Major Japanese mountain trails are normally divided into ten stages. On this peak, the longest and steepest sections were between stages 7-8 and 9-10. The latter is particularly treacherous; extended sections of loose rock on steep slopes may make you wish you'd worn hiking boots instead of tennis shoes. Luckily there are ropes to hang onto in the worst sections. I made the climb up and down in about 8 hours door to door (starting from the youth hostel); fortunately, the rain that began while I was still on the top didn't last long. Here you see the obligatory photo in front of the shrine at the top

The last day of the tour was "cruise day" - quite literally at first, as it began with a 2-hour ferry ride back to the mainland of Hokkaido. I spent the time wishing my funky camera would work so I could capture the beautiful view of Mt. Risshiri; it did manage to right itself before the ferry docked in Wakkanai. I'd always wondered what Japan's northernmost rail town was like; it turned out to be a typical small regional city with a few distinctive features that let you know how far north you are. For one thing, this is surely one of the only cities in Japan that has Russian on the street signs. For another, the summer festival featured dog sled races - essentially human "riders" pushing the sled over a path strewn with ice and the dogs usually running behind wondering what was going on. Apparently this is the lighthearted summer version of the Japan Cup National Dogsled Races held in February; even for this summer event, people come from all over Hokkaido to compete in the time trials.