Weather:
I do believe that a lottery is done to decide how the weather will
be. Today my name got 'pulled out of the hat' because I had the right
weather at the right time.
MP3
track of the day: Climb every mountain – Sound of Music
Yamagata,
to me, will forever be associated with early starts:
- I was checked-out by 7:00am.
- I had put all of my bags into my car (had a quick look for my baseball cap – no such luck) by 7:15am.
- I had gone to 'Vieda France' and devoured the same breakfast I had eaten yesterday by 7:45am.
- I had got back in my car and was out of Yamagata by 8am.
The
weather looked good and so, as promised, I headed away from home and
up Zao-san, for the second time, to see if I could see this crater
lake. As I wound my way up familiar roads, I kept one eye on the sky.
From this low height all looked good; as of yet I couldn't see the
summit but visibility seemed to be okay. I decided to proceed onwards
ignoring the part of my memory which reminded me that, two days ago,
the weather also looked good at this height.
It
seemed to take forever to drive up this mountain. I realised that I'd
gone a slightly different route, to two days ago, when I drove up one
peak, only to decent back into the valley and to start climbing all
over again. All the way I was willing the car, and the weather, to
play their parts and when I eventually saw the 'rope way' I jumped
for joy. You see two days ago, when I was standing at the bottom of
the rope way, it lead into a thick white cloud. Today I was still
only halfway up the mountain and, not only could I see the rope way
in the distance, but I could see it's terminus and blue sky above
that. I put my foot down and continued to climb with haste. Knowing
my luck from yesterday I wanted to get their before that blue sky
turned into cloud.
Instead
of using the 'rope way' I drove on and paid 500 yen (instead
of 1,400 Yen to use the 'rope way') to
park within a car park next to the crater. I quickly put on my
walking boots and almost ran to the edge of the crater to get a photo
before the weather had time to change it's mind. Once a photo was
taken I calmed down and took in the view; it was unbelievable. To
my right was the path I'd walked up two days ago and I could even see
the car park I'd parked in. Looking at the path, we had come so
tantalisingly close to the crater two days ago and yet, because of
cloud, we had no idea. Moving my head slowly from right to left I got
a fantastic panoramic of the area. In front of me was a valley with a
small stream running towards a waterfall; I could tell that it was
the same stream which I'd photographed two days ago because I saw the
different coloured rocks. To my left was the crater and within was a
turquoise coloured lake; it was so beautiful. As I studied the map,
given to me by the parking attendant, I realised that the path
leading left, around the crater, was leading to the summit of
Zao-san. Originally my plan for the day was to spend as little time
as possible here due to having an eight hour (now nine as I'd
driven one hour in the wrong direction) car
ride home however, now here, I could see the summit and it was so
close. I might never come back here, I thought to myself and, with
that thought, I put one foot in front of the other in the direction
of the summit.
Keeping
the crater lake to my right I pressed onto the summit stopping
occasionally to photograph the crater from different angles. I only
did this every-so-often as my reserve battery was indicating that 33%
or less of battery life was left; it would have been a shame to have
come all this way without a photograph of the summit.
After
a steep, but short, climb over some loose rocks I made it to the
summit. I asked a woman, who sadly was waiting for husband to catch
up, if this was the top and she said yes with a big smile. I, not
being too sure, saw that there was a long, but narrow, plateau behind
me with a small temple on. The temple seemed to be around a five
minute walk away and, from this angle, it also seemed to be a little
higher. I therefore walked to the temple, took a few shots, and then
headed back towards the crater lake path and back towards the car
park.
The
time was now 10:30am and there was still one last thing to see. To
get to the summit of Zao-san I had taken the left-hand path; the
right-hand path was tiny but it did climb (almost
vertically) towards another
small shrine. I therefore bent my back a little to keep my weight
forward and started to climb quickly. Once at the shrine I took a few
photos before walking to the point where Mike and I had turned around
two days ago. Once there I backtracked past the shrine and back to
the car park. After purchasing a bottle of water I looked back in the
general direction of the crater. The weather had been stupendous; I
couldn't have asked for better. I might have been sunburnt (I
did apply sun cream however, with no hat, it would have been a
miracle to leave that place without a little more 'red' added to my
white skin) but at that point I
didn't care. Zao-san had given me a perfect parting gift and I
thanked it for it. Also, while stood there, I tried to answer a
question all of my friends asked me before leaving “...so do you
think southern Tohoku will be better than northern Tohoku?...”. I
have to be honest and say that it took me, almost until I was home,
to reach a conclusion but, I would say, yes. It is only a small
victory for Southern Tohoku and not, I think, for the reasons my
friends would automatically decide upon. I would say that all cities
within Tohoku aren't that great at all; the northern cities beat the
southern ones only because their summer festivals are better. I
didn't like Sendai or it's eastern coast, whereas in the north I
didn't like Aomori city. The south wins because, even though the
north has some really pretty scenery, the south has two or three 'jaw
dropping' pieces and Zao-san is the best.
