A bit of a blur of a week down the northeast coast of Hokkaido, from which I’m having to use photos and Strava posts to remind me of – not the best sign.

Off the ferry, we weren’t in Wakkanai for long – a helpful wind pushing us around the bay in the late afternoon heat. We diverted up a steep sweaty climb on the Path of White Shells – road surface is coarsely crushed scallop shells, long bleached by the sun. More sika deer, but the highlight was the dusk views of Rishiri, Rebun and finally we could see Russia forty-odd kilometres away.

The northern tip of Japan, Cape Soya, was reached soon after. The tourist traps all closed for the night, the small numbers at the monument were quite bearable. We pottered for a bit before trying to find somewhere to camp. We found a great spot next to yet another artificial harbour – picnic shelter, power outlets, toilets and grass. The only disadvantage was the fishing boats going and coming from two in the morning – diesel thrums disturbing any remaining sleep for me.

A few days of about a hundred kilometres with few hills along a more prosperous looking coastline (compared to the northwest, fewer abandoned buildings, bit more going on, plenty of scallop processing plants and big dairy farms) commenced. Thankfully, while still hot, we didn’t have high humidity to deal with. I got a bit tired of seeing so much concrete in the sea – coastal protections, artificial harbours; unlike the northwest coast we did see, and stop at, some beaches which were pleasant.

The highlight for me was a friendly Japanese couple, Yumi and Ken, that we met at one of the free campsites. They are from Yokohama area and were traveling in their van for a week or so – Ken having been to Hokkaido forty-odd times. They seemed keen to meet foreigners and spoke English far better than we speak Japanese. They invited us to dinner and Ken cooked up a storm, we’d previously resupplied to cook for ourselves so there was plenty of food and Sapporo beer over a fun discussion. It was good being able to ask some of the questions of Japanese life and language we’d been accumulating.

There must have once been a train line running up the coast as we kept seeing signs – disconnected bits of rail trail, old rail corridors and later old steam locomotives on display. There were even a couple of places where you could stay cheaply in an old carriage that had had seats removed and hard sleeping platforms installed – unfortunately we didn’t find them at the end of any days. My curiosity of what the line was used for, when it closed and its general history was never satisfied – there were no helpful information boards.

One big section was rideable – twenty three asphalted kilometres into Abashiri (which is still serviced by Japan Rail, so no more rail trail for a while), it looked like it had been converted to trail decades ago and generally neglected. Nice to be off the road though. Previously we’d ridden a similarly old section of sealed rail trail, after bashing through a bit of gravel road overgrown with bamboo, which was deserted and delightful – until we got to a bridge that was closed and barricaded. A bit of backtracking was needed through the nice forest, thankfully we didn’t come across the bear that had left some droppings on the path some time earlier.

The Abashiri Prison Museum was an interesting historical glimpse into Hokkaido. I hadn’t realised that the island hadn’t really been set up for settling until late in the nineteenth century – and then mostly to ward off the “menace” of expanding Russia. Prisoners did a lot of road, and other, building quickly in demanding conditions. Having spent a decent period there, we didn’t have time to get out of the city so went to the nearby auto-camp, Tent-o-rando, to find the campsites were “full” – so we opted for a small chalet for the night. The ride off the hill the next day was great – first a very impressive playground to explore, then a fun route of gravel back roads through forest and farms before a long stretch of rollers through cropping land.

Lunch in Shiri near the railway station showed a town that didn’t look so neglected, which was a nice change. The heat ramped up again that afternoon as we headed back to the coast on the nastiest section of highway we’ve encountered – no shoulder and the edge of the lane was in very poor condition. Thankfully drivers remain courteous. Stopping at vending machines for a cold drink, we found a delightfully retro coffee shop run by two senior women. Photos of the pack of ice, that comes down from a Russian river, to block in the harbour in winter were shown. The closest we got were the ice cold towels provided to cool us. I was interested in a cabinet of classic Japanese cameras, but bemused by the Colt 45 and 9 mm pistols sitting on the bottom shelf.

A couple of waterfalls to see and tunnels to negotiate and we were in Utoro, our gateway to Shiretoko National Park before the forecast rain arrived. While I posted another kilogram of unneeded gear home, Rachel and Orlaith were checking into the campground and being told of trail closures due to a hiker having been dragged into the forest by a bear – eek.

Photo dump still here.

A long day of delayed flights and, subsequently, a rushed transfer at Tokyo Narita led to Rachel and I assembling bikes in New Chitose Airport. That is, until a security guard, confirming stereotypes, moved us outside to the heat and humidity. Our introduction to Japanese riding was a short one to a campground, but involved a big highway that felt like bikes aren’t allowed on it (they are) – thankfully traffic was light and Japanese drivers are very courteous to cyclists.

Light rain overnight continued well into the morning, but it was still hot and humid. Orlaith arrived (having flown in earlier the previous day and camped further out of town) while we slowly organised ourselves and repacked – not much fun in the rain, bi6t I think I was tired from the previous day.

Eventually we found our way back to the airport so I could post a box of gear home – not much need for water filtration, woollen layers and other sundry items in Japan during summer. Starting on the Chitose to Sapporo route, our next stop was a bike shop for Orlaith’s gears to be tuned. The friendly proprietors let us dry our tents on various racks while we discussed our trip and derailleurs were returned to full function.

