CLIMBING INTO THE MOUNTAINS TOWARDS NISEKO

I really don’t have an exact idea at the moment which route to take up north. I did have a route plan but since it is too early in the season, lots of the attractions such as flower fields and green mountains are still blanketed in snow so there was no point in going to those places. Lots of places were still closed also. Hokkaido this time of year is not really worth seeing...it's too late to ski and its too early to enjoy the greenery. I just have to make the best of it and keep trekking north.

I enjoy scenic places so today I chose to head to Toya-ko, a large lake with an onsen resort. The road out of Oshamanbe followed the bay for a little bit. Things are spread out in Hokkaido, but the roads are wide so it's good for cyclists. I passed a fishing town that seemed to process scallops. They had huge mounds of shells all over the place. Next, the road headed up and into the mountains. Trucks flew by me as I slowly made my way uphill. There were a lot of military vehicles passing me too. There must be a military base in the area. After a few tunnels and some up and downs, I stopped at a roadside shop and ordered curry ramen. It was really good. I don’t know why it took me so long to try it. Curry is pretty much good with anything…it’s one of the main staples of my diet in Japan.

After lunch there was some more climbing into the mountains and then a few really long tunnels right through mountains before I finally reached Lake Toya. The lake is fairly large, and has an island right in the middle of it. There is a resort town along the shoreline but I was going to go the other way. I found a nice shoreline road so I rode that to the north end of the lake. The water was crystal clear, and turned blue as it got deeper. It reminded me of the Eastern Sierra lakes. Since it was still early in the afternoon I decided to keep riding and head up towards Mt. Yotei as I could see it in the horizon.

Unfortunately, there was more climbing from the lake to the highway leading towards Mt. Yotei. I had to push my bike up a steep winding road from the lake to the highway. From there the road led me through rolling hills passing snow covered farm fields. It looks like the thaw is just starting here. There are big piles of shoveled snow still waiting to melt away. I finally passed around the base of Mt. Yotei, an impressive volcano…much like the other ones I’ve seen. Niseko is a popular ski resort town close by so I figured I will stop there for the night. There are many lodging options in town according to my touring guide book I bought in Hakodate. Unfortunately I imagined Niseko as a condensed town, but it is rather dispersed. By the time I reached the train station area I was pretty exhausted from all the climbing and it was getting colder.

I found an information center in town and they led me to the nearest place to stay, which was further up the hill…looks like I’ll have to climb some more before I can rest. Also since the winter ski season was over, lots of places close their doors leaving me with limited options. Luckily the place I called picked up and the old man there told me he can take me in. I bought some dinner at a conbini before arriving to the pension house I was staying at for the night. The old man there was nice and warmed up my food for me. I gobbled it all down and took a hot bath, it felt so good to be full and warm again. There was nothing around the house so I could only stay put in my room and think...luckily internet reception here is good. I was in the dark from Oshamanbe. Tomorrow I decided I will head to Otaru, which is situated on the northern coastline.