1st time staying in a pension. Owners were extremely cordial. Had dinner with their parents on one night. On our last dinner a deer hunted by them was grilled in the fireplace.
top of Appi
Mt Appi viewed from train
Pork shabu-shabu dinner
pension owners
all you can drink – sake, whiskey, beer etc 🙂
deep snow everywhere
Yamagata Zao – 2 day ski
After skiing in Appi for 2 days, went to Yamagata Zao for another 2 days for the 1st time. Had known about these tree monsters (Juhyo) before, but it was really captivating being surrounded by thousands of them. The whole scene was surreal as if we were on another planet!
Juhyo on either side of ski course
numerous of these extending uphill
view from gondolda
view from top observation deck @1600m
close encounter @1600m outside Jizosancho station
top of ski course @1600m
Kaiseki dinner in onsen ryokan
Zao onsen opened for 1900 years, as stated in poster
Juhyo may or may not be seen even in close range, much depending on weather condition. When the mt top is shrouded in mists/clouds, nothing can be seen. A local senior couple whom we met in the onsen ryokan for dinner went up there w/o seeing anything. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of them when the mists suddenly cleared up for about 30min when we were having a late lunch up there.
