Shretoko, another national park...

After a last minute decision a few us piled into two cars and drove north late on Friday night. We picked up Massoud from Chitose, a nearby town, and followed the GPS to Ala's house, nearly 4 hours away. Nothing to report from Obihiro except Ala's wonderful food and smile. After a slow start, we drove past Kushiro into the corner of Hokkaido - Shiretoko National Park, a World Heritage Site.

Shiretoko is know for bear, salmon and a rugged coast. Although the park seem rather controlled, it was indeed the most natural place I have seen in Japan. By controlled I mean it seemed as if no matter where you looked there was some human construction - check dams on the creeks, netted around craggy outcrops, 10 foot high fences. The tree plantings were the worst I thought but maybe necessary considering the burgeoning deer populations. Parks in the developed world suffer the same fate - Disneyland-i-fication. This is not a rant, I understand why it is done, heck, even would vote for it in some cases. But, I do like the American idea of Wilderness - a place without so many signs. But like I said, I am not bitter just a rambling.

A great group of folks as usual. The shot below has us all, Katia and Natalia from Brazil, Nina from Bulgaria, Ahmed from Jordan, and Massoud from Libya.

Our first day there we took a 4 hour boat ride up the coast. I must say a few tears came to my eyes after noticing the ship I was to board. The night before my mother's birth, her father's boat, the Aurora, crashed on shore during a large Monterey Peninsula storm. She was almost named Aurora. I had to lead a quick round of "Shipboard Nomenclature" for all the Yen in my pocket.

After a full day of short hikes and waterfalls, we headed back to our dirt parking lot to camp with a cleanest public toilets this side of the Adriatic. Katia took us all is a Japanese rousing game of Uno. Up in the morning for hike to a hotspring river waterfall. We were blocked from the 30 minute hike, but the presence a bears in the upper section, but fun was still had by all. Lunch at the visitors center and off for a lovely drive to Akan. Nat-chan and I at the pass with the Kurils Islands in the background - they are owned by Russia. Japan and Russia have gone back and forth on them a few times over the last 150+ years.