I'd love to climb between the giant boulders and look out over the bend in the river An autumn walk to the lookout at the former keep, with chestnut kinton from Nakatsugawa

On an October morning, I parked the car and set off on foot through the ruins of Naegi Castle. I had chestnut kinton from Nakatsugawa with me, too. As I climbed the stone steps and looked up, I saw stone walls winding around enormous boulders. I hadn't realized the stones could be so different in size. I wanted to stop and look closely at where the rock and the wall met.

At the lookout by the former keep, I looked out across the landscape. The Kiso River wound beyond the wooden railing, with a bridge farther off. The steps back down were right in front of me, making me realize how high I'd climbed. Up close, I'd been watching the stones; here, the whole landscape opened up.

I felt a breeze I'd barely noticed while walking and pulled my coat closer over my sweater. I took one chestnut kinton from my bag and set it on the paper. The little sweet still had the marks left from shaping it, and it looked so cute. Before taking a bite, I lingered over its shape a little longer, watching the river flow.

The first bite left a gentle sweetness and tiny bits of chestnut on my tongue. I'd heard this sweet was made with just chestnuts and sugar, so I wanted to take my time with it. After looking out at that huge landscape, I looked back down at the little piece of chestnut kinton in my hand. In that moment, the wide view and the little sweet captured everything I love about visiting Nakatsugawa in autumn.

I tucked away the paper I'd put the sweet on and took one last look at the river before heading down. Across the Kiso River, the town stretched out into the distance. I might take my time walking back to the car, thinking about the view I just saw. On the way back, I'd like to look at the huge boulders and stone walls that caught my eye on the climb from a different angle.