Today

Due to technical difficulties yesterday, I made myself get up at 5:30 again this morning. I put on 8,000 layers of clothes, packed a simple breakfast, and trudged off the the station. 

The one car local train pulled in, I hopped on, and we took off. Some people were taking pictures as we headed south. I felt kind of bad because Rishiri wasn't very clear. It didn't look like this:

I decided to get off at the Yuuchi stop. I've been to Yuuchi once, but I've never gone by train and wandered. It's pretty close to Wakkanai and cheap to get there. 

Here's Yuuchi Station. It's actually bigger than Tokumitsu Station. 

Just as I got off the train, gorgeous morning light started spilling through the clouds, and before I knew it, I was in a brilliant and lovely morning. 

So, I started wandering. I wandered across the train tracks:

I wandered across a huge snowy plain:

I think it's a field of some sort. 

I came to a ravine. 

I thought about climbing down into it and out the other side, but that seemed like a bad idea for several reasons. 

Then, I looked and saw a bridge. 

The bridge had lots of paw prints that looked like fox tracks. 

I don't think you can see them, but I'm blogging from my phone so I'm not sure. 

I found some pretty trees. 

And:

And: 

And:

I have a bunch more. 

Then, I realized that the fast train was going to pass by soon. I really wanted that video, so I trekked back across the field. 

Another ravine:

At first, I wanted to pass back across the track and catch the train from the other side, but the tracks were down in a ravine and I was afraid I'd get stuck. Getting stuck with a train moments away sounded like a terrible idea! So, I stayed on my side. 

This time, I got the video! I was so excited! Here is the link (I hope): http://youtu.be/okld_-yVMYI

By the way, can you see what happened when I crossed back over the tracks?

If you guessed that the hole in the snow was my leg going thigh deep and me getting a little stuck, you would be correct! It was a little scary even though no trains were coming. 

By this point, I was starving. So, I made my way back to the itty bitty station and proceeded to eat my breakfast. I had some bread and honey and coffee. It was a very nice breakfast, but the unheated station got a little chilly!

After breakfast, I wandered a little more. Saw this:

Soon, it was time for the train. I hopped onboard, and we headed north. 

It was a gorgeous morning. And if my video hadn't failed yesterday, I wouldn't have been out enjoying Yuuchi today! It worked out quite well.