Day 11-13: Tarumappu to Bibai

 Day 11: Tarumappu to Konpira 

Hours walked: 10:00- 5:30

Distance walked: 22 km

Cumulative: 255 km

Onsen visited so far: 4

Quote of the day: “I’m see-through white and I have this steak-colored neck!”

We got up early, and hit up the Seicomart for breakfast yogurt and milk to complement our dry cereal. The girls were thrilled when the playground opened at 8, and feverishly crammed in the fun for a precious half-hour. It was a tall, castle-shaped structure with a decent zip line behind it. 

We caught the bus back 40 minutes to our middle-of-nowhere stop (today happened to be Free Rides day on the Rumoi line, win!) Then we walked a hot, muggy morning - despite the late start, we knocked out over three solid hours of walking without pause; this is what happens when Levana takes a big nap. Tova asked many random questions about “what if you were an ant”, or “what if a policeman came and told you to get on the back of his motorcycle” (spoiler: he turns out to be an evil creep, not a real cop; “he brings you down into his basement, and you never see the light of day again” is how it ended. Brrr.)

Around 2:30 we blazed into the Sunflower Park rest station, a hyper-touristy, sunflower-themed complex. We had the ever-popular Hokkaido soft-serve cream, then took turns soaking and scrubbing in the onsen while the others played in the small playground outside. It was a pretty good onsen, with particularly hot baths, but quite crowded. 

Our campsite is a bit out-of-the-way: we had to walk an extra 2.2 km off-trail to reach it, which always feels longer. But it’s got a lovely shrine, a pretty view of the rice fields, and a few families hammering in stakes for their giant tents with their fancy mallets. We had miso, tofu, udon, daikon and carrot for dinner, plus a pretty nasty instant noodle mix, then watery cocoa for dessert. Levi ran amok the whole meal after being cooped up all day, pulling hair and upending bowls of noodles. Now the mosquitoes are coming out in droves; it’s 7pm and we are wrapping up for today. 

Levi packs up the tent

Pretty sweet ‘ground

We pass a few of these lovely temple entrances every day 

Tova sulks in a spectacular campsite

Fireworks on the grass, why not!

Day 12: Konpira to Takikawa

Hours walked: 8:00-3:00

Distance walked: 25 km

Cumulative: 280 km

Quote of the day: “you’re not supposed to rot before you die!” - Aurora, about Jakob’s woeful pinky toe 

Our day started with peanut butter and jam tortillas for breakfast, and blood smeared all over one of our tents; Jakob was taking revenge on the mosquitoes that had snuck in and feasted on us all night. 

It was quite a wet morning, so we practiced packing up in the rain. Tiny frogs hopped all around us in the grass. More rain was forecast all afternoon and night, so we decided to look for accommodation. This involves Jakob having excruciating conversations on the phone where  the two-way level of understanding is <1%. But in the end we seemed to have booked a dubururum and a triparurum in Takikawa, whereas “Kabin furu kabin no no no” in Shintotsukawa.

We read Nanny Piggins and did math, enjoying another mysteriously long rural sidewalk. Buying food at the Lawson took so long that an old man gave Levana a chocolate cream bun. Then she fell asleep, so we didn’t get to eat lunch until 2km from the hotel; gotta walk while the baby sleeps!

As we reached Takikawa, a gigantic glider silently passed overhead, then another; turned out there was a festival on that day! We admired the huge aircraft and talked about our post-Hokkaido family hiking plans. We got a weird bean cream bun at a bakery

Our hotel was a bit fancy; we got tokens for free weird drinks, Mozart played in the lobby and traditional fiddlers moaned in the distance. Our rooms were pretty plush with soft beds. Tamar and the girls went out for Indian food while Jakob nursed an achy back and watched a Japanese judoist go insane with grief when she got ipponed. 

Just before bedtime, a different kind of milestone: Levi took her first steps! Tamar and Aurora were sitting there, Levi was holding a plastic bag in one hand; this distracted her and so, to reach the next bed, she had to take that all-important step. Later we bribed her with cheers and applause and she managed a good three or four steps in a row. We were all elated. Go Levi!

Sunflower are a big deal in this part of the island

Tova the happy hiker 

Is it socially acceptable to plop yourself down on a street corner and eat lunch? Probably not. 

Levana upon taking her first steps :)

Day 13: Takikawa to Bibai

Hours walked: 7:30-2:45

Distance walked: 27 km

Cumulative: 307 km

Quote of the day: “His mouth will froth with kissy spit” (during poetry contest at km 25)

We slept extremely well in our fancy beds, and got an early start in the rain. To avoid the main road, we delayed our breakfast by 7km, subsisting on a few handfuls of nuts (plus Jakob tried to eat a disgusting snack mix with little silvery fish staring reproachfully up at him)

The main road really sucked, with tons of trucks hissing past in the rain - but at least its sidewalk never abandoned us. We ctossed one tempting parkland to bypass a few km, though Aurora had to wrestle the stroller on a dirt path. 

 

It rained all day long, and we got soaked. Zadie says, “I stepped in a puddle that went over my shoes and the water poured in.” Jakob was limping pretty badly on his purple pinky toe. But we made it to Bibai just in time to catch the 2:50pm train into Sapporo, where we’ll have a rest day tomorrow. Zadie: “we all thought it was the best hotel we had on our trip, me and Tova and Levi took a bath.” We had spaghetti and fresh vegetables for dinner, a refreshing change, then watched skateboarding in Paris for a few minutes before bed. 

PS no photos for today because it was so rainy, but here are two poems we wrote today while hiking:

It makes you tougher 

By Tova and Jakob

It makes you tougher 

To suffer  

To walk with pain 

In the rain 

You get tough 

When blisters puff

Your hair sags down 

You get a big frown 

Your socks get wetter 

You get better 

Bottles in your pocket 

You’re starting to rock it 

Better listen to your mother 

One foot, then the other 

You see a dead snake 

Shoulders ache 

Jacket’s fire-red

Legs stiff as lead 

Onigiri in the storm

Miso keeps you warm 

Bibai’s coming closer

Says it on a poster 

Blisters poked with pin 

Face wears a grin

It makes you tougher 

To suffer

We like to hike 

By Tova, Zadie and Jakob

We like to hike and see the rice

To crunch and munch and tea with ice 

Our shoes are new, the views are nice 

We like to hike; life’s paradise!

We like to hike, with high-stalked corn 

Those shoes are starting to get worn

Hokkaido ice cream in a cornet

Don’t get stung by a giant hornet!

We like to hike and play pretend 

Our shoes are used - they need a mend 

Japan is now a well-known friend 

We like to hike from start to end