74 — Rausu-dake 1661 m
22 August 2021
Start & endpoint: Sandan hot spring
Distance covered: 14.4 km
Time: 5h 25
Vertical gain/descent: 1444 m
Weather & Visibility: clear, hot and sunny
Good For: views of the sea of Okhotsk and the Shiretoko peninsula, bears although I didn’t see any.
One thing I really like about being in the mountains in Japan is meeting random people that speak English. On Rausu I met a hipster Japanese looking young guy with a German accent, turns out he is from the mountains in Austria but has Japanese heritage so was able to get into Japan during COVID. On the way down I met a Tokyoite who just had a fight with her man and decided to turn back playing tunes on her phone to scare off the bears. We had a little chat and I showed off a new word I had recently learned from a friend who lives in Tokyo → innakamono → I am super innakamono, from the countryside, my friend from Tokyo was super not innakamono. Rausu itself was a beauty.
