June 17

Pirika - Lake Toya


It's after 9 and I'm only just starting to put fingers to keyboard.  Long, hot day but a beautiful hotel on Lake Toya.  Our room looks out over the lake and the nightly fireworks display has just ended.  Dinner buffet was really good.  I got in a very short walk by the lake after dinner, but I'm thinking it would really have been nice to have a rest day here.  

Last night's accommodation was more like a hostel.  While I had a room to myself, some people were in another building and it looked like some of them had 5 or more to a room.  Oh well - a good breakfast was provided, and we're off again.........  While we didn't have any ocean views this morning, we did parallel some interesting major construction for quite a while.  I'm assuming this is the construction of the Bullet Train infrastructure which is due to be completed by the late 2030s.  Huge project with massive employment.  Just the number of people employed to man all the entrances to access points is overwhelming!





I didn't stop for very many pictures today.  Long day, and I'm already slow enough.  The temperature started out quite comfortable - around 20C, but quickly got into the upper 20s, and during some of our climbs in the afternoon it was into the mid-30s C.  I certainly consumed a lot of water today!  

Stopped briefly at a little sculpture park in the one of the small towns.



Big Torri Gate du jour, with the shrine up some stairs to the right.



Wonder if it works.........


Apparently Niseko is a major Jap Pow ski area.  


Lots of evidence on the roads that we're in snow country.  We also saw a lot of those sand bag boxes on our climbs today.


I didn't see my first rice field until about 50 km today.  



I think I noted earlier that we've seen very little traditional Japanese architecture so far on this island.  This is about the most "Japanese" building I've seen.


Lunch today was at about 71 km, at a cafe in a town a bit off course.  We had burgers/sandwiches instead of our usual assortment of salads.  Very tasty, but I'm generally quite happy with the salad selections everyday.


We started getting glimpses of Mount Yotei shortly after lunch and it was with us for many miles.  Kind of a poor man's Mount Fuji for the island of Hokkaido.






To be continued.  Gotta get some shut-eye...............


Had an brief stop at an ostrich farm.  I pulled in for a butt break, but the birds were entertaining.



Lots of other agriculture today though - wheat, hay, potatoes, carrots, cattle, pigs, and other unidentified crops growing neatly in rows.



Saw this building high on a hill.  It apparently is The Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spa; a luxurious high-altitude hotel known for hosting the 2008 G8 Summit.  


A final big (hot!) climb up to a lovely ice cream stop, then downhill 10 km to our hotel right on the lake.  









Stats for the Day:

Garmin:  132.0 km.  4648 feet up.  4743 feet down.

RWGPS:  133.9 km.  1817 m up.  1853 m down.



Lake Toya

AI Overview:  Lake Toya is a stunning volcanic caldera lake in Hokkaido, Japan, located within the Shikotsu-Toya National Park.  It is famous for its panoramic views, year-round hot spring resorts (Toyako Onsen), an active volcano (Mt. Usu; last erupted in 2000), and a nightly fireworks display from late April to October.  The lake remains ice-free in winter.  

The town of Toyako has a population of about 8,000.  In 2008 it hosted the G8 Summit.  Looks like our hotel is right on the lakefront.


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