Trip Report

Day 6 – Shikaribetsu Gorge to Kamishihoro

Posted on Aug 15, 2018
0

Posted on Aug 15, 2018

Day 6 was originally planned as somewhat of a moving ‘rest’ day; about 30km from Shikaribetsu Gorge to Nukabira Onsen. We decided to head down to Kamishihoro Town though, as Rick has a colleague who lives there. We’d be able to spend a night there in luxury, drying out our stuff before heading off again. We were well in need of the rest and drying time – we were wet to the bone because of a continual rain today. A big bonus for the day was an unplanned but epic downhill stretch of gravel that Rick spotted on the map. Almost 750m of decent over 15km on consistently deep and soft gravel. A plus-sized bike rider’s dream. That section of road will now be known as “The Siddle Sizzler” (Siddle is Rick’s last name).

Last updated Nov 8, 2018

While Rick and Tom were still snoozing in the morning, I went for a soak in the Shika-no-yu hotspring just 200m upstream from the campground.  There was just one other guy in there. It was another moody, misty, damp morning.

Today’s route was almost 100% closed to general traffic. Even the main paved road up to Horoshika Pass (幌鹿峠) – Hokkaido’s second highest paved road pass at 1,081m – was closed to traffic due to washed out sections that were currently being repaired. None of these closed sections today had anywhere near the damage that we’d experienced on the Penke-nikorobetsu Forestry Road up towards Tomuraushi. They were mostly easy going, beyond the steep gradients. The Shikaribetsukyou Minekoshi Forestry road (然別峡峰越林道) upstream from the campground on the other side of the river was clearly being repaired in places.

The road on the downhill from the pass was in worse condition however. We were all taking it easy to avoid deep wheel-swallowing ruts.

We were quite surprised to see the road up to Horoshika Pass closed. This was the last road we expected to be damaged. But the main gate at the bottom of the pass was closed. We continued on gingerly, but the worst was a recently repaired bit of gravel and a few unrepaired gouges in the road near some bridges.

At the top of Horoshika Pass, we started down The Siddle Sizzler. This newly named (by me) stretch of gravel would turn out to be one of the best gravel downhills I’ve ever ridden in Hokkaido. I’d even rate it up there in my top five I’ve experienced in my life. Rick (last name Siddle) spied this route down from the pass to Kamishihoro. Since we were heading to Kamishihoro, it only made sense that we’d take this direct route down there. From the pass, there was a 2km mostly flat section along the ridge, before the road dropped in earnest. For the next 15km, we’d drop 750m in altitude on some of the deepest but most consistent gravel I’ve ridden. On my 2.35″ tires on the wide 47mm rims, I had just enough float to make it ear-to-ear-ginning fun.

Rick and Tom on their narrower tires apparently had a tougher time of it, but I was far too ahead of them to notice, and I was certainly having too much fun to care.

We rolled into Kamishihoro like three drowned rats, and promptly took over Rick’s colleagues’s garage. The rest of the afternoon was a blur of stocking up on supplies, having an onsen soak at Nukabira, having good food, and sharing stories over drinks. Many thanks to Paul for hosting three smelly cyclists for a night!

Today’s essential details

  Distance: 30km | ↗ 610m | 🚵 70% paved

Onsen: Nukabira Nakamura Onsen (糠平温泉 中村屋) | 500yen | 0.8km from accommodation

Comments | Queries | Discussion

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

See More Like this

Download may take some time

Hokkaido Wilds Foundation

We’ve got affiliate links on HokkaidoWilds.org to help fund the Hokkaido Wilds foundation.

The Foundation gets a small commission on sales from affiliate links, but we only link to stuff we think is worth checking out for people keen on the outdoors in Hokkaido and Japan.

The Hokkaido Wilds Foundation is a fund where 100% of funds are donated to Hokkaido volunteer groups involved in sustainable, safe, and responsible access to the Hokkaido outdoors.

Learn more here

ADVANCED FILTERS

Filter by location

About Filters

REGION: The general mountain/geographical region the route is in.

BEST MONTH(S): Time of year a route is suited to visiting. Some pop all season, some are more limited.

DIFFICULTY: How strenuous a route is, and how technical it is. Full details here.

FREERIDE/SKITOUR: Very subjective, but is a route more-of-a-walk-than-a-ski or the other way around? Some routes are all about the screaming downhill (freeride), some are more about the hunt for a peak or nice forest (ski-tour). Some are in between. 

MAIN ASPECT: Which cardinal direction the primary consequential slope is facing, that you might encounter on the route. More details here.

ROUTE TAGS: An eclectic picking of other categories that routes might belong to.

SEARCH BY LOCATION: You can find routes near your current location – just click on the crosshairs (). You may need to give permission to HokkaidoWilds.org to know your GPS location (don’t worry, we won’t track you). Or, type in a destination, such as Niseko or Sapporo or Asahikawa etc.

Please let us know how we can make it easier to narrow down your search. Contact Rob at rob@hokkaidowilds.org with your suggestions.

Day 6 – Shikaribetsu Gorge to Kamishihoro Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

D

25

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

D

0

Hazards

D

Navigation

D

Totals

25/100

GRADES range from A (very difficult) to D (easy). Hazards include exposure to avalanche and fall risk. More details here. Rating rubric adapted from Hokkaido Yukiyama Guidebook 北海道雪山ガイド.