A Winter in Shikoku

Happy New Year Folks!  Tardy, I know.  At any rate a few clips from our corner of Japan:

Yesterday, we woke to snow and misty mountains.

We just celebrated setsubun (I use the term 'celebrated' very loosely) a tradition that marks the change of season and involves throwing beans like these:

Poppas of households everywhere don scary oni masks—representative of bad luck and nasties—as his beloved pups throw beans at him, vanquishing evil.  Afterward everyone snacks on the remaining beans eating their age in number plus one, ringing-in all kinds of good luck for the coming year.

Tromping through a bamboo grove behind our place.

Around Christmas we holidayed in Matsuyama, a relatively short train ride west of Niihama to soak in the fabled hot waters of Dogo onsen, lore surrounds the waters and it's said to be the oldest hot spring in the country. 

Pleasantly poached after our soak we snacked on senbei crackers and green tea. Unfortunately no pictures of the guts of Dogo but I actually found the outside more impressive.  The interior, in an apparent effort to thwart would be assassins is surprisingly cramped and mazy.

In a plaza near the shopping area is a spot where you can pull off your shoes and soak your feet.

We also visited Okudogo another onsen just outside of the city limits which was an entirely different experience and in my opinion—just marvelous.  I met Godzilla afterall. 

The bathing pools are housed a huge airplane hanger-sized biosphere flooded with natural light, plants, and pools of sulfurous water.  With its concrete rocks and uplit pools the onsen is unapologetically fake.  I felt like a Flintstone.  I suppose my nudity along with those around me only added to the comic bizzaro, but initial awkwardness eased into normalcy as I discreetly watched women tending to their ablutions scrubbing with salt and massaging muscles.
A few other shots of Matsuyama:

Do you thing he does this all day? everyday?

 I could do this everyday.

 

Retreating to Hot Waters and Snow

This part of the country is blessed with geothermal activity.
So for Edo's birthday we decided to find a new hot waters haunt, our criteria were simple 1.) hot mineral water 2.) cozy accommodations and 3.) minimal people. We drove three hours south of Missoula to Elkhorn Hotsprings a 'resort' nestled up in the Pioneer Mountains in a region also popular for prospecting crystals.

Original construction began in the 1920s and 30s and with minimal modern improvements. Our cabin, Buffalo for example, came complete with electricity, wood burning stove and outhouse.




Here's the self-explanatory entrance beyond which are the two outdoor pools, kept at a piping 95-100 degrees (a sensory delight as snow falls overhead.)
Dear Red-Faced Monkeys, I get it. Kind regards, Emmy
Inside, the hot spring feeds into a small, wood paneled sauna that's kept around 105 degrees.


Here's where we ate dinner


and the next morning, breakfast.
After our meal of Crock-Pot warmed hash browns, eggs and mugs of truck stop coffee, we headed back up north to Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and our awaiting forestry cabin.

To be continued...