MOUNT RAUSU (羅臼岳), Shiretoko Peninsula (知床半島), Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, 2019.06.18

Day 4 (1/2).

It was the fourth day since we arrived in Shiretoko. Finally we woke up to a fine morning. Clouds gathered atop the Shiretoko Mountain Range northwest of Rausu. We had made reservations for an afternoon whale watching cruise. Our plan for the morning was to head up to Shiretoko Pass, and do a bit of hiking near Rausu Lake. It would be quite unfortunate if we were to leave Shiretoko without seeing Mount Rausu (羅臼岳).

At 1661m in height, Mount Rausu is an active stratovolcano that sits above Shiretoko Pass, the highest point on Road 334 between the villages of Utoro and Rausu. Also known as the Fuji of Shiretoko, Mount Rausu is one of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains. Hiking up the volcano takes 6-8 hours round trip, but given our limited time and lack of snow crampons, we would have to leave the hike for another time.

Driving Road 334 up to Shiretoko Pass, we could see the mountains were still covered in clouds.

On our way up, we passed by several covered road sections.

It was a disappointment again when we arrived at Shiretoko Pass (知床峠) and saw Mount Rausu covered in thick clouds.

Though the weather looked quite promising down at coast of Rausu. We hoped that the fine weather would stay for several more hours so that we could embark on our whale watching cruise in the afternoon.

It was 2.3km from Shiretoko Pass to the trailhead of Lake Rausu Trail. About five minutes after we walked down the road from the parking lot of Shiretoko Pass, the clouds began to disperse over Mount Rausu. We could finally see the beautiful volcano right behind us.

Some hikers would prefer taking the bus to cover the 2.3km journey to the trailhead, but there are only four buses per day on the route.

Looking down from the trailhead, the trail began at a marsh area.

We followed a narrow path down to the trailhead of Rausu Lake Trail.

The return trip of Rausu Lake Trail would take about 3-4 hours. Unfortunately our time was restricted by the afternoon whale watching cruise. We decided to do a shorter hike by turning back at Marsh 3.

As warned at the trailhead, the early section of the Rausu Lake Trail was flooded like a swamp. Rubber boots could be rented at the Rausu Visitor Centre.

We soon reached Marsh 2 after a short walk in the flooded path, but there wasn’t much water in the marsh.

Snow was still visible at certain parts of the trail.

After about half an hour from the trailhead, we reached Marsh 3, the destination of our short hike.

Mount Rausu and its reflection at Marsh 3 was the biggest highlight of the hike. While most hikers would continue on towards Rausu Lake, we had to turn back in order to make back to Rausu on time for our whale watching cruise.

Back to Shiretoko Pass, more clouds were visible over Nemuro Strait and the Russian controlled Kunashir Island. We were a little worried about the overcast conditions ahead of our whale watching cruise. After 2.5 days of rainy weather, even few patches of clouds would make us nervous.