The local YH was full, so I stayed in a business hotel that, like a minshuku, actually served me a good dinner and breakfast. The following morning I headed up the Yubari River toward my initial destination, Furano. I’ll warn you right from the outset: if you’re going to take this route (and when cycling in Hokkaido in general), be sure you have emergency water with you. There was not so much as a vending machine along this entire road, and on this unseasonably hot Hokkaido day I might have been in trouble if I hadn’t had a spare water bottle strapped to the bike.

Whoever does the road signs should probably spend a bit more time on the English... though the results can be quite charming. Near my journey’s end in Shiretoko, I took a photo of another sign that didn’t seem to think bears were nearly this cute...