I got a nice rip in my lightweight backpack from a thorn. Step by step, we persevered though, emerging at last on to the road near the summit and following it to the parking lot at Garden Museum. Everything seemed closed up here for winter, but with the help of some other visitors we located the restrooms and the hot chocolate machine - result! We were also treated to incredible views down to the valleys flanking Mount Hiei, with Lake Biwa in one direction and snow-sprinkled mountain ridges in another.

From there it was a short jog up a steep ramp of a path to the forested area around the summit, on thickly packed snow. We paused at the top for a photo but were soon looking for the best way down. We were keen to at least see Enryaku-Ji, and equally keen to avoid trying the steep, snowy spur as the way down (which would be very sketchy in running gear / running shoes).

The only straightforward way back was going to be to run the road to Enryaku-Ji and then carry on with a winding ashphalt descent to south Kyoto. Soon we were covering the miles well and losing height at a nice, easy rate that was not too hard on the legs. At Enryaku-Ji it was clear we didn't have enough time to make paying the toll and going into the complex worthwhile, so we were only there long enough to see the towering pagodas and meditation halls from a distance and hear the deep, sonorous note of the temple bell.

We carried on our road descent, seeing no more than half a dozen vehicles as we covered the miles to around the half way point. Google was telling me we could get a bus at 4.29 back to our hotel area if we could jog 4 miles in an hour, so that seemed the easy option. Then, that plan unravelled as 2 park officials came out from the side of the road and warned us it was illegal to walk, run or cycle on the road. We would have to take the trail. We negotiated for a while in broken english with them but there was no talking them round. The problem was, the trail to Kyoto started way back up towards the summit and might mean hitting the lower slopes in darkness. It was also a bit uncertain whether or not we'd be having to descend a steep snow-slope to start with, in trainers. So, we opted for the nearest way down on a wonderful walking trail lined with rails and cut with steps. This was a lovely descent and we made good time - the only problem was it was not going to Kyoto! We knew that from MAPY and google, but my experience of Kyoto trains and subways was so positive that I expected it to be easy to get home. We plotted a route for the nearest station and ran.

The trail was lovely, with views out over Lake Biwa. It got tricky as it followed a stream with endless concrete weirs built to control the flow (presumably to stop flooding or erosion) but after that we emerged into gorgeous forest and then a grove of towering bamboo. I had wanted to visit a bamboo forest so this was an unexpected bonus! Then came the moment of the day for me when we chanced upon a tiny shrine with an exquisite relief of the Buddha carved into a massive standing stone. It was open so we went in and had a short meditation, then sang Namo Namo Buddha Deber, Sri Chinmoy's song for the Buddha which he composed in Japan. The misfortune of having been "caught" on the road and sent down the wrong side of the mountain suddenly seemed like a stroke of good fortune....

We carried on down into regular civilisation, the trail meeting a wider trail and then becoming a road before crossing the highway (neatly walled off from the road on either side so we didn't have to see it, and could stay in mountain-consciousness for a while longer). We didn't have to wait long at the station for one of Japan's excellent local trains to pick us up and take us, via a single change, to the station beneath our hotel.

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