Chokkai san

(Chokkai seems to be more commonly spelt as Chokai but the kk like the ss of Gassan indicates that there is a kind of  glottal stop in the middle of the word so it sounds like Chaw//kai not Chaaawkaaiii and Gu//san not Gusaaan).

From Kisakata we climbed up the  road that winds up  Chokkai san from the Yamagata side. Despite the haze, the view was spectacular.  Government efforts to have people spending money by lowering road tolls and having a five day holiday were working well if the cars in the carpark there were any guide.  There were cars from literally all over Japan.  We saw vehicles from every region (except Okinawa obviously as it is closer to Taiwan and has no bridge joining it to the main islands): neighbouring prefectures, Kanto, Kansai, southern parts of the Japan sea coast, Hiroshima & surrounds,  Shikoku, as well as Hokkaido.  Hiro had never seen such an array of differently plated cars in Tohoku  - even in Tokyo the number of Tokyo plates dilutes the rest considerably.

We started climbing from the Akita side, with no intention to climb the 8 km one way to the summit.  Hiro has been here many times, and had memories of a lake part way up - we climbed for a distance but upon being told it was a steep 4km hike from the carpark made a unanimous decision to skip the lake. 8kms isn't so far but becomes a lot further when it's steep and you haven't eaten much.

We went back down and had a late lunch at a michi no eki  - kind of travellers rest / farmers market - before setting off into Akita.  We spent Tues in Odate before making a gruelling 9 hour trip back to Tokyo! Fortunately we avoided traffic congestion of all description and it wasn't 12 hours :)

Chokkai san

Chokkai san in late March.

Where is Yamagata?

Knowing where Yamagata is  will make these entries make more sense.

                       

The mountains of Dewa Sanzan are located between Yamagata city and Tsuroka. Chokkai san is close to the coast on the northern border (with Akita prefecture). The link below is a general Yamagata sightseeing link.

http://www.yamagatakanko.com/english/kokusai/index.html

Zao

Sat am. saw us sleep in beyond the alarm; 6 was always going to be optimistic.

When setting out, a bit before 8, most cars northbound cars were Tokyo plated, by the end of our first break however much more of the traffic was from places south of Tokyo. 1 As could reasonably be predicted, on a 5 day holiday, traffic was heavy. The information sites that give frequent updates on the 'jutai' or heavy traffic situation had little cheery news; the 'jutai' extended from Tokyo through Saitama, Tochigi, Fukushima and Miyagi with expressway traffic travelling at 30-50kms for much of the trip. A BIG bonus of motorbike travel is being able to weave through traffic at a standstill.

Turning off the Tohoku expressway at the exit for Zao less than 300 ks but 6 hours laters, we stopped for some much anticipated lunch - soba noodles.
Inspired by Japan Rail East's promotion posters from a couple of years ago,  I've been wanting to go to Zao for a long time. Could it really be as impressive as the posters?

It was. It was exactly like the posters. A comment which could be interpreted as one of disappointment, but it wasn't. It was spectacular. It was also very cold and very windy, which meant we opted not to climb to the shrine at the top. My ears were happy with the decision. It reminded me of being in Kaifeng where the Siberian winds necessitated buying a scarf to cover my head - ears- as well as one for my neck. Brrrrrr... no old ladies on the mountain selling silk scarves. Perhaps that's a business idea for when the new govt. axe Hiro's job....

Footnotes

1. Japan divides number plates into quite small areas - usually a couple for each prefecture - so you can tell with reasonable accuracy where a car is from. Just in case you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Japan.