Blue Forest Chronicles: The Oirase Gorge in Spring / 春の奥入瀬渓流

Stepping back to the past again as we continue our drive through the Hakkoda Mountains to our main destination, the Oirase Gorge. As this is my first spring as an Aomori resident, I am interested in exploring my new home as much as possible.

またちょっとしたタイムスリップして、ドライブの続きの話です。青森県民になり、やっぱり自分がこれから生活する地域をもっと詳しく知りたい。初の春でドライブのメインの目的地に近づきました。奥入瀬渓流を目指す。

We left the Suiren Pond and continued our drive to the Oirase Gorge.

睡蓮沼を去って奥入瀬渓流のドライブ再開開始。

We stopped at the Oirase Stream Gifts and Restaurant where I indulged myself in an apple flavored ice cream.

渓流の駅おいらせに寄って、自分はりんごアイスを食べた。

Our first stop along the Gorge was at the Samidare Stream, samidare roughly translating to "three disorderly" streams.

渓流で最初に止まった場所は三乱の流れ。

As we were walking along the stream, we came upon this person painting the view of the stream. He kindly allowed me to take his picture.

渓流沿いを歩きながら、趣味で渓流の絵を描いてる人と遭遇。彼の許可を得て、写真を撮りました。

We parked our car at the Ishigedo Rest Area and walked along the Oirase stream for a spell. This sign is an explanation of the picture above. A gedo is a word for a small hut. Ishi means stone so the ishigedo is a "stone hut".

One should not mess around with mother nature!

This is one of the more popular waterfalls you will find along the Oirase Stream. It is called Kumoi-no-Taki or Kumoi Falls. It's 20 meters long (65 feet) and has three tiers from it's precipice.

ここは雲井の滝。この滝の高さは２０ｍで岸壁から三段になって落下する。

Getting as close as I can to the waterfalls.

滝に出来るほどに近付く。

I had to get a two-shot with my wife with the falls in the background.

滝をバックにして、妻とのツーショット。

Me standing in front of the Kumoi Falls.

雲井の滝の前に立つ俺。

Somewhere along the stream.

川沿いのどっかだ。

This is the Kudanno Falls which translates to the "Nine Tiers" falls.

九段の滝です。

This is our turning back point. We walked for about thirty minutes from the Ishigedo rest area to the Choshi Falls.

石ヶ戸から30分歩いて目的の調子大滝に到着。

I love playing find the hidden animals. All of these critters are indigenous to the Oirase Gorge area.

動物を探そう！展示されてる動物は全て奥入瀬で生存されてる動物たちです。

I suppose it would have been much kinder of me if I made notes as to what kind of animals these were. Now, it was time to head back to Aomori City from Oirase but we did make another short stop on our way back.

あっ、動物の名前をメモればよかったな。さて、奥入瀬から青森に帰る時間になった。でもやっぱりまた止まって、渓流のほうを探索しました。