With
the above debate going back and forth within my head, I drove out of
the car park. The time was 11am and there was a huge queue of cars
waiting for spaces. As I drove further down the mountain the queue
must have been a good two miles long and I was thankful that I'd got
here at 9am.
By
midday I was back where I'd started in Yamagata. I filled up with
fuel for the final time and made the 'great push north-east'. My
journey home would resemble a huge set of steps. First, I would head
north for about 3hrs before heading straight east for around the same
time. Afterwards I would head north for an hour before heading east
again for the same amount of time. Even though my route was direct,
it wasn't the shortest in time; google had wanted me to stay on the
'13' (the major road heading north/south on the western
side of northern Honshu) for
longer however, the '13' is pretty dull. Like my dad, I don't mind a
longer journey if it means driving along more interesting roads; with
this in mind I travelled up 2/3rds
of the '13' before turning off and taking a road which would climb up
a mountain and then fall down into the valley below (where
there should be a huge lake).
After this I would cross the '4' (another boring road which
is the major north/south road on the eastern side of northern Honshu)
and across some more mountains
until I arrive in Tono. Once in Tono, which I have been to many
times, I would follow my normal path home. As I said earlier, the
time was midday and so I made a note to see how long it would take. I
drove out of the petrol station straight into the second lane of the
'13' and put my foot down.
I
had reached the point where I was planning on heading east at around
2:30pm. To celebrate the fact that I was thirty minutes ahead of
schedule, I allowed myself a short break at a local convenience store
before hitting the road once more. According to my map, the next leg
should be a more interesting drive and, as I looked at the mountains
in the distance, I increased my speed in anticipation.
The
drive up and down the mountains was indeed spectacular. Like all
other mountains in northern Honshu, they rose up so straight and
defiant that the road meandered tightly. The ever present forest, and
the occasional landscape view, were indeed impressive however, it
wasn't until I reached the lake that my jaw dropped for the second
time today.
The
lake turned out to be a man-made one, due to the biggest dam I've
ever seen on one side. The road went along a huge bridge which turned
in line with the edge of the lake, giving you a splendid panoramic
view of the lake, the mountains and the forests. This lasted for,
what seemed like, half an hour and with the sun setting the area put
goose pimples on my arms.
Pressing
on I entered a town which hugged the flanks of the '4'. Reluctant to
cross I finally entered the eastern side of Iwate and, even though
the mountains were still ever present, the scenery had changed in
some way that made it feel familiar.
The
mountainous roads continued to ascend and descend through spectacular
scenery. The light was fading fast and it was almost gone as I drove
into Tono. The time was 6:00pm and I was now an hour away from home
(I had therefore managed to shave an hour off my journey;
and I'd made three 'wrong turns').
Finally I turned right onto the '106' and found myself within very
familiar territory.
As
I approached the centre of Miyako I stopped for tea before parking up
within my parking space. I had promised myself that, once home, I
would do nothing but chill and sleep however, having found some
energy from somewhere, I unpacked and sorted out all of my stuff
before going to bed. As I lay there I thought about the last
fourteen days. Three festivals, the biggest city in Northern Honshu,
a top scenic site, two volcanoes, one castle, two Buddhist temple
sites and a hell of a lot of driving. Not bad I thought to myself;
not bad for £550.00 (forgetting the shoes I bought and the
presents for my schools).
Toodle Pip!
Well this marks the end
of this trip however don't be sad; in just over a week I'll be
travelling once more. The destination this time is the island of Sado
for a drum festival. It's going to be epic and it starts with a, sort
of, nine hour 'rally stage' drive. More to come travelling fans!
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