Day 27 - waterfalls, waterfalls everywhere!

September 29 — Oirase Gorge

We were up early to pick up our rental car at 8am and then drove to Lake Towada where we parked. We then took the 10:15 bus down to the start of our hike, and walked back upstream. We expected a lovely riverside trail. Ten miles and many stops later, we reached the car around 5 p.m., having found one of our favorite hikes in Japan.

Oirase Gorge follows the only river flowing out of Lake Towada, an ancient volcanic crater lake. The path stayed close to the water as it curved through forest, rushed around mossy boulders and spilled over small falls. The rapids looked almost impossibly white against the dark rocks. We watched large fish holding steady in the current, found mushrooms growing from fallen trees, and came upon an artist painting beside the river.

A sign explained something we had been noticing: plants were growing on rocks right in the stream. Because the lake supplies most of the river’s water, its level is relatively steady, giving roots a chance to take hold. Near the lake, we reached broad Chōshi Falls, which fish cannot swim up to enter Lake Towada.

The quiet lakeside also told a less cheerful story. Tourism here had been declining before the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, but the disaster brought another sharp drop. Hotels and shops closed afterward, and some of the empty buildings we saw remain part of its legacy. The gorge itself is far inland from the coast that suffered the tsunami, yet the economic effects reached here too.

We lingered until late afternoon, then drove over the mountains as darkness fell. That part was trickier than planned—but the walk was worth it. Tonight we are spending the night in Odate!Read more