Sunday, June 17, 2012

Day 4: Lake Iwanoai to Forest Campground


Tuesday 12 June 2012

Day 4 Lake Iwanoai to Forest Campground 124km (425km total)

Last night I decided to alter my plans (again!!) to stay in the mountains for another day and stay overnight at a campground marked in the Touring Mapple, all the while heading northwards.

I had a great start to the day – Fearon made me breakfast of crepes with raspberry jam, coffee and orange juice. Yum!  He also gave me a few firecrackers that I could throw at a bear if I happen to meet one on the road (or outside my tent (!!).  I am really happy to have them, just to know that I could scare a bear off if need be.  Hopefully I won’t see one!
There were lots of foxes with cubs all over the road today, and little squirrels zapping across the road in front of me too!  I managed to get some fox-photos, but no squirrels – they are too fast!

 So, today was another long day with plenty of hills, but is all just so beautiful in the mountains that I couldn’t be happier!  Certainly, the mountains provide some good protection from the relentless and cold wind!

I am not certain about the name of the campground I am staying at tonight - it is Kanji but says something along the lines of "in the forest" or "part of the forest" Campground. There is a cabin here with a kitchen, bathrooms and a log burner.  I have started a half-arsed fire, and will probably sleep on the floor of the cabin overnight rather than set my tent up and be cold outside (the campground is right at the top of a mountain and it is really cold tonight!).  There is a Japanese couple camping overnight in their camper van, but otherwise I have the campground to myself. Perfect!  The man is very nice, and speaks good English, so I could have a chat to him while he enjoyed a cigarette, and then later in the cabin at night… he and his wife are on holiday from Honshu.



So, I plan to scoot over to Hamatonbetsu tomorrow, which is only 60km… I should be there around lunch time, so I’ll probably take a look on my map to see if there is another town along the coast maybe 20-30km away… it will certainly make my Cape Soya-Wakkanai day a little easier (98km from Hamantonbetsu).

Update: half-arsed fire worked out great and heated the whole cabin up beautifully!!

1 comment:

  1. Loving the photos - it all looks so beautiful and green. Foxes look cute too!
    Changing plans constantly are what cycle holidays are all about; free as a bird :). Keep enjoying your adventure!

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