Both routes are restricted due to volcanic activity, but the snow corridor on the Shiga-Kusatsu-Kogen route is outside the restricted area and is at maximum height, so no problem. My friend who had been there the day before had told me that it was quite high, so I was looking forward to touring the next day... But I stayed up late until 5 a.m....
Bedlam. Straight ahead
Yes. I slept in. I woke up at 9:00 a.m. and left at 9:45 a.m. Maybe it was because it was the weekend before GW, but the traffic on the usually crowded Kanpachi was light. We quickly got on the Kanetsu highway and headed straight for our destination without taking a break.
After getting off at the Shibukawa-Ikaho Interchange, the navigation system led me to the main route of Prefectural Route 35 instead of Route 145, which I usually take, in the direction of Manza Onsen.
We parked at a convenience store where the Kusatsu and Manza directions diverge. I had worn mesh gloves up to this point, but I switched to winter gloves. I also wore Heatech electric heating wear on my upper body....
We are now on the Manza Highway.
From Manza Highway to Shibutoge
As we gained altitude, the amount of snow on the shoulder of the road started to increase.
We were already at the Manza Highway."Snow Corridor"There are some places that could be called "the best of the best", and this year is going to be great... I was excited.
Snow Corridor
Then we turned left at the Manza junction.
And the walls on both sides max out, arriving at the usual spot!
The timing was just right for the climb, with no other bikes parked in the area. This year's wall is higher than last year's, and the view is even more spectacular.
We didn't feel comfortable stopping for too long, so we continued on our way to this standard point.
Even though it was Sunday, the place was empty as well. Maybe it was the time of day, 2:00 p.m., that was good. It may have been the first time I was able to park sideways right in front of it and take a picture.
Having had enough, we went to the Shibutoge Hotel. The parking lot here was also empty. I guess it was because the Kusatsu Onsen area was closed to traffic.
I stopped at the border of the prefecture, which I usually refrain from doing, and snapped a picture as well.
At a glance, the snow on the road across from the hotel was six to seven meters high, but the nearby thermometer read 6 degrees Celsius. It's not that cold.
After using the restroom and taking a short break, we headed back the way we came.
A curry with pork on the way home
It was all snow earlier, but when we came back down, it was spring down there.
At this point, the time was about 16:00, right? There were probably about two hours until sunset, so we headed towards the Kanetsu Expressway, and when we saw the sign for Kurabuchi Onsen, we turned right and drove on, thinking that we should go around a bit more, but we were a bit tired from lack of sleep and touring after a long time. I was a bit tired from the lack of sleep and the touring after a long time.
So we stopped at a small unmanned station called Iwajima Station on the Azuma Line for a short restroom break. The huge cherry blossom trees were very beautiful.
After that, we easily took the Kan-etsu train from Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange....
We took a short break at Yorii PA because there was a 25km traffic report near Hanazono, and after resting for about 20 minutes, we checked our phones and found that the traffic was clearing up....
We proceeded again and had a curry and pork cutlet dinner at Miyoshi PA. By the way, before dinner, there was a traffic sign near the Nerima Interchange exit, but after we finished eating, the traffic tended to clear up. We were really lucky today.
So by about 8 PM, I was shopping at a convenience store near my house.
Unusually for me, the outward and return trips were exactly the same, and the day touring ended.
Today's mileage was... I didn't measure it, but it's about 400km.
We parked at a convenience store where the Kusatsu and Manza directions diverge. I had worn mesh gloves up to this point, but I switched to winter gloves. I also wore Heatech electric heating wear on my upper body....
We are now on the Manza Highway.
We were already at the Manza Highway."Snow Corridor"There are some places that could be called "the best of the best", and this year is going to be great... I was excited.
The timing was just right for the climb, with no other bikes parked in the area. This year's wall is higher than last year's, and the view is even more spectacular.
We didn't feel comfortable stopping for too long, so we continued on our way to this standard point.
Having had enough, we went to the Shibutoge Hotel. The parking lot here was also empty. I guess it was because the Kusatsu Onsen area was closed to traffic.
At a glance, the snow on the road across from the hotel was six to seven meters high, but the nearby thermometer read 6 degrees Celsius. It's not that cold.
At this point, the time was about 16:00, right? There were probably about two hours until sunset, so we headed towards the Kanetsu Expressway, and when we saw the sign for Kurabuchi Onsen, we turned right and drove on, thinking that we should go around a bit more, but we were a bit tired from lack of sleep and touring after a long time. I was a bit tired from the lack of sleep and the touring after a long time.
So we stopped at a small unmanned station called Iwajima Station on the Azuma Line for a short restroom break. The huge cherry blossom trees were very beautiful.
We took a short break at Yorii PA because there was a 25km traffic report near Hanazono, and after resting for about 20 minutes, we checked our phones and found that the traffic was clearing up....
We proceeded again and had a curry and pork cutlet dinner at Miyoshi PA. By the way, before dinner, there was a traffic sign near the Nerima Interchange exit, but after we finished eating, the traffic tended to clear up. We were really lucky today.
So by about 8 PM, I was shopping at a convenience store near my house.
Unusually for me, the outward and return trips were exactly the same, and the day touring ended.