Shiranesan -Yugama- 白根山＊湯釜

I happened to see a picture of this crater lake on a guidebook at bookstore. I didn’t believe the color! I want to see it!! I knew that there was a bus route between Onioshidashien and this crater lake, I planed to visit Shiranesan and stay Kusatsu.
It took 90 minutes to get to Shiranekazan bus stop from Onioshidashien. The place was about 2100m above sea level. There was a parking lot. Lots of tourists visited there by car.
I climbed up on the path of steep slope for ten minutes. Then I could see the amazing view! People seemed forgetting their tiredness from climbing, enjoyed the view.

この火口湖の写真を偶然ガイドブックで見た。信じられない湖水の色！ぜひ見たい！調べてみると、鬼押出し園からバスで行けることが分かり、北軽井沢の次は草津に宿泊することにした。
鬼押出し園からバスは自動車専用道路を走り、１時間半で標高約2100mの白根火山のバス停に到着。駐車場があり、観光客はたくさん。約10分急な坂を登ると、この風景が広がる。子どもも年配の方もみんな登りの苦しさを忘れて、「わぁ〜」と眺めていた。


I enjoyed the view of the crater lake for a while, then I walked down. There were many people on the path. It looked like a line of ants.
しばらく見とれた後、歩道を降りた。歩道は人が多く、アリの行列のよう。


I climbed up to another lookout for 15 minutes. It was a little farther from the crater than the first lookout. There were few tourists, I met only 2 people on the path. The movement of clouds made the color of the lake change.

もう一つの展望台へ登った。駐車場から約15分。火口からは少し遠ざかるけど、火口全体が見渡せる。観光客は少なく、歩道で一組の夫婦に出会っただけだった。雲の動きによって、湖面の色や模様が変わるので、いくら見ていても飽きない。