I had a hankering to visit somewhere today, either Morioka or Yamagata and the driver has always wanted to travel along the Zao Echo Line...so...Yamagata won the coin toss. We wound our way to the Zao Echo Line (I don't know if it actually echoes anywhere) and drove up Mt. Zao. Near the top, we stopped for a photo op. Here is a pano.
As you can see, we stopped for a pee.
A little further up the mountain, we snapped a few more pics...
Another pano.
Rather than park for free and walk up the rest of the way, we opted to pay 550 for parking. A wise choice as my back has been acting up lately.
Okama Crater!
Yet another pano. That may be Sendai in the distance.
Back to the Kettle/Cauldron which is what Okama means.
My friend trekked up the path to the peak of Kattadake, (a secondary peak of Zao). I'd done it before, so I opted out.
While he was gone, I snapped a few more random pics.
It is called Goshikidake which means Five Colours Peak. I can't really discern which colours compose the five, but I admire their creativity.
Almost everyone there had masks on, except for a few dudes who were too cool to do so.
In the tiny gift shop, I considered buying some Pocky but decided against it.
I did buy a Clear File depicting the crater.
With Snow Monsters on its reverse.
Because there was an anime gal on this bottle of cider, I decided to give it a try.
Dan (the Man) who knows all there is to know about anime told me that she is Tohoku Zunko who is named after the green Zunda beans. (Click that link if you want to learn more.)
A few shots of the other side from the crater.
If you squint real hard, you might be able to discern Yamagata.
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