D1 Zao ONSEN

Route: Kaminoyama - Zao onsen
Bicycle: 32 km
Train: 350 km
Total ascent: 983 m
Average speed: 8,2 km/h
Riding time: 3 h
Weather: very sunny but it is autumn now, 20C

Another long weekend, and for this one I had reserved back in August a hotel in Zao onsen. And ONSEN is really the right word for this trip. It was definitely more time in onsen today than on the bicycle.

This here is one of the free rental onsen in the hotel I am staying.

But the highlight of the day was the big Rotenburo onsen of Zao. In principle, a simple place, but wonderful. It is an onsen located right by the side of a small hot creek. They are channeling the water through a big stone pool, but one can actually even sit in the stream itself. Surrounded by trees in a relatively narrow valley. It is a famous place and was well visited when I was there today. But not too full. No pictures were allowed obviously, so I only took picture of the small creek a few meters downwards from the onsen. 

But I started this ride back down in Kaminoyama onsen, a railway station on the small Yamagata Shinkansen. I had come through this small city 7 years ago, when I cycled from the very north of Japan to the south on my Brompton. The not so old castle was still standing.

 

But for me, it was up into the mountains to the famous village of Zao onsen. I read about this place quite frequently on the Japan guide forum pages when people ask how to come here. it is a famous winter ski resort and specially famous for what they call snow monsters: trees, full of snow and frozen. But that doesn’t winter when I will not be here by bicycle. As for the previous weekend, I had actually reserved two different places, the other one in Yamanashi prefecture, but my main goal was to come here and when I checked the weather a few days ago, it seemed that it will be very good weather here.

Being a ski resort in winter, and obviously means that the village is halfway up on a mountain.On my way up, still at a pretty low elevation, I saw this khaki fruit stand. It did sell an entire basket for ¥200, but it also have some car kaki for free to taste right there, and a small knife to cut it down.

From there, it went up and up, but the elevation was generally OK even with my relatively heavy bag. I couldn’t really decide what weather it would be so I have a little bit of everything a warm jacket and cycling T-shirts.

At the entrance to the village is this very idyllic lake. It just doesn’t sound very idyllic because the road is relatively close by so one can hear quite a lot of car noise.

 

For koyo it is still too early, at least at a height of about 900 m. Let’s see tomorrow whenever I ride further up to this mountain if the autumn leaves have started to turn red.