Hokkaido Touring Day 13: Variety of Traveler

English | 日本語

I woke up at 5:30 AM. Unfortunately, it was cloudy in the morning and I didn't get to see the sunrise. Breakfast was three slices of five-slice bread, a banana and coffee. I immediately used the trimmer I bought yesterday to cut my beard and it's quite good. I departure at 7:00.

My laundry didn't dry yet. I would go to the next city in order to dry them with laundry machine, but the laundromat is quite a ways away. So I decided to hang the laundry on my bike and ride. There's a breeze, so it dries properly even if it's not so sunny. That became my standard drying method in the future touring. I remembered that the mom of a family of five campers I met at the cookout yesterday said the laundromat was expensive. I didn't think about that kind of expense before starting this touring, but when I actually use it, it becomes quite an expense.

The road today is really nothing. Just the ocean on the right, fields, etc. on the left. At 10:30 AM, I arrived at the roadside station, Marine Island Okajima. There looked like I could use power supply so I took a snack while I recharged the battery and wrote the record. I passed three cyclists so far. One of them was pulling a single-wheeled trailer. However I have not yet met a cycle tourist with bike packing style in Hokkaido.

Since the signboard says here is a crabs town, I looked for a crabs restaurant for lunch break in Edako-cho, but there was nowhere, so I had a chicken lunch at Seicomart.

I see the Usutaibe Senjojiki after the lunch.

In remained 30km to go, but there was starting to get fog. I hurriedly took in the laundry that was attached to my bike. I stopped at Cape Kamui on the way, but I couldn't see anything due to the fog. Really I had been hated by the views from all Cape I visited....
With 10km to go to the town of Hamadonbetsu, where Lake Kuccharo is located, I found another walking traveler. We were talking alongside each other for a while. He's walking counter-clockwise from Chitose, and he's walking 20 to 30 km/day to use the inn for his lodging. He looks 70s or more aged, buy I think he's fantastic !

I arrived at Lake Kuccharo by 2:30 PM. I set up my tent on a large grass site with a nice breeze from the lake ($200). I've been watching there for a while and here seems to be quite popular, a large grassy site became full of tent. Is the distance of about 100 km from Wakkanai a popular reason ?

There were a few cyclists as well. But the most interesting traveler is a couple with a motorbike HONDA Cub. They are pulling a trailer and the wife is in the backseat. They are hardcore traveler have been doing this kind of travel for about 25 years since they were married. It's a great one (of course his wife, that is ...). They're also been traveling abroad, backpacking style. They caught me on my way to wash the dishes and we talked for about 40 minutes.

For dinner, I added a vegetable and chicken garnish to the kohlrabi pasta. Cucumbers and tomatoes are in a salad. The drink is still 'Slat' as usual, but today I decided to go with something different: white peach and chardonnay. Before the dinner, I went to a hot spring in a nearby hotel, and the sodium hot spring made my skin smooth and smooth, and it kept me warm and warm after the bath. It was a quite nice hot spring (550 jpy). I have set up my tent near the benches, and I'm writing this transcript on this record, with the wind blowing in my face. It is the most amazing feeling !

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From Cape Hinode To Lake Kuccharo 95km

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Hokkaido Touring Day 12: Met a nice cafe

English | 日本語

I woke up with a sore throat around 2:30 pm. Caught a cold? For now, I'll take a cup of kudzu root water and slept again. 5:30 AM, I'm awakened by a noisy crow. My throat is a little better, but my bronchial tubes still feels heavy. Today, I'll be shorten the distance and buy medicine at the pharmacy on the way. Breakfast is a bread + peanut butter, coffee and a banana.

I started cycling at 7:30 AM. First, I stopped to Seicomart in Yubetsu town to get an ice-cold plastic bottle to keep my foods cold, to reflect on yesterday. There has also an eat-in space and rechargeable, so I took a coffee break to charge my battery for about 30 minutes.

I arrived at Monbetsu around 9:30 AM. Today there seemed to be a festival day, and there was a parade of portable shrines and a mountain of stalls. I didn't have enough charge of my battery to find a charging spot again here, but I couldn't find a convenience store with an eat-in space. Instead of the charging spot, I discovered "K's Electric shop" and got an SD card case and a rechargeable beard trimmer. After that I felt much better of throat, but I bought a bottle of kudzu root water at the drugstore and drank it. Since both food and alcohol were sold in the drugstore (and they're cheap), In addition I bought foods for dinner and some protein powder.

