Day 19 - Kutcharokohan campground rest day
Well it has rained all night and is still raining this morning. As it looks like it is going to be raining for most of the day I've decided to have a rest day. As location is nice, next to onsen, restaurant, pretty campground and shops. So for the rest of the day I watched a bit of Netflix and went to the onsen.
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Day 20 - Kutcharokohan campground to Teshiogawa onsen - 73kms
Well it did stop raining last night. Was still dry when I packed and rode out by 8am. A couple of kilometres down the road it started to rain again. It was just drizzle, but enough to get you wet. This lasted for the first 25km then it cleared up as I was riding past dairy farms.
When I was at one of the rest areas a retired Japanese couple came over to talk. The gentleman spoke good English and told me they were touring Hokkaido and he used to be a newspaper reporter. They bought me a coffee, which was very kind. Everybody I've met have been so friendly and helpful. It makes traveling so much easier. For lunch I stopped at Otoineppu. I went to the local train station, as there is a small noodle bar which is renowned for having the best Soba noodles. When I got there the place is operated by a husband and wife team. Both looked well passed retirement age. I got my serve of noodles. The noodles are black in colour and were super tasty. After lunch I only had a few kilometres to go. Tonight I'm staying at the Teshiogawa onsen hotel. It is on a big river and is surrounded by mountains and forests. It's a nice and peaceful location. I checked into a room at the hotel, as I wanted to dry off after the last couple of days of rain. I took a Japanese style room, which has the roll out mat bed. I enjoyed the onsen and dinner before retiring to my room for the evening. |
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Day 21 - Teshiogawa Onsen to Lake Shumarinai - 68kms
After a relaxing sleep, another dip in the onsen and an enjoyable breakfast I was riding by 7:30am. I rejoined highway 40 and headed for Bifuka, which is about 30km down the road. This road is one of the main ones going north, so there were a few trucks. The drivers are always great, but as there was a good sidewalk I rode along this instead.
At Bifuka I restocked my supplies. As where I'm planning on camping tonight there are no shops. Once restocked I rode up Bifuka Pass. A nice climb to just over 400m. With some good views of the forests I was riding through. Once I summited the pass I began my descent towards Lake Shumarinai. It was a fast ride down. About 2km before I got to the lake it began to rain. Thankfully there was a shelter at a lookout. This worked out well as it was also lunchtime. So I had an extended lunch until the rain passed. I made my way to the campground at Lake Shumarinai. It is a pretty big campground. They were busy painting everything brown ready for the season which is due to start shortly. I got a nice spot near the water. It was still very grey but the views were good. |
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