Day 5

Temples: 13 Distance logged: 14.81 miles (Fitbit); 14.47 miles (Google) Steps logged: 34,068 steps (Fitbit); 37,105 (Google) Lodging: 名西旅館花 (Myozai Ryokan Hana) It had snowed about 3-4 inches overnight, and we had one more comparatively minor ascent before making the grand descent back into Tokushima city. So we had some very slow going this morning. I knocked every step of the snow-covered trail to make sure the slate was steady and I wasn't going to roll my ankle on a root. But we were treated to some spectacular views of this winter wonderland. We stopped at a pretty nice henro hut along the way to take in the views, and a local man emerged from his house to give us a bag of badly needed rice crackers. As we walked along a slushy road further down the way, a lady stopped to give us some candy and encourage us on. We were exhausted by the time we reached temple 13, and our lodging was right next door.