I’m now caught up, posting these backwards a few days for … posterity?
Today, I got up without anything in particular in mind. This hotel isn’t nearly as fancy as the one prior, but it’s in this cute national park area, Daisutzen National Park, that feels a bit like the Pacific Northwest. There’s bear and fox art everywhere, apparently skiing nearby, and a giant tension wire tram partway up an active volcano nearby.
I had vague ideas of walking around the area on top, then started looking at it this morning. Should I hike or no? What do I wear up there… I realized that Asahidake is the highest mountain in Hokkaido. So, reluctantly, I decided I would just hike to the top. It’s 7,515 feet. what else was I going to do today. From the top of the tram, it is about a further 2500 feet up.
Before I even started, I fell in with some very friendly Japanese fellows who were doing it too. It was nice, because it was encouraging to keep going. The altitude was tough on me, being used to sea level, but it was totally doable. My highest climb ever, I think, now.
Asahidake is gorgeous. It transitions from alpine to sort of glacier to sort of above the tree line.
Got back to the hotel and … more onsen.
