On the way to Lake Towada - great autumn colours and noxious fumes
 Autumn colours at Sukayu Onsen
Today I left the Mutsu Grand Hotel and drove for about 3 hours to the top of Oirase stream where I will be staying for two nights, at Oirase Keiryu hotel.
I decided to take small country roads to get here, so even though it took me a bit longer, the scenery was stunning. Especially so at Sukayu Onsen, up in the mountains, where I went for a short walk in the woods, along a steamy luke warm river.
 As promised - the view form my room at Mutsu Grand Hotel
 Fuming hot water pound in Sukayu Onsen
The autumn colours were really wonderful. I parked near a big steamy pond full of warm water straight from the hot spring. A very eerie sight. From there I followed little signs to the steamy river at the bottom of which you can sit on water heated benches and admire the colours and the water rushing through boulders in the river.
 Naturally warm benches on the river side
 Great colourful bog
I then wandered a bit - not even off track, there wasn’t any stop signs or anything - to a little place by the river where the actually rocks were warm as well. So I sat down and stayed there for about 5 minutes and walked back to my car to drive away. That’s when a nice little couple of oldies told me that they had been very worried watching me sitting there, because apparently there are also some noxious gas emanations at that spot. Anyway, I’m still alive to tell the tale so they can’t have been that bad!
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