Date

2022-10-27, Thursday

Distance

58.34 km (935.52 km in total)

Of today’s travelled distance, 26 km is uphill; the steepest part of which is of 9% of incline and the highest point sits at 490 m (which we climbed from the sea levl).

The scenery was stunning, but the climb was absolutely brutal. Even worse, the entire stretch had zero supply point. At the beginning we could still see farms and houses scattering all over the place, but once entering the hill (or Montrealers would call it a mountain) and passing beyond the last vending machine that was miraculously standing in the middle of nowhere, there was absolutely nothing beside trees, streams, and the road. Absolutely no 4G signal either for the first time since I arrived in Japan. Luckily, this seems to be an unusual route to take, hence the traffic was very light, which gave us a sense of safety and serenity.

Going downhill in the shade is more scary than climbing up for me. However, thanks to my new eyeglasses that don’t jump up and down on my face, I was finally able to see things with a constantly clear sight. Once we biked across the long stretch of slope, we began to see farm houses again. Unlike in most central part of this country we had passed through, here farms (presumably of dairy nature) are large, and houses are sparsely distributed. This part of Hokkaido, like Canada’s landscape, finally resonates with what had been described in the manga / anime Silver Spoon: you need to walk 2-3 km to meet your neighbours.

After taking a bath in the nearby onsen, we camped in a public campground next to the ocean in Shibetsu (標津). It’s quiet and relaxing except something is to happen at midnight …