I left Monbetsu and headed to Roadside Station Okoppe. On the way, I stopped at Okhotsk village for a rest. There was an outlet in the break room here, so I charged battery here. Now a day, the bicycle camping travelers need a lot of electronic staffs so finding chargeable place is always major problems. I also bought tomatoes and cucumbers directly from the farmer.

The roadside station, Okoppe, has a lawn and a rest stop accommodation with a railway car. And of course, there are electrical outlets. Moreover, they said there is free for pitching a tent. The toilets and water are clean. It's unquestionably great. However if I stay here today, there's no hot springs (that's just a problem) and a little more distance the next day. So, unfortunately, I didn't stay there tonight. But next time I'd love to stay there !

Across the street from this roadside station, I had lunch at a cute coffee shop. I ordered fried rice and iced coffee, and they even lent me a power supply. While I'm waiting the dishes, I talked with friendly couple of the master and his wife for a small hour. We talked about cooking for themselves and I asked, "Hokkaido's rice is delicious! But what's the best ?" "is Yumepirika !", they answered to me. Next time I buy rice, I'll definitely do that. They also let me know the hotel near Cape Sunrise I'll stay tonight has the best hot springs in this area, and the beauty of the seasonal scenery around here. There was no shortage of things to talk about.

I departed the cute cafe reluctantly and I ride remained 10 km. Arriving quickly and I set up the tent and washed clothes there (400 jpy). Then I went to the hot spring (a bit salty) and went back to dinner. Here is not in a forest camp site, so there are not so many mosquitoes, the wind is nice, and the view is good. I'm little afraid that will I see the sunrise tomorrow, as Cape Sunrise is named?

So far, I don't seem to have any problems with my health. I drank a cup of kudzu root water before going to bed just in case. No mosquitoes today, but there were lots of ants instead. Today, I exchanged greetings with six cyclists. This is just the summer Hokkaido scene.

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From Gokazan Park to Cape Hinode 70km

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Hokkaido Touring Day 11: Okhotsk Cycling Road & Unexpected Reunions

English | 日本語

Last night it was hard to sleep because of the noise of cars on the road and the snoring of the campers who came after me. But I woke up around 5:30 AM and had breakfast with the bread and coffee I bought yesterday.
After that, I took care of the bike chain. On the way to the restroom to wash my oily hands, I had a 20-minute chat with a rider on his motorbike YAMAHA MT-09 from Otaru.
I was back to my tent but the sun still not yet rise up. I need to wait until the sun comes out for drying the tent. So I went to a guy who suggest me to pitch a tent here and I gave him a bottle of chu-hai for his kindness. And then I asked him where the laundromat was. He kindly told me again and would show me around, but I refrained from doing so because it's hard to getting there on a bicycle and a bike.
By the way I did not take a picture of the commemorative lake side photo yesterday, so I shot it.

I left at 8:00 AM and didn't seem to be too tired from yesterday. On the way to the laundromat, as it happen the rider from the gas station gestured me out that there was over there. He's really nice, isn't he?
However, after I quite lost, I was able to get to the laundromat finally. I never mind there have been the place he told me or not. It was relatively cheap, 700 JPY for washing and drying. I'll be washing all the laundry that I had accumulated today.
Next to the laundromat is convenience store Lawson, there is a power supply and WiFi in eat in corner. I was allowed to use it until the end of the laundry. It was so convenient. If you see Lawson, you might want to take a break to be actively.

After a short ride, I found the Okhotsk Bike Path. It had been recommended that I should go here before. As soon as I entered, I saw a variety of scenery in the forest, in the fields, by the lake, and so on. It was nice to be able to taste them with no car traffic ! However, it seems to merge with the public road on the way, so It is a bit unfortunate that I can't go to Lake Saroma with the same atmosphere.

I encountered two motorcycle tourists on the way. It looks like a father in the front and a mother in the back with a child on their back seat. When I talked out to them at the traffic light, they were a family of four from Iwate prefecture. I asked to the father what do they do because of the small amount of luggage, he said they are staying in hotels and lodging. Well, they are touring by motorcycles, but the style is similar to the car touring, isn't it ? But it is much different from using cars that they can feel the clean air enough like a bicycle touring ! The signal changed and they went ahead.

