Apart from the aforementioned thunderstorm, I continued to have great luck with weather, and that made the blues and greens even more spectacular. This is just outside the town of Utoro, the last stop before the road heads up the rugged Shiretoko peninsula.
I remembered staying at the Iwaobetsu Youth Hostel, crowded with traveling students in midsummer, and enjoying it. What I didn’t remember is that you have to puff up a steep hill and go part of the way to Shiretoko Pass, then turn off and head back DOWN to sea level... meaning of course that you have to puff back up the steep slope the next morning to get back to the road to the pass. But the views and wildlife made it worthwhile. I saw many, many more deer this time than on my last trip; this is the best of the deer photos.