Today I was aimed for Lake Toya which is about an hour on the train beyond Noboribetsu. Like Toya it requires a bus ride to get to anywhere useful from the train station but I was not worried on that even though Japan-Guide suggests it is an area much better done with a rental car if at all. I got up early and was out the door before 7am and into the train station as quickly as I could get there. The first thing I did was get a ticket on the next train which departed at 7:30am then quickly rushed to the Mister Donut for a to go coffee and couple of donuts. I headed straight for the platform from there and it was only a couple minutes until the train arrived. Once seated in my green car seat I munched down my donuts and drank my coffee. I had my traditional chocolate coconut and a donut that appeared to be a glazed pumpkin-pie spiced item. It was a bit dense but very tasty so I am glad I tried it having no idea what it was. The train ride was uneventful. I had intended to sleep a little but I didn't really bother. The weather was a curiosity to me during the ride. It looked like it might rain but maybe not. It got very foggy and then got sunny and then foggy again. It was obviously foggy over the ocean which the train runs along the coastline for a sizable portion of the ride there. So basically the sun god failed today but not in the way I would rather have failed. It never rained during the course of the day but the thick overcast kept the heat and humidity locked to the ground layer in a death grip that made it much more miserable than either the sunny days or the if it rained. I would have paid $20 for it to rain at the very minimum instead of what I got.
Why this matters is of course that I was expecting to hike the entire day which is basically what I did. I had thoughts of Mount Usu on my way out the door but that turned out to be something I couldn't do because either I misread the Japan-Guide information or more accurately they misrepresented some of the facts in that the best way to get to Usu is by getting off at Toya station from the Hokuto and taking a local train to Usu station which is one stop away. Of course I didn't know that until I was already through the bus ride from Toya Station to the Toya Onsen area. This bus ride brings you over a mountain and into the main lake front property where the spa and a few touristy things are located, including a couple different boating type excursions you can take on the lake. I first walked the waterfront and then circled back around to one of the hiking areas I intended to use as soon as I figured out my mistake. The buses are not frequent enough for me to consider turning around and trying for Usu as I thought it would be a waste of time. I found one trail that led around to a beautiful small crater lake/pond that has an eerie greenish color I am not sure if the dim day pictures will do justice. I am sure it is because of the minerals in the water from the eruptions. Oh, I didn't mention, Usu is an active volcano. It erupted in 1978 and 2000. The area I was in was not Usu but was apparently a back vent from the eruption and thus also was deeply affected by it. I think it was not as violent here but it was still very destructive. Along this trail I was able to climb up to the crater and then around over the crest where I found a destroyed building or two then down into a parking area which set up another couple sites.
I bought a Pocari Sweat and a water at a gift shop and immediately downed the Pocari Sweat. It was seriously unpleasant out and I was a sweat factory from the moment I got out of the bus. I am glad I was wearing one of my running tech shirts or I would have still been soaked through by the time I got back to the hotel. First thing I did was climb another kilometer uphill to a scenic overlook. There was a wonderful old woman up there that didn't speak a word of English but gave me a cold glass of water and bunch of tissues to mop my brow from all the sweat. The overlook was 1000 yen and of course I payed it. She explained to me what she would to every customer I am sure and I listened mainly noting the hand gestures because I think otherwise she said 3 words I know, please, thank you and there. I walked up and around the overlook and there were indeed some great pictures to be had but I am not really sure it was worth thirteen bucks. All the same I am on vacation and these expenditures happen. Plus the woman was really nice so I can't complain that much. In contrast though, when I got back down from there I crossed the street and found the Mount Nishiyama volcano park (I guess, the pamphlet is entirely in Japanese). I know the main course I took to get there was the Nishiyama walking course and this was the actual volcano destruction exhibit. As I mentioned the main eruptions were by Usu but Nishiyama vented some of the activity as well. There are obvious signs of total destruction such as the roads being torn up and the buildings that were somewhat there being completely unusable. The activity was something that took a period of time to cause the changes. Fortunately everyone was safely evacuated from the area before the destruction took place but the ground shifted and swelled and apparently a lot of ash came out on both occasions. Near the town they have a series of dams that are there to prevent ash/mudslides from destroying the city in heavy rains. I believe they had a couple occasions where they were struck by slides prior to building the dams. The destruction is actually also visible close to the city as well though perhaps it isn't as obvious. Some of the areas are what I assume a post-apocalyptic world would look like. The evacuated kindergarten shows the fact that nature can reclaim a lot of things if it wants by the trees growing inside the building.
