The Mountain (Asahidake)

On Aug. 12th (my 5-month and Lizzie's 5-day anniversary of being in Japan), we got up at 6:30 as we had every other morning since the kids got up early, I was in a dairy farm rythm and Lizzie was still experiencing jet lag. Makoto drove us the Asahikawa Station where we caught a bus up to the tallest mountain on Hokkaido (Asahidake).
Our first stop was at the Youth Hostel where my friend Kei had worked for 2 years. They gave us some recommendations of where to go for lunch and a hike. We decided not to take the gondola up the mountain because it was quite expensive and we really just wanted to wander the little town. I hope to go up it some day though because at the top you can see the steam rising out of the volcano craters.
We wandered down the hill from the youth hostel to one of the two restaurants in town. We had a beautiful lunch of a variety of Japanese foods, complete with a cafe latte pudding for dessert that was served in such a cute bottle, I bought one at the front desk after.
From there we took an hour or so hike through the forest to a lookout. The trail was really pretty and reminded me of the mountains back home, but sometimes of the Amazon too. We ended up at the base of the gondola where we took a peek in the visitor's centre. From there, we went back down to the youth hostel just as it started to rain. We found a little camp shelter near by where we waited out the rain while eating blueberries and chocolate.
Lastly, we went in the hostel's hot spring, oh my, simply marvelous! Lizzie and I stipped down to our birthday suits (very suitable for birth budies, eh?) and relaxed in the indoor pool and the outdoor one that was surrounded by natural greenery. Just as we were about to leave, we noticed that it had started to pour again so we went for one last dip outside. What a fabulous feeling of freedom, being naked in a pool of hot water, out side at a mountain, surrounded by trees and having the rain pour down on top of us.
Back in Asahikawa, our lovely host family met us at the station once more to bring us our bags and insisted on treating us to a delicious dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant nearby before we caught the train to Bibaushi where we stayed the night in a hostel there.