Hiking the Hakkoda Mountains

Usually, Saturday is our "adventure" day, this weekend our Saturday was pretty calm with just the fireworks festival in the evening. So, today I was able to coax Keenan into a hiking excursion. The weather forecast was looking good, but of course it was foggy and threatening rain in Misawa. We decided to test our luck. As we drove, it rained. As we came around the north side of the mountains it suddenly stopped and the sky was clear with bright fluffy clouds, perfect! We took the gondola up the mountain to give ourselves an easier start, then took off on the trail. Learning right away that the weather at the bottom of the Hakkoda Ropeway does not always coincide with the weather at the top. We experienced clear skies, fog, drizzle, raindrops and then clear skies again. When there wasn't moisture coming from the sky it was dripping off of the leaves we brushed against and walked under on the more covered parts of the trail. 

We didn't get an early start today and knew we probably wouldn't get up to the crater of Mt. Otake (Ohdake) so we just hiked a small loop and went back down on the ropeway. 

See bottom of the post for more details about location/getting there/cost.

Below is a shot of the map I found with hiking trails. The entire map can be found here:

http://www.heronet.ne.jp/~rfstark/IS2004-Hakkoda%20Hike%20Map-GEN.pdf

Beautiful weather at the bottom of the ropeway!

View of Aomori City and Mutsu Bay.

"Mt. Akakuradake, Mt. Idodake and Mt. Odake still have clearly defined crater. Hakkoda is a group of volcanic mountains created from a series of geologic activities. The Northern Hakkoda Volcanic Range was created about a half million years ago and is the newest in the area."

Lake Towada Fireworks Festival 2014

We've been in Japan long enough that some of the things we're doing are no longer "first time" happenings. This was our second time going to the Lake Towada Fireworks Festival and once again there was a chance of rain and I had to do a little convincing to get Keenan to go. Glad we went, there was no rain! Take your blanket and enjoy the festival food and drinks! My favorites are the ones that they drop into the water so they explode on the surface...stunning! Here's the link to my post about last year's festival: First festival, food and random adventuring.

The drive to the lake takes about an hour and a half depending on traffic. It's about 60 km (37 mi) from Misawa.

GPS coordinates to festival site: 40.426574, 140.892787

Pork belly...thickest slice of bacon
I've ever seen!

Crepes.

Ferry boats that will get you up close to the fireworks!

We're Going to Alaska! Or Not?

Once upon a time we had grand plans to visit our friends stationed in Alaska. "It's easy to get on a Space Available flight to Alaska" we heard over and over. So Keenan blocked off a couple weeks of tentative vacation time so we could be flexible on our dates. Lucky for us right around that time there was a Space-A* flight heading from Misawa to Alaska, with 50-something seats tentatively available. Perfect! We packed our bags, let our friends know we'd be our way in a couple days, reserved a rental car, made hotel reservations for a night or 2, etc. Well, it didn't quite all work out. When we went to roll call for the flight, they announced that instead of 50-something available seats there would be ZERO! Ahhh! So disappointing!

So our options were to forget the idea or search for another route. Yokota AB in Tokyo also has Space A flights to Alaska sometimes and they had one on their upcoming flight list that was happening in 2 days. Also with 50-something seats available. We decided to get on the train the next morning and head to Tokyo. I called them and they said there shouldn't be any changes to that flight. Obviously, still not a guarantee.

Off to Tokyo we went, Alaska rental car and hotel reservations revised. We went down to spend a day in the city and a night at Yokota AB before the morning flight roll call.

Storing our luggage at the train station.
So convenient!

Are We Still on Earth?? Lava, Mud & Steam

Today we ventured to some places in Iwate and Akita Prefectures unlike any we've visited before. From hardened lava devoid of vegetation to bubbling mud and steam vents, there were several times we wondered if maybe we were on a different planet!

See map at the end of the post for route and location details.

I obviously couldn't capture the sulfur smell of these places (too bad, right?), but here's a video compilation of bubbling mud, boiling water and steam vents from two of the places we stopped.

First stop was Yakehashiri Lava Flow on the northeast slope of Mt. Iwate. A 1732 volcanic explosion formed the lava flow which stretches out over 3 kilometers and is 5-10 meters deep. There's a hiking trail so it's not too difficult to explore. I believe the entire hike takes 1-2 hours. We turned back before finishing because the skies were threatening rain...glad we did! It started raining right as we got back near the parking lot. Luckily the rain was short lived!
Yakehashiri was about 140 km from Misawa and took about 2 hours to drive there. Tolls cost about ¥3,200 one way.
GPS coordinates: 39.875210, 141.047291

Tsugaru Kokeshi Museum

About a week and a half ago, before our Kyoto/Hiroshima trip, we had made a quick stop at the Tsugaru Kokeshi Museum in Kuroishi. We didn't go through the museum part, just checked out the gift shop area. Some wooden daruma dolls caught Keenan's eye, but at the time we didn't buy one. When I say "doll" it's not really a "doll," just a cool painted head. Well, he couldn't stop thinking about them and we looked for something similar while on our trip. Never saw anything like them again. This is the first time he's had remorse over not buying something...I've done it multiple times so I knew we should get one. Today I went back to retrieve a daruma doll. As you can see by the picture below, they are pretty awesome.

I took the mountain route and stopped off at a couple places. Azaleas were blooming at Suriennuma Pond. So pretty! Also stopped at Jigokunuma Swamp which is a terrible smelling place...lots of sulfur in the water!

Suriennuma Pond.

Jigokunuma Swamp.

The sign at the swamp, it says it was formed by a volcanic
eruption of Mt. Hakkoda. Every minute 2,700 liters of
hot water comes out of the bottom of the swamp.

Tsugaru Kokeshi Museum! The museum has a few signs in English, but a lot of it is only in Japanese. There are over 5,000 kokeshi dolls on display and many daruma as well. The 11 styles of Kokeshi are displayed with a short description of each type. You can paint your own kokeshi as well, but reservation is required so call ahead! **I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing you would need someone that speaks Japanese to make the reservation**
It's open everyday 9:00-17:00 (16:00 December-March). Admission is ¥320.
http://tsugarukokeshi.com/index.html
GPS coordinates: 40.606559, 140.676458 (see map and additional details at bottom of post)

Foot onsen outside the museum.