Next we moved up into the mountains to Zao Onsen, a hot spring town known for its acidic sulfur water. Steam rises right out of the stream running through town!
After a ramen lunch (and a little Yamagata sake tasting for me), we spotted two wild Japanese serows, a kind of mountain goat, munching on grass right in town!
Our ryokan gave us yukata to wear, and Forrest looked so cute in his. We booked a private outdoor onsen, where Forrest’s favorite activity was splashing us with the shower head. Between the hotel baths and the private one, I did five onsen soaks that first day! Dinner was an amazing spread of traditional Japanese food and pork shabu shabu.
The next day we took a ropeway up the mountain. It turned out to be the wrong ropeway, but we made the most of it and found a great trail. The secret to getting a toddler to hike? Puff snacks. Every puff got us about 10–12 steps. Powered by snacks and music, Forrest hiked almost all the way up by himself! At the top was a jizo statue, and Forrest kept offering it little stones and praying.
Back in town we climbed the stone steps up to Sukawa Onsen Shrine. Then, right before dinner, Forrest stripped down to his undies in the hotel lobby, refused to get dressed, and announced that he was “a bad boy” and wasn’t going to eat dinner. Leanne got him dressed and said OK, he could just watch. Then she started grilling the Yamagata beef and cracked the onsen egg for dipping, and suddenly Forrest really wanted to salt the beef and dip it himself. Leanne reminded him that only good boys get to eat. After a little more grilling, he decided he was “one good.” Leanne told him he had to be “two good.” He agreed to “two good” very quickly!
On our last morning, we took the correct ropeway and hiked out to Okama Crater, a volcanic crater lake. It was so windy that Forrest snuggled up and let me carry him most of the way, and we hiked above a sea of clouds to see the bright turquoise lake.
