Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom. You may heard this in the media recently because the people of Tokyo have not been able to attend the annual cherry blossom or Hanami celebrations due to Covid-19. Here in Hokkaido cherry blossom viewing and revelry comes later, this year it is forecast for April 20th but from around mid February there is another sought after sakura in Hokkaido too, the Sakura Masu or Cherry Salmon.

After a short fuel stop in town I continued on around the south side of Lake Toya, stopping only to take photos of active volcanic vents steaming from the top of Showa-Shinzan and other views of Lake Toya. The Eastern side of Toya has one of my favourite campsites in Hokkaido. The Nakatoya campground is a wonderful place to relax by the lakeside with a very convenient onsen located on site, and well stocked camp store.

If you've ever been to Niseko with a little luck you will have had the pleasure of Mt Yotei's presence beaming down on the Hirafu Village and surrounds.
Mt Yotei's summit stands at 1,590m which isn't huge in mountaineering terms but it is the highest peak in the area and one that just begs to conquered.
Mount Yotei is an active strato volcano which most recently erupted back in 1050BC and lucky for us hasn't done a lot since!