D2 Yatsugadake View Road

Route: up to Märchen Straße and down again
Bicycle: 41 km
Total ascent: 1064 m
Average speed: 11.9 km/h
Riding time: 3:28 h
Weather: sunny, 15 C

For today I went further up the mountain. In principle to two spots famous for their koyo… only that I was way too late for this. The birch trees, which seem to be the most abundant trees on Yaktsugadake already had lost all their leafs and a few maple trees were mostly barren as well with a few remaining red leafs.

The view , however, from the highest point of my ride, at about 1700 m, was fantastic. Higher than several of the mountains around it, but there was actually a road that was going further up.

Riding up in shorts and short sleeves was the perfect thing to do on the way down I put on my warm leg covers, the arm covers, a cap, a scarf and an additional long sleeved cycling underlayer. 

I could have probably ridden further up , but I prioritized a visit to an onsen halfway down the mountain that I had seen on Google maps, as well as on the way up. An onsen, which was besides a modern art museum, which I didn’t visit and which was standing there, a little bit like a foreign object in this nice landscape. 

Today I planned my timing much better. I checked when I took the pictures yesterday at the station which seem to be a good time to start riding back from the Osen the last eight back to my accommodation, so I could get down before it got too dark. But that still allowed me to see the sunset over Yatsugadake while lying in the hot waters of the rotenburo. 

So while I didn’t see the call you, I was aiming for, I still had a perfect day outside on this mountain. And I’m already planning my next visit to this area. Maybe in May when the days are longer and the nature should be green.

While my hotel is simple, it has several convenient points for me:

• Cheap cheap at about ¥7000 per night.
• Very close to a convenience store.
• Bookable without breakfast and dinner.
• With a small and simple onsen, but including a rotenburo.
• And close to a train station, in case I don’t want to cycle up here, or I want to leave from here by train. I don’t think the train runs at high frequency, but it’s still run several times a day so should be reasonably usable.

What was surprising that I saw only one other cyclist in the entire day. And it was brilliant weather, perfect for riding and also the roads had not too much traffic and those wonderful views. There were a lot of motorcycle riders and also cars… not too many, but only one other cyclist.