After I finished the volcano walk I had to trek backwards to what I had already done which I was already expecting so no surprises. One thing I will say, if you like butterflies and moths Hokkaido is the place for you. I am not good with the patience to try to take pictures of them when I am amid trek but I am sure I saw at least a dozen and probably more varieties. There was even one whose wingspan was probably about 6 inches across. I did get turned off course for one moment because I didn't remember a don't go there type horse I must have passed but when I got to the big you don't belong here signs I turned around and went the correct way after all. By the time I got back to the town it was already past 2:15 so I had been out for at least 4 and a half hours with basically no sitting at all though some small slow downs or stops for taking pictures. I decided I would take one of the Lake Toya sightseeing boat rides to rest up a bit before I tried to get home. There are apparently 2 boats, one that looks like a castle and the normal looking one I took. If I had to guess I would say the castle one departs on the hour and the other one on the bottom of the hour. I was fine with the normal boat for the timing. The ride was very bland and just basically a loop to a location on an island where you could get off (if I had known earlier I might have tried that instead) and then right back to the dock where we started from. I think it took about 45 minutes or so. Maybe a bit longer but it was less than an hour.
As soon as I got off the boat I moved straight for the bus terminal. I asked the lady there when the next bus to the train station was and she said fifty minutes. I can deal with that. Fortunately she meant 15 minutes which turned out to be even better. I heard the announcement for the station and jumped on the bus as fast as I could. The buses are not frequent to and from the station (at least according to Japan-Guide) so better to not miss it. The ride back was uneventful and I went up to the ticket counter and was able to reserve a green car seat for the next train back which would be at 4:52. This would get me back to Sapporo Station at 6:35 which was reasonable to me. The train ride was also not really all that exciting but I could tell how rancid I was after all the hiking and sweating that most of it was spent with internal dialogue as to whether I should go back to the room and clean up then get dinner or if I should get something quick then just head back to the room. I was still undecided when I got to the station but I started my journey back to the room nonetheless. Along the way I found a Matsuya ticket restaurant like the one Marina and I ate at in Yokohama and it looked like it had some space so I chose to dive in there and get a meal rather than to go back and clean up then head back out in search of food. Most people that eat at these places are singles rather than parties so it was easy not to offend too badly I think. I bought a burger meal which was a ground beef patty smothered in tomato sauce with a poached egg on it, rice, a salad and a bowl of soup (I left the soup behind as normal as I am not a fan of soups still, anywhere, not just in Asia). I also had the large Asahi beer as well. All this was 1000 yen. Thankfully they serve the burger with a spoon even to the locals (as they do with their Japanese curries) and I was able to eat that with the spoon and the salad and rice with chopsticks. I ate quickly as I immediately recognized how hungry I was. It was all very good actually and I wouldn't hesitate to eat something like that again though I would probably try something else on another visit in order to keep sampling.
After dinner I headed back to the hotel but made a quick stop in a Lawson where I bought 2 beers. A Sapporo variety that had not enough English for me to identify. It was good though, and a Yebisu Premium Stout. I believe Yebisu is a premium Sapporo brand name. The stout was also good but I wish I had started with the stout and then finished with the Sapporo beer for flavor profiles. I also bought a bag of almonds and cashews to munch on with the beer. They were quite good too. I consumed those things while writing this.
Today's pictures can be found here.
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