June 16

Otobe - Pirika


Our route started out along the coast this morning, for about 40 km.  But first - a little detour (and hill) to avoid a tunnel.  Nothing like getting the heart pumping right away!  Nice views, though.



The temperature was good all day; high teens, low twenties in the morning and mid to high twenties in the afternoon.  The humidity was pretty high, but our climbing was limited.  It was pretty misty when we started out, but cleared around 10 and we had lots of sun in the afternoon. 

Just thought I would throw this in.  This is what a stop sign in Japan looks like.  The English word "stop" is not always on there; we just have to remember that its not a yield sign.


Some nice coastal views.



There were quite a few roadside shrines, a few temples, and an ocean-side shrine.


Kiganunseki Rock




Bus stop?  Inside was a bench and a snow shovel.


One of many tunnels today.


Bears are still an issue?  Apparently there are about 12,000 brown bears on Hokkaido.  We've seen zero.


More coastal scenery.







At this point our coastal journey ended and we turned inland.



Our biggest climb of the day, but once again RWGPS didn't qualify it as a "climb"; what??  Saw these boxes at regular intervals (as often as 1 per 100 m) throughout the climb.  The boxes appear to contain sandbags ("anti-slip sand" says Google Translate).



And once over the hump we were on to rice paddies and various types of agriculture.




Lunch at about 68 km.  I was ready for it...............  Back on the road.  We only had about 30 km to go, and we had a sweet tailwind for most of it.





One final (?) tunnel.


We are close to a dam.  We did climb to the top of it, but then veered right when it lay left.  


We're staying in a bit of a ski lodge tonight.  Right at the base of a ski hill.  The rooms are quite basic (shared toilets and onsen for a shower), but I get a room to myself for a change.  And - dinner was a buffet, and was actually surprisingly good.  Some people are in the habit of going out for a walk after dinner, but it was recommended not to tonight because some staff had seen a bear in the area earlier.  Oh well - time to get the blog done earlier.  Oh - and I looked more closely at my main water bottle tonight.  All that dirt I thought was on the outside, wasn't.  Yuck!  I did manage to get most of it removed........


Stats for the Day:

Garmin:  98.88 km.  2322 feet up.  1968 feet down.

RWGPS:  99.8 km.  1081 m up.  963 m down.



Pirika

Population:  ?

Kurplaza Pirika:  A hot spring hotel/onsen located in Imakane-cho, Hokkaido, offering access to skiing and natural hot springs.  Located in Hokkaido, this spot is ideal for those looking to experience local Japanese onsen culture and winter sports.  It is located near the Imakanecho Pirika Ski Area and Pirika Old Stone Bunkakan.


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