Leaving Chitose town through a light industrial area (I was probably the only one that enjoyed that) we were soon in flat market gardening territory, all this interspersed by occasional clusters of houses. Just as well the riding was easy as it was hot, humid and sunny – not conditions I thrive in.

From the outskirts of Sapporo we followed a shared path (may have been an old rail corridor) past a huge baseball stadium – I’d spotted the immense structure (I think it was so imposing due to its retractable roof) miles away. After the only thing resembling a climb all day, we started looking for somewhere to camp – but found an onsen first. The onsen provided somewhere to shower, and bathe in hot pools, but it was so hot outside all night that any benefits of being free of sweat were soon negated as we backtracked a little uphill to camp next to the trail. We were definitely camped on an old railbed – almost impossible to get pegs in the ground. Another fairly sleepless night of heat, humidity, sweat and buzzing mosquitoes.

Sunday had us cruising into downtown Sapporo from half-six. A staggering number of locals were out this early running and biking, trying to beat the heat. We mostly followed off-road cycle trails until the last few kilometres. With a few errands to do, there was some waiting to be done before shops opened. The route we were following had dumped us outside the main railway station, so with help from the staff we stored our loaded bikes at a bike park and set off for coffee, tea and cakes.

Long underground concourses provided some respite from the early Sunday heat and humidity. When we popped above ground we were fortunate to walk up on the popular historic Sapporo clock tower chiming ten o’clock and also stroll through a long strip of park. Some errands were successful (most importantly I replaced my air mattress after three weeks of not-so-comfortable camping) and some were unsuccessful.

Heading out of town on river trails, we couldn’t go by the Sapporo brewery without stopping for a drink. Easy late afternoon riding took us to the coast and a campsite at a popular beach. I even went for a swim! It was warm and very nice to wash off some of the day’s sweat. We made it to the restaurant at the nearby onsen just before the kitchen closed – phew!

Monday our travels up the coast, mostly on the main coastal road (not too busy), began in earnest. Hot again, the many tunnels (some five kilometres long, I reckon twenty kilometres in total tunnel length) both cooled us and saved us a lot of climbing in the heat and humidity. For the first the footpath on the edges was wide enough to ride on, but after that we were riding on the shoulder and that was fine – as the traffic was courteous. The biggest hazard I found was the unbelievable noise – even tiny cars made a horrendous racket, I resorted to earplugs for my sanity.

We saw a little rice growing early in the day, but generally we passed a lot of declining fishing villages (most with artificial concrete harbours) and efforts to keep nature at bay – concrete coastal protections, snow drift fences, cliff stabilisation, and the tunnels and rock shelters too. Significant civil works, but it was hard to determine just how much they were protecting as little of the land was being used and the settlements seem rather hollowed out.

There were some big bugs that easily kept up with us rolling along at more than twenty kilometres per hour. These apparently had a bit of a bite, but nothing compared to the Japanese hornet that got me – the swelling of my left arm is only just starting to fade after five days of mild itchiness, numbness and enlarged forearm.

Somehow we stopped at a local fish market which was interesting, and good inspiration to seek out a renowned restaurant further north – very good seafood ramen for lunch. With rain forecast we found a guesthouse in an old sake brewery in the larger town of Mashike. By the time the owner had explained proper bin, shower, kitchen and slipper etiquette there was insufficient time to visit the sake museum – so we made do with a stroll around the harbour and walking into the set of The Birds. Crows were the prevalent creatures we’d seen all day, but the numbers perched on docked fishing boats and then circling above were quite alarming – hundreds of them!

Only one tunnel left for the rest of the two days north. After missing out on supposed prevalent tailwinds in Mongolia, we had a couple of days with helpful wind assistance – still few hills around the coast, which is getting a bit tiresome and disengaging as far as riding goes, just as well there is plenty to look at. The highlight of those two days was the campground atop a cliff at Shoshambetsu – views up the coast, a lighthouse, beautiful sunset, good facilities and glimpses of the island of Rishiri with its peak, a symmetrical volcano, dominating.

Trying to find better cream to treat my swollen and itchy arm wasn’t completely successful, but did lead us to a great little bakery for intricate cakes. The fishing harbours continued, but we finally began to see some of the dairy farms which Hokkaido is supposedly known for. Not that we saw many cows, they must live in barns most of the time, but there was plenty of haymaking going on. Finally saw a full-sized windfarm, rather than the dozens of farmlets we’d grown used to, as we passed the 45th parallel – noteworthy as I live on the other one.

With significant rain forecast for two days, we decided to take a rest day in the northern town of Wakkanai. It didn’t rain at all on the first day, we rode around a bit doing a loop up to the cape north of town, and climbing a steep hill to visit an observation tower with an interesting local museum in the lower levels. With not too much difficulty with an acute language barrier, I finally got the click from my bottom bracket sorted by a local bike mechanic – that sound had been annoying me for some time.

Looking at far too many weather forecasts we planned to catch the ferry to Rishiri the following day and see if the rain would slowly ease as forecast…

As before, phone photos are dumped in a folder – this one. Different to before, there aren’t many photos sitting unseen on my camera from the last week – there hasn’t been a lot that I thought was worth the effort of dragging my camera out when a snap from the phone that is right there suffices.