Leaving Kushiro, the third largest city in Hokkaido with 160,000 residents. Not far off, you wind into the hills towards the crater lake of Mashu.
Patches of light on spindrift. Some sheen on the ice. Ripples of colour on the lake.
On to the next lake Kussharo, party of the same crater system created over millenia by volcanic action. What was then a natural disaster, is now a refuge for nature as a national park. And a refuge fir people from their lifes.
Swans near an onsen on the edge of an icy lake. A refuge from winter in the warmer waters on the edge for swans and ducks.
Up the hill to Bihoro pass. Exposed to the elements I feel I am in my element. Wind I need to brace against. Spindrift to turn your back to. Trees with shafts of light that comes through the scudding clouds. Footprints in the snow that are erased in minutes. Fingers that freeze in much the same time.
But you are alive and alone as you are the only one out here. Foolish enough or smart enough. You decide. I did.
Next stop, the swans at Sunayu. Very popular with tourists who come and feed the swans just the other side of the do not feed the swans sign.
The swans do not seem to mind, but there is less goodwill amongst them as they argue about the popcorn.
In between the shoving and pushing, and I’m not talking about the swans here, I do manage a few photos and move on. The tourists do not seem to walk far.
