Hirosaki to Noshiro(B-12)⭐⭐⭐⭐’23.8th,Oct
This route B-12 is in Area-B “Tohoku". See Area-B map/See Japan map
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Food & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐ Up to your plan
Easiness ⭐⭐⭐
Road condition ⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐⭐
I started AM6:40. It was very clear but below 10C, so I wore a winter suit. From the city toward N-W on prefectural route-31, Mt.Iwaki could be seen(pic.1). When I crossed the Iwaki river, Mt.Iwaki could be seen w/o any obstacles(pic.2).
After 4km from the starting, The R-31 crossed Yamanami rode, so I changed the route to Yamanami rode so that I could feel Mt.Iwaki much nearer. The road was agricultural road and relatively wide. And soon the road sides became apple orchard. Aomori is the best area of apple production in JPN.
It was very nice to see the orchard with Mt.Iwaki(pic.5) though there were many up & downs(pic.7). After 20km cycling on the Yamanami rode, finally I reached the coast(pic.8). From there I took R-101 which went to South along the coast. So I could enjoy many unusual terrains along the coast.
One of the best spots along the coast was “Senjo-jiki"(pic.9), 15km cycling after reaching the coast. There are many similar places in JPN but here was relatively big space.
When I was about to return to the road, a landlady of the shop “Tanaka"(pic.10) talked to me to have a rest inside. Aomori dialect was very tough to listen to but I was under her pressure, and was invited to the shop eventually. But it was nice to rest there. She served a grilled turban shell at very low price and a hot Japanese tea which gave me enough rest for the rest long journey.
I resumed cycling at 10:45AM. The road was not designed for cycling but it was not so busy and enough wide for cycling. Besides the sight on the right side was always good(pic.11).
Finally at 11:20AM, I reached Furo-Fushi hot spring(pic.12) which was my best destination in this trip. It’s a hotel but you can use the hot spring at \600-. First you enter into the reception(pic.12-2) and pay \600-. (I recommend to pay additional \300- for towel set. You can bring back a small towel with the print of letters “Furo-Fushi") Then first go to indoor bath to wash your body(pic.12-2 right). Again you put your clothing and then go out to outdoor bath(pic.12, right).
You can enjoy the Japanese sea wide view with dipping yourself in a golden color hot spring. There seems capacity limit so be careful at sunset time. I was in the bath for 15 min with feeling a cool wind on my face as well as feeling the smell of iron which made the spring gold. It was very comfortable.
Since there was no restaurant around this area, I took a lunch at the hotel facility, though the menu was not so special. I’ve already cycled 80km with up & down, so I took enough rest there to go the rest 60km. Fortunately there were no special up & downs after hot spring, I could cycle in a good pace. Gradually the Shirakami mountains appeared(pic.13).
My only regret in this trip was just skipping to go to “Juni-ko(lakes)" in this Shirakami mountain. On the R-101, I noticed many boards to invite me toward Juni-ko but there seemed a hill climbing over 3km from a junction and additional over 3km walking toward the main lake. I felt still tired and thought reaching my hotel would be too late if I go to lakes, so I went straight toward South.
After passing the prefectural border, the road again became flat and gradually Oga peninsula appeared behind a rocky coast(pic.16). After that, there was no special points and I could reach my hotel in Noshiro city around 4:00PM.
After taking a shower, I went out to dinner. Since it was Sunday, many restaurants were closed but I found a tavern “Tamura" which served local cuisine near my hotel. There were no so famous local foods but all dishes were a little different from we had in Tokyo area and their tastes were good.
Again after dinner it was very cold outside for me…
<Other recommendable spots near my route>
<Connection route>
B-11: Aomori to Hirosaki
B-13: Noshiro to Akita