Approaching from the "Tokoro Ruins Forest" side of Lake Saroma, the road to the "Tokoro Ruins Forest" is not accessible I continued on along Lake Saroma. In this touring, I took video footage with an action camera, took photos with a digital camera, and those for sending on LINE are shooting with my phone. Today, I tried shooting video with the digital camera instead of the action camera. It's easy to shoot because the images can be monitored. How's the video? I'll have to check the battery life too. But I think it would be better to take pictures and videos on a digital camera and the camera and the phone could work together... (I couldn't use the video on the camera because the blur was so bad.. And as I write this article in 2020, everything have been on just one smartphone !)

I joined route 238 from Lake Saroma and entered a soba noodle restaurant to have a meal. Surprisingly, the motorbike touring family I met before was eating soba noodles. I talked with the father for a while. It is interesting to meet people on a trip.
Speaking of interesting reunions, while I was stopping at a roadside station after this, I saw a Super Cub (motorbike) traveler. And then we met at the same campground tonight. He said he had ridden 400 km from Chitose and it was his hobby to conquer all the roadside stations in Japan. He said he's going to ride around to Nemuro tomorrow and visit all the roadside stations in Hokkaido. He says that even with a load of camping gear, the fuel economy can be 70 km/liter.

Instead of the Kimneup Campground I had planned to go first, I went to Gokayama Park (500 jpy), which is a little bit further down the road, where the hot springs are nearby I decided to stay at the campground.
I got a smooth skin in 'Tulip's hot spring' near the park (500 jpy), and the water was not too hot and pleasant. I bought ramen noodles, salad, and a can of chuhai on the way to return the campground.

When I started to cook a dinner, I threw out the vegetables I carried around because they were hurting. I forgot to buy a iced water bottle today, but I need to take care of them even in Hokkaido because the bag I bring for vegetables is not a refrigerator.
Tomorrow, I'm pondering which I'm going to ride 130 km/day to the free Ustaive Senjojiki Campground, or to stay on schedule. But I need to charge my MacBook, so I'll have to take some time to break touring.

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From Lake Abashiri to Goshikayama Camp Ground 97km

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Hokkaido Touring Day 10: Shiretoko Pass Downhill !

English | 日本語

Today I woke up at 4:00 AM in order to climb while not raining and had coffee, bread + peanuts butter, and a banana for breakfast. I left at 6:30 AM with my spirits up after being threatened so much yesterday.
The beginning of the climb was a little tough, but I climbed slowly with low gear. I cycled with calling out to the deer, healing by Kumakoshi waterfall, and looking down at Rausu and Kunashiri Island under the clouds. The feeling is so good !

I was ready to see when the push would come, but not needed. During this climb, I also incorporated some restful dancing ride. I use two heavier gear and slowly put my weight on the pedals while stretching my legs. This allows me to stretch the muscles I have been using during the sitting session, so I could climb without getting too tired. Of course, I'm not going to get any faster, but I'm not competing for speed, so I'm going to be more aggressive using the dancing ride from now on.

I've met some good taking photo opportunities along the way. But It was a little disappointing that I didn't saw Lake Rausu and passed it because I didn't notice the entrance of Lake Rausu bus stop where was a few kilometers from the Lake Rausu. If I had gone there, however, I would have arrived much later, so it's okay.

While I was taking pictures at the Shiretoko Pass, a cyclist came up on Bridgestone Anchor road bike. He was dressed so lightly that I thought he was a local, but amazingly he told me he came from Tokyo. He said he had only brought a small amount of clothes with him since he had only three nights holidays.

The downhill from the Shiretoko Pass felt really good. It took me two hours to do the 15km ascent, but the descent took only 30 minutes for 25km. As I was descending, I saw some cyclists coming up the mountain, so I cheered them on.

The town of Utoro I arrived from the downhill has the World Heritage Site of Shiretoko in front of it, and foreign tourists can be seen here and there. At the roadside station, I entered a museum of Shiretoko. I thought I would have something to eat as I was getting hungry, but no restaurants were opened yet maybe it was still too early morning. I think here does not yet become a complete tourist destination.

I left Utoro early, stopping at the Oshinkoshin Waterfall, a part of the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage Site, in Shari. By the way, I heard that Kumano-yu I visited yesterday is also part of the world heritage site. On the way to Shari town, I saw many Ezo deer in a fence at a place called Shiretoko Ezo Deer Farm.

It started raining as soon as I arrived in Shari Town around noon. I ate Ezo Deer Genghis Khan at Shiretoko Kitchen Kumako for lunch and to take shelter from the rain. The meat came from the deer farm I saw earlier. By the way I saw Ezo deer on the road three times today. There really seems to be a lot of them.

