Noboribetsu Station
A chubby devil and a cute lamp post in Noboribetsu Onsen
If the previous day was spent hiking in the fog at heavenly heights in Asahidake, then this day was spent hiking in the hells of Noboribetsu Onsen: Jigokudani 地獄谷, or Hell Valley in English.
Jigokudani is a short walk from the bus terminal. Though one can actually get off at the last stop (N15) near the footbath, which is the last (or first, depending where you start) stop of the trail, I decided to start my walk from the bus terminal in order to see a bit of the onsen town.
In the onsen town, aside from onsens and hotels, were souvenir shops, restaurants, convenience stores, and tree-trunk shaped lamp posts. And, in random spots along the road, some cute little devils and huge scary ones. These devils sure were letting me know I was about to enter their territory.
Jigokudani is a short walk from the bus terminal. Though one can actually get off at the last stop (N15) near the footbath, which is the last (or first, depending where you start) stop of the trail, I decided to start my walk from the bus terminal in order to see a bit of the onsen town.
In the onsen town, aside from onsens and hotels, were souvenir shops, restaurants, convenience stores, and tree-trunk shaped lamp posts. And, in random spots along the road, some cute little devils and huge scary ones. These devils sure were letting me know I was about to enter their territory.
I also passed by Enma Shrine, where Enma, the hell king, comes to life at scheduled times of the day. Unfortunately, my timing was off and visited when he was as still as a stone.
Enma Shrine
It was a 10-minute slightly uphill walk from the bus terminal to the bare and smokey Jigokudani. From the observatory, I could see billows of steam down in Hell Valley. A little too far to see. So I made my way to another lookout for a closer look. That lookout brought a clearer view of billowing smoke behind mounds of dry soil, but, still, I wanted a more closer look (where I could feel the heat from the bowels of the earth and not just the sun).
Jigokudani or Hell Valley
Down the stairs to another lookout
When, at last, I found a boardwalk leading to where the steaming action was. It was the Tessen Pond Lookout, but I couldn't see any pond—was it behind the mountains of dry soil, where all the steam was coming from? I could see a stream coming from that direction. Hmmm...Or maybe it was that teeny tiny body of 80°C water in the middle of the observation deck?! It had a sign that this small body of water is an "intermittent spring/geyser".
Boardwalk to Tessen Ike Lookout
Getting steamy here
Feels like a demon could appear behind the rocks at any moment
I did not want to stay too long lest the geyser explode in my face and I made my way back to the shady hiking path which led me to Oku-no-yu, a small black sulfur spring with an inviting color and an uninviting temperature (85°C), and then to Oyunuma, a pond with a surface temperature of 50°C (the bottom may be a boiling 130°C). Behind Oyunuma was Mount Hiyori silently expelling smoke from its top.
Shady hiking path
Oku-no-yu
Mount Hiyori and Oyunuma
Steaming Oyunuma
Oyunuma feeds its hot waters to Oyunuma Brook which leads to the last stop of my hike: Oyunuma Footbath, where I rested my weary feet in its warm, healing water.
Oyunuma Footbath
Good way to end a hike
Welcome Demons near the footbath
The journey through hell took me about two hours and it wasn't all that hellish. As Winston Churchill would say: "If you're going through hell, keep going."
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