Back country trip to forgotten Onsen

by Michael McCloskey (Japan)

A leap into the unknown Japan

It was February 2017 when I had a Taxi, take me to a place called Raiden close to the town Of Iwanai, in Hokkaido. I started my tour up an old road with lots of snow and strong winds in my back. What was coming from the tormented freezing Japanese sea. Around my a ghost town for the first 100m, I quickly got to a road in the woods. the snow was so high I easily touched the top branches of trees. what were swearing on to the street. After 1-2 km the wind died down and I entered a back valley, secure of the winds that help me up the mountain. The patch got more and more narrow as I went up this road was no food steps or signs of other humans where. Only some deer and snow rabbits tracks along the way. As the road opened up, a bridge was washed away and layed in pieces 40-60 downstream. but the snow was so high that it build a stable pass over to the other side. There was an old hut with a big piece of a wonderful tree in black handwritten Japanese it was called Ashai Onsen. The Sign was just above the snow and it looks deserted. I went around the back of the building. I was searching for something like an entrance of some sort. I wanted to see the Onsen and if the stream is still alive and flowing or if it's dried out and that's the reason why it's abandoned. I look haunted by the gusting winds in the mountains above me. But in a sense, the area seamed carm and secure. The winds on the mountain blew all the snow off the trees and let the mountain appear dark and heavy but in this valley, snow was falling gently and stayed up on the trees where there were sitting heavy on the branches. After I walked all over the area I gave up and wanted to complete my tour up the hills ridge and have a view on the town on the right of me Iwanai at sunset but the forecast was that it will be stormy to late in the evening. So i dicided i will have food and maybe dont bother to go up to the top in this misseralbe conditions. As I was found a good spot to prep my meal I noticed some sounds coming from a small hole in the Snow on the other side of the valley. As I finished my meal I approached the location where the sound came from suddenly I noticed there was also steam leaving this small snowhole. I thought to myself "Ah a small stream of hot water maybe?" but when I was slowly approaching there was a man seize pool underneath the snow with nice and boiling warm blue water. A little stinky I must say but what a color hard to discribe. Because I was alone and it was just so unexpected I just. Put down all my snowboard gear and stripped naked slid in the half a meter deep snow hole and into the warm water. It was so silent if you ignore the hot water sometimes bubbling out of the spring where it sprang. I lost sense of time and nearly fallen asleep. As I noticed it was getting dark, I left my cozy private onsen took a spare t-shirt from my rucksack and dried my body before I got back in my backcountry snowboard gear. it was 16:20 and just sunset was about to begin the wind was fading. I jsut could not help my self and walk up this mountain ridge where I was greated with not a sunset because I left way to late. But a night view of the small city below me with all the lights and cars following dark lines towards the sea where they disapeared into a tunnel. With a cloudy sky with open spots I hade an amazing view of the stars and the moon was so brigth I didnt even need my headlamp to ride this amazing snow that just fallen down to the town and called a taxi to take me back to my accomidation. What a shame I thought I didnt bring anyone to this location. now 3 Years later I am building a Rock climbing gym just in this town Iwanai and I will visit this little privat onsen hopfully soon with the girl I met 3 days later in the town I was staying.