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2014

July 2014

  1. Week 101
    24

    Climbing Tomuraushi with Tony over two days and running out of water on what was maybe the best walk I've ever done.

2013

December 2013

  1. Week 66
    20

    My first real trip out to Shiretoko, touring of the Five Lakes district in the late fall.

November 2013

  1. Week 65
    20

    Climbing Yotei for the first time, alone in the early winter, and being absolutely floored by the beauty.

  2. Week 64
    6

    Twenty-fourth tour round the sun and I'm still enamoured of the autumn.

October 2013

  1. Week 62
    30

    Climbing Kogane-yama out west with Jordan, padding out the post with a bunch of rubbish about steep dropoffs

  2. Week 61
    7

    Running 10 kilometres in Okoppe.

  3. Week 60
    7

    Random stuff I overheard on The Bus in Honolulu.

  4. Week 59
    7

    Driving over Ukishima-toge on the way back from Asahikawa to Takinoue

September 2013

  1. Week 57
    9

    My first long distance ride, to the Northern Welcome Party in Nakagawa

  2. Week 56
    4

    Running in the 10km Biei Healthy Marathon, riding my bicycle to Monbetsu and back, remembering Canada Days with the Boutins.

August 2013

  1. Week 55
    26

    Camping down south, at one of the welcome parties I think, coinciding with the Jigoku-matsuri in Noboribetsu.

  2. Week 54
    19

    Driving home from Tony's house in the rain.

  3. Week 53
    15

    Driving down south, visiting the Jozankei sex museum, sleeping in the Matsumae Michi-no-Eki parking lot

July 2013

  1. Week 50
    29

    Climbing Tokachi-dake with Emma and Oliver.

  2. Week 49
    16

    Climbing Teshio-dake with Tony and Oliver, visiting an abandoned school on the outskirts of Monbetsu.

  3. Week 48
    9

    Driving north from Asahikawa with the windows down.

  4. Week 47
    1

    A brief interlude at the top of the Nissho Pass, driving with Tony down to some event in the southwest.

June 2013

  1. Week 45
    20

    Returning to Shari after the abortive attempt the previous fall, a trio of Kiwis and I summit in glory.

  2. Week 43
    3

    The first day of summer, coming surprisingly late to northeastern Hokkaido.

May 2013

  1. Week 40
    13

    Oliver let me tag along on an excursion to see what was left of the rail line that used to run through Yubetsu.

  2. Week 39
    4

    I drove Penelope the AZ-Wagon around the whole perimeter of Hokkaido to see what else was out there.

April 2013

  1. Week 36
    17

    Tooling around Maruseppu in Penelope the AZ-Wagon.

  2. Week 35
    11

    Much ado about melting snow; the gang comes across a pair of abandoned cars.

  3. Week 34
    2

    The first days of spring are coming to Hokkaido.

March 2013

  1. Week 31
    12

    Coming back from Pippu, I am struck by the first blue sky I've seen in what feels like months.

  2. Week 30
    8

    A blizzard strikes Yubetsu.

February 2013

  1. Week 29
    26

    Skiing at Kurodake and my first visit to the Sounkyo Ice Festival.

  2. Week 28
    18

    A trip on the icebreaking ship Aurora to see the sea ice on the Sea of Okhotsk.

  3. Week 27
    13

    Back to Yamabiko-no-taki in wintertime to see the frozen waterfall.

  4. Week 26
    5

    In Iwamizawa, I experience my first (and thus far only) earthquake, and we drive home through thick snow.

January 2013

  1. Week 25
    28

    A bit about Hokkaido in the dark on a quiet evening.

  2. Week 24
    22

    Going out skiing at Piyashiri, trying to leave anxiety behind me.

  3. Week 23
    16

    A brief layover in Osaka on the way back from the States leads to some real soul-searching on trains.

2012

December 2012

  1. Week 19
    18

    Much ado about a bunch of snow. I guess I'm not used to quite this much snow.

  2. Week 18
    13

    The night of the rented Higashikawa cabin, and the emotional aftermath.

  3. Week 17
    3

    The days are approaching their shortest; winter is well & truly here & boy is it dark.

November 2012

  1. Week 16
    26

    The winter is starting to settle in. I celebrate American Thanksgiving with friends in Monbetsu.

  2. Week 15
    19

    In which the author rambles a little bit.

  3. Week 14
    12

    A belated Halloween party, home from which we took the low roads over the mountain passes.

  4. Week 13
    5

    More urbex at the Kampo-no-yado Sounkyo, a semi-destroyed hotel by the side of the road just outside of Kamikawa.

October 2012

  1. Week 12
    29

    Konomai, the first time I explored some abandoned infrastructure that marks so much of the face of Hokkaido.

  2. Week 11
    23

    The first abortive trip up Shari-dake, accompanied by a quartet of Kiwis, ending in a mad rush down the mountainside after hours of beating through the wilderness.

  3. Week 10
    15

    Yamabiko-no-taki, my first encounter with a higuma, a drive on a forest road, and karaoke with the Monbetsu folks.

  4. Week 9
    10

    A trip to Nitori, a night in Asahikawa, and a trip to Tenninkyo

  5. Week 8
    1

    Hauling Renyu on a mikoshi through Kamiyubetsu.

September 2012

  1. Week 7
    24

    The Sapporo Welcome Party: the Bier Garten, Susukino, A-Life.

  2. Week 6
    18

    On the relationship between Japaneseness and my foreignness, and remotely about a house party.

  3. Week 5
    10

    A dairy farm, climbing Meakan-dake, the Eastern Welcome Party.

  4. Week 4
    3

    The Northern Welcome Party in Kembuchi.

August 2012

  1. Week 3
    29

    Arriving in Japan, Tokyo Orientation, the train up to Yubetsu, and my first days at work.