Day 16

It was an extremely windy start to the day. A visit to the Wind Museum at Cape Erimo where the wind howls from two sides down to the Cape. They even have a wind tunnel to illustrate how strong the winds are. There is also a colony of seals there.

We then drove up the coast to hike to the top of Mount Apoi in the Hidakasanmyaku Erimo Tokachi national park. We hiked Mt. Apoi (810 m), a small mountain with an extraordinary geological story. It is made largely of peridotite—rock from Earth’s upper mantle that was pushed up from deep underground. The unusual magnesium-rich soil supports rare alpine plants, including species found only in this area, even though the mountain is relatively low.

The hike took us through forests and rocky alpine terrain to wonderful views over the Pacific and the Hidaka Mountains. From the top we could also see a large peridotite quarry, an interesting contrast with the protected landscape and rare plants around us.

Mt. Apoi is part of the UNESCO Global Geopark and the new Hidaka-sanmyaku–Erimo–Tokachi National Park—a fascinating combination of geology, unusual plants, and beautiful hiking.

After completing the hike we continued up the coast to station ourselves in range of the van drop off site tomorrow, we are camped outside what seems like the local gym/onsen. It is a large parking lot filled with campervans and locals.

In the morning we have to clear out the van for the drop off.Read more