A bit of time looking around the reservoir and over to the village’s ski slope before dropping through the hills to ride stop banks along the Shiribeshi-Toshibetsu River.
More matchstick logs.
Intrigued by this spiral bridge as we rode into Imakane – a relatively small town. Perhaps there is some big industry up there?
I’m still intrigued by this outsized bridge. Further research shows it’s the southernmost loop bridge in Hokkaido, but only services a few small farms up the valley (probably some forestry too) – but there is an alternative route. Seems complete overkill for a problem that didn’t really exist – and some reviewers seem to agree.
A pitstop in Setana for lunch supplies.
This led us back to a road beside the Sea of Japan – no longer designated a national route, it was super quiet.
More moving of large concrete shapes – nephews would be right into that.
More long tunnels cutting out the climbing for us – up to four kilometres long. Distinct lack of traffic meant both that they weren’t deafening, and we could test out the echo qualities.
Okushiri Island – would have been nice to visit, but didn’t fit into our schedule.
We found signs to a shrine three hundred metres above the road. The first staircase was imposing enough, thankfully neither of us fell trying to negotiate it. We decided against the more precarious iron chain route beyond the stairs.
Shrine that we didn’t get to way up there somewhere.
Along the coastal road finally we found some rock formations that looked like the things that they were named after.
Although I’ve forgotten which this was.
But we could certainly see the bear and cub in Parent and Child.
Even made it to the manhole cover.
The cliffs started to get rather photogenic too; the basalt columns particularly interesting.
They also made it to the local manhole cover.
Towards the end of the day, some punchy little hills kept our tired legs working. In one small coastal village, we came across what passes for a commotion in Japan – a lot of people standing on the side of the road looking into the forest for a bear that had just been seen. With all bear attacks over the summer, it was hardly surprising that everyone was a little on edge.
Into Esahi for the night.
Looking over to Kamome Island, no longer an island but home to a campground.
Kaiyomaru – a replica of a Dutch-supplied ship that sank in 1868. The wreck was discovered over a hundred years later and many artefacts now fill the replica.
After struggling up a steep road to Esahi town proper and getting supplies, a quick roll back down and across to the island – before a steep push up to see what this campground’s quirks were.
It was large, with another lighthouse, outdoor stage and plenty of sites to choose from. We chose one with a view over the Sea of Japan, set-up and enjoyed a spectacular sunset to cap one of our longer distance days in Japan – little climbing though. Possibly the best free campground we stayed at.
