Crossing Bihoro Pass!

by Kazu

Bihoro Pass is on the border between Bihoro Town and Teshikaga Town and at the altitude of 490 m. It opened in October of 1920.
It is beside Route 243 and located on the west side of Lake Kussharo in Akan National Park Area.

In summer, many tourists visit this rest house, vendors and washroom. Particularly, for bikers, it is the best point to have a rest and talk each other on their experience in Hokkaido after rolling on Route 243 to reach this best lookout.
The area around the pass is covered with bamboo grass and a few shrubs and the good place to take off with para-glider.The approach from Teshikaga Town is so winding that it is closed most frequently among the routes maintained by Ministry of Transportation and Land-planning in Japan because of blizzard in winter.

The rest house was closed on December 31, 2012.

 Lake Kussharo can be seen from the lookout near the rest house. It was minus 17 degrees in Centigrade. Very few tourists are around the lookout other than us. It was so fine on the day that Mt.Shari(dake) covered with snow could be seen clearly from the lookout.
Even for me, it's the first time to visit there on December 31. The eastern part of Hokkaido gives me the ample power to fight the uphill battle in the real world. Did you visit somewhere that gives you the power at the end of 2012?
Have a great year of quantum leap!