At 1660m Rausu is the highest peak in the Shiretoko mountain range. It’s a perfect day hike at around 8 hours and is a really interesting hike with some good scrambling near the top.
This part of Hokkaido is known as bear paradise, so equipped with bear bells, bear spray and a healthy amount of fear we got pretty lucky with views almost immediately.
Unfortunately as with a lot of hikes with this elevation, there was a cloud near the top when it was time to start scrambling. The walk into the clouds was very moody and interesting though, it’s fun to have a variety.
We had a minor glimpse of a bear so were happy to unload some items in the bear-proof box on the way to the top. Behind me in the top right you can see the summit. The bottom left you can sort of see my friend. Visibility was not great, and it was pretty windy and rainy but the scrambling was very fun in spite of that.
Of course on the descent we walked into the sun and made it back to the trailhead. At the base there is a tiny lodge that has an outdoor bath that was absolutely incredible to soak in after a long day out. It was an amazing, beautiful, incredible hike even without full visibility.
Tea, Sweets and Trails 