Places that are hard to get to, but I want to visit 3

Day 2, the 19th.
Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy. There was no sign of rain, but also no sign of the mountains.
After finishing breakfast at the hotel, I headed to the first destination of the day, Hakuba Mountain Harbor. It is advertised as a place where you can see the entire Northern Alps from the summit. You get the view by taking the ski resort gondola to the top in winter. Since I was born and raised in Sapporo, I can ski reasonably well, and I have been to ski resorts in Niseko and Furano many times. What I remember particularly well—though I don't know what it's like now—is the view from directly under the gondola at the Niseko ski resort. The mountains like Mt. Yotei were incredibly beautiful. This time, I am going to the top of a Hakuba ski resort by gondola to see the mountains. The mountains of the Northern Alps are different in scale from those in Hokkaido, so I am looking forward to it.

I don't know why, but I had a feeling that the clouds would clear if I waited for a while. The view from the summit began to open up little by little as we stayed until the very last minute before the meeting time.

After having delicious "Shinshu Soba" for lunch, the clouds cleared up when we went outside. My excitement grew even more. My expectations for the Alpine Route were rising.

By the time we arrived at Ogizawa Station, the start of the Nagano side of the Alpine Route, the clouds had completely disappeared, and we had a superb view.
From here, we will take a "tunnel electric bus," "cable car," "ropeway," "electric bus," "Tateyama Highland Bus," and "cable car" to Tateyama Station in Toyama Prefecture. Since I live in the countryside, I rarely use public transportation in my daily life. That's why the very act of transferring between various vehicles is something I'm really looking forward to. In the process, I can enjoy scenic spots such as "Kurobe Dam," "Kurobedaira," "Daikanbo," and "Murodo."
I think this route probably utilizes the advanced pilot tunnels from the difficult Kurobe Dam construction project.
As depicted in the movie "Kurobe no Taiyo" (Kurobe Dam No. 4) and the novel "Kounetsuzuidou" (Kurobe Dam No. 3), the Tateyama Kurobe mountain system seemed to be something that could not be handled by human efforts alone. I think human wisdom is amazing, but I also strongly feel a sense of "awe" that we can never match the power of nature. It was a journey where I felt a strange sensation, thinking about the difficult construction that involved many victims while also feeling a sense of respect for nature.

It feels like a view so spectacular it makes you laugh. I'm speechless.

The hotel for this day is Unazuki Onsen "Yamanoha." Since it is a tour trip with an ultra-packed schedule, there is no time to enjoy the inn slowly. We arrived around 19:00.

It was an incredibly spacious and luxurious room. We didn't have time to enjoy the stay, but it couldn't be helped this time. However, my impression is that I probably wouldn't be able to stay at this inn outside of a tour. The food and the baths were wonderful. If I had time, I would have liked to go around the public baths in Unazuki Onsen, but I will leave that for another time.
Tomorrow is Kamikochi. I hope for good weather again.

Day 3, the 20th
On this day, we will first visit the V-shaped Kurobe Gorge on the "Kurobe Gorge Railway" (torokko train). Then, we head to Kamikochi. Private cars are not allowed here either, so we have no choice but to go by bus. As mentioned earlier, this is a place I had "wanted to visit once." My wife seemed to have made up her mind to drink local beer when she went to Kamikochi.

The weather was perfect.

We turned back at a station called "Nekomata." This torokko train is still active as a regular means of transportation, and "Kuronagi Onsen," which was on the way, can only be reached by this train. I decided to visit it someday and returned to Unazuki Station. It was one spectacular view after another. What was wonderful this time was that each view was of a different quality, so I didn't get "used to the spectacular views." And above all, we were blessed with good weather.
We head to Kamikochi. The scenery often seen in guidebooks. Specifically, the Hotaka mountain range seen from the Kappa Bridge over the Azusa River.

Lunch that day was a bento box on the bus. This was also quite delicious.

It is exactly the scenery I expected.
I hurried to buy some local beer.

As expected, I thought the best snack was the "spectacular view." I have the same thought every day.

On this day, we stayed at a hotel called "Shirakaba-ko," which has a slightly Showa-era feel, similar to "Tomamu" in Hokkaido. I don't have a photo, but the all-you-can-eat crab was blissful. There was also a ramen called "Toyama Black." Personally, I don't find it very attractive as a ramen, but as a whole, it was a trip where I was able to eat almost all the local specialties.
About a month ago, I visited the Toyama area on a solo motorcycle trip, but I didn't really feel like eating the local specialties, so on this tour, well, people who are picky about food might have various opinions, but personally, I was very satisfied to be able to eat a lot of delicious things.
I was able to see scenery that was exactly as expected, or even better, at Tateyama, Kurobe, and Kamikochi, so I finished the day's itinerary thinking, "Wouldn't it be bad luck if I could see Mt. Fuji tomorrow?"
Tomorrow is Mt. Fuji. I've started to feel like I don't want to go home. Being able to feel that way is proof that the trip is fun. Trips that make you want to go home early... for example, there are rare cases like motorcycle trips in heavy rain.