I arrived at the planned campsite in Koshimizu town at around 2:00, but I was not yet tired. As it was still time to go, so I headed to the Yobuninoura campsite at Lake Abashiri, a little further down the road that I had heard about before. I took a wrong turn on the way and went about 2.5km too far and lost 5km. I was complainting to myself on the bike. When I arrived Abashiri City, I went to a supermarket in order to pick up some food. And then I stopped at a one-coin shop and bought a freezer pack and a hair elastic as a smart phone stopper.

Finally I arrived at the campsite around 5:30 PM. While looking for a place to pitch my tent in the rain, I heard that a trash shack with a roof was available, so I set up my tent there. The young man who told me about is from Hokkaido and seems to come here often. Afterwards he brought me some hot mini cup noodles. I'm thankful that people everywhere are so kind to bicycle tourists.

The rain continued to fall and I didn't want to get wet again, so I didn't go to the bath today, but instead wiped it off with a towel and changed clothes. My head became little itchy.
I ate spaghetti with scallops and cod roe, miso soup, and pumpkin salad for dinner. I woke up early today, so I'll go to bed at nine o'clock. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, but it's less than 50 km to the campground I'm going to stay at tomorrow, so I'll do my laundry and charge my MacBook before heading out of Abashiri City.

Today I crossed a 738 m pass and I'm not tired for riding nearly 120 km distance. I've already done nearly 1000 km of this touring and my body seems to be completely built up. I feel like I can run all the way in as long as the fuel(food) is replenished.

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From Rausu to Abashiri 116 km

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Hokkaido Touring Day 9: Approaching Shiretoko World Heritage

English | 日本語

I woke up at 6 am. I lookup the crisp sky and It's going to be hot. When I went to the bathroom and shaved, my face is slippery because from TsuruTsuru hot spring yesterday. Moreover I can see not much gray hair, maybe because of this bicycle touring lifestyle. I think a bicycle touring is good for anti-aging measures. Why don't you try it? I ate ramen noodles as a breakfast and my ramen stocks have run out.

I took a break at Seicomart with a view of Mt. Rausu across the bay. An elderly motorbike rider was resting too and eating onigiri (rice balls), and I had a little chat with him. He told me that he lives in Soya, Hokkaido and he is riding around whole Hokkaido after retiring.
"I wanna go to Cape Kiritappu, how about there was ?" he asked me.
"It was so cold three days ago that I needed down jacket." I answered.
To hear that he was pondering whether he should stop going or go somewhere else. In resulting I ended up taking a break for more than 30 minutes there. Like anywhere else, time flies when I'm taking with person while taking a break like this. It is one of pleasure for touring.

I arrived in Rausu and went to buy lunch and dinner, but there were no supermarkets and not many food shops. There is nothing for it but to go Seicomart again. They say it's a world heritage town, but I think this doesn't attract tourists very well. I'm better that way....

After about 3 km of steep hills to the camp site, I arrived at the Rausu Onsen Campground (Tent site + 400 jpy for garbage). It was hot today, but the distance was short and I felt it's a blink of time. The caretaker didn't arrive until 3 pm, but I heard it was OK to pitch the tent first, so I pitched it and did some laundry. They will dry quickly because the weather is still good. Since it is supposed to rain tomorrow, I will take them in at night. .

There was "Kumanoyu' which means bear's hot spring on the opposite side of the road of the campground. I went there at once. It is a real town-owned hot spring with a rocky open-air bath near the river and a hut, and the fee is free ! The water was hot, but the smell of sulfur was strong, white and very pleasant. In Hokkaido touring, I'm blessed with hot springs everywhere.

I talked to a number of other campers at the campground, and they told me it would be difficult to climb the Shiretoko Pass from the Rausu side. Speaking of which, a cyclist I met in the hot tub earlier asked me the same thing. The Rausu side is pretty steep, and the Shiretoko side is more gradual, he said. There's only about 15 km to the pass, so I'm afraid of bears, but I may push them if I can't continue climbing, right?
Yeah, I got the answer ! the reason why does everyone go around Hokkaido in a clockwise direction is because of this pass ?

In the evening, there was a Korean cyclist who came over on a Moulton. He said he often comes to Hokkaido. The direction of his route was also clockwise... I cooked rice for dinner, and had corn croquettes, spicy curry, small tomatoes, cabbage, egg salad, and three cans of chuhai. Tomorrow I'll cross the pass but rain is forecast, so let's leave early.

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From Nakashibetsu to Rausu 70km

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