Got to see the campground we stayed in with some daylight. Lovely park grounds, with a river nearby we took a quick look at.
More flat rural riding for twenty kilometres before turning to climb five hundred metres up to Lake Mashu – a large caldera lake with an extensive viewing area. Large visitor centre and cafe too – pristine melons for $NZ170, we restrained ourselves.
Sneak peak of Mt Io and Lake Kussharo, showing further signs of volcanic activity.
New friends in the toilet block – which is not where one really wants to meet new friends.
Start of the trail to Mounts Mashu and Nijibetsu – no hiking for us today though.
I was surprised to see a sibling of my gravel bike (RLT9) – the bike I planned to ride around Japan, until I decided to go Mongolia too. It belonged to Jen (Xian?), a Chinese American who we kept bumping into over the next week.
Jen’s photo.
We very quickly lost those five hundred metres.
Soon at the volcanic area at the base of Mt Io, walking out over the flats with steam billowing around – quite like near where I spent my much younger years in NZ. Equally parts refreshing and alarming, you could get really close to the various features!
Into the onsen town of Kawayu, we found our rider house accommodation for the next two nights (a rest day! I was very much looking forward to it). Far nicer than our previous rider house experience, we settled in before a short walk around town.
Our stuffed bear numbers now thankfully far surpassing our live bear views.
Without our bags, it was nice to ride twenty kilometres in the woods, near the shore of Lake Kussharo to the Wakoto Peninsula.
As well as throwback pedallos, this beach had hot water – one could make little pools or just warm feet in the sand.
Easy going road.
At the peninsula there were more hot springs, plenty of people around and apparently a lot of crows – Orlaith lost a packet of chips/crisps to one bold corvid. With a bit of time on our hands, we all did our own thing. I walked around the peninsula:
Started out a gentle path.
Fascinated by woodpeckers, although most of why is lost in a snapshot.
Still more geothermal activity.
The crowds started to thin as the afternoon approached its end.
After seeing Jen again, briefly (she was riding and staying further on), it was time to return. The ride back got quicker as the light faded, plenty of deer sighted – and all avoided on the road thankfully.
Trying to fit in back at the rider house.