Awake at 6 am and out the door. Everyone is shooting for Temple 11. Temple 12 is at the top of a mountain and it takes 6 hours to scale the thing. Temple 7 was simple but I needed to wait until 7 am for it to open. Temple 8 was up a little hill. Around this time, I noticed an old Japanese gentlemen kinda following me. Being American, I was cautious. By time Temple 9 rolled around, the Japanese man was openly calling me to follow him. At that moment, he said “I am 80 years old”. I realized that everything made sense. He was just looking after me as he was making his 10th ohenro. A true master…sensai. At Temple 11, I was exhausted and my feet have blisters. I received my second ossetai, a chilled bottle of milk coffee. Shortly after that, I received my third ossetai, 10,000 yen. It is very humbling to accept gifts from complete strangers who only wish you well in life and on your journey. We gathered the Frendman and Sensai and head down the hill to our accommodation. Out runs a man offering us fresh fruit as ossetai. It was delicious. We left in high spirits but I left my walking stick. Bing, bing goes the bike bell. The gentleman comes flying in on his bike to return my stick. The generosity is amazing. I am very thankful. We reach the onsen and check into our accommodation. The Italian is here and a Korean who walked the PCT. After a while we decide to book a Ryokan for tomorrow as a group. Then we hit the onsen. So good for a sore body. The last stop is dinner of yakatori….I think. I stopped at the supermarket for food and drink tomorrow since there is nothing on the trail. Right now I am talking with my fellow ohenro and getting ready for bed. Good night all.