Hakkoda Ropeway

Going further up into the mountains after passing Oirase Gorge, we left the land of crazy color behind and got into the vegetation zone that has already been-there/done-that as far as fall is concerned and is gearing up for winter. The Hakkoda mountains get covered in snow up to the tippy-tops of the trees (Corey knows- he went snowboarding there last winter), but we wanted to see it before that happened.

They have a gondola that takes sightseers up to the top of one of the peaks for a little mini-hiking trail and (on a clearer day than we had) grandiose views of Aomori City and Mutsu Bay.

A gondola ride sounds kind of lovely, doesn't it? Get lifted over beautiful, serene mountain views, a nice relaxing trip up the mountain... yeah, no. You get shoved into a box with a hundred other people at a time standing squished like sardines with elbows jabbing into your stomach for the 10 minute ride, and unless you happen to be "lucky" enough to get jammed against the glass of the gondola on the outside ring of cattle passengers, the only views you're going to see will be of some man's neck mole. Oh yeah, and you wait in line for a half hour on each side to do it.

Aside from the gondola ride, the mountain experience was nice. We hiked around for maybe an hour, and it was definitely pretty up there. It smelled wonderful- like Christmas! Definitely my favorite smelling mountain. Click here for more Hakkoda and Oirase Gorge pics.

By the way, October is DEFINITELY the month to be in Japan. So you know, if you want to see any of these sights yourself, there's a nice warm guest bed waiting for you at Casa de Garson... :D