Asahidake

After 3 years in Japan, I have finally gotten to Hokkaido!

And to start off with the big picture, we headed up to the central part of Hokkaido, to climb Asahidake, the tallest mountain on the island. We set up camp at the base of the mountain, with a nice warm, tasty curry for dinner, and only a couple million mosquitoes.

In the morning, we set off up the cable car to the base, with a beautiful view over the surrounding hills and valleys.

Asahidake

A live volcano, one whole side has small steam and sulfer vents sprouting up here and there. The hiking path meanders along the side of this valley, and up a ridge to the top, 2290.9m above sea level. 

The fog arrived just as we reached the top, but that merely gave the snow field we found on the other side a more wintery touch. 

A long chain of people was making its way down the snow field as we got there, but we took the fun route down and ran/slod out way to the bottom, picking up a stranded and nearly dead dragonfly en route, and carrying it to safety, a coupe minutes down the road, when it had finally warmed up enough to fly off. 

On the other side of Asahidake, a series of hills and valleys, a mix between Star Wars and the Canadian Rockies. A Hokkaido bear was sighted further up the large valley, but our path led away to the other side of the ridge, and back into green, lush valleys.

At the edge of a small stream, another small steam and sulfer vent bubbled up, creating a lovely, if somewhat smelly, little hydrothermal pool. 

Following the stream that quickly got much larger as meltwater flowed into it, the path continued on a series of wooden pathways through flowered meadows and snowy streams.

A 6-hour hike, but mostly spend wandering quietly amongst beautiful mountainsides, flowered valleys and wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.

An absolutely magnificent start to my visit to Hokkaido!