After leaving Kassharo-ko, we made our way towards the lovely Sounkyo Kankou Hotel in Sounkyo Onsen!

^It’s one nice ryokan…

The goal here was to hike up to Kurodake-san to get a nice view of the Daisetsuzan Mountains. The parks here have the coolest logos

…and the cutest mascots!

The peaks in this area

To get to the trailhead, one had to take a gondola, and a short ski lift

And off we went!

The trail climbed steadily via switchbacks, and provided good views of where we came from

More of those pretty trees

Annnd the weather was nice, until it wasn’t…

But the trail was pleasant, and lusciously lush

We continued our climb into the clouds

Some neat rocks near the top

At the summit! Visibility was a sweet 20-yards…

Similar to Mashu-ko, the clouds broke, and teased us with a view…

Weather continued to get crappy, and we made it out just in time for the rainstorms…