Japan Bicyle Touring - Lake Toya to Noboribetsu Onsen: A long climb in the rain

Lake Toya to Noboribetsu Onsen
Distance: 29 miles
Total Distance: 1692 miles
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After a nice evening at Lake Toya, we headed on for a tough climb over Orofure Pass and the onsen town of Noboribetsu. We woke to a slight rain in Lake Toya which grew worse as the day went on. By the time we got to the top of Orofure Pass (a very tough climb made worse by the weather!) we were ready to find a place to stop for the day. We had a long descent down the far side of the pass and finally coasted into Noboribetsu onsen, tired and cold and ready for a hot bath!

We found a place to stay at an onsen hotel, and enjoyed our Japanese-style room there. After drying off a little, we went back out into the rain to tour Jigokudani, a valley full of boiling mud, sulfur pots, and steam vents. This is where Noboribetsu-onsen gets the naturally heated water for its baths, and it definitely lives up to the hype in the tourist pamphlets. We walked around for a couple of hours, and then finally returned to our hotel for a nice long bath and dinner.