Yamagata Prefecture

Last weekend we headed up to the prefecture north of Fukushima, called Yamagata. We were in search of beautiful fall colors. Its a little early down in Tochigi so we went 3 hours north for a little colder weather and the changing leaves.

We arrived late Friday night because I had to work until about 6pm. So we arrived a little after 9pm in the dark. But the Airbnb was super clean and cozy. And we had a huge “yard” to run around in. It didn’t really feel like Japan. It felt a lot like Hocking Hills.

We got up early Saturday because, well, the kids got up early. But it was perfect weather so we were out of the house by 8am. We drove up the mountain just taking in all the awesome nature.

At the top of the mountain is a crater lake. But the road to the top was closed. We think they just close it this time of year for weather. We could have hiked all the way from the lower parking lot, but the weather was crazy. It dropped to below freezing and the winds were scarily strong. We found a cool look out point so we parked the car. Heather and I took turns going out because one of us had to stay with the kids in the car. It would have been too intense for them.

After that, we drove back down and over to a temple built into the side of a mountain called Yamadera. It was the prettiest part of our trip actually. I think temples built into the sides of mountains are cooler than ones built on top of mountains. So we hiked up 1000 steps to the top for some great views. The kids walked all 1000 of them!

Once we came back down we had to get some ice cream. This area is apparently known for its fruit. Especially cherries. So we got some “famous” cherry ice cream. It was actually really delicious. It tasted like a Dairy Queen vanilla cone dipped in the cherry coating.

Then to warm back up we had to get some hot chocolate from a vending machine of course.

We ended up taking a drive to Yamagata City from here in search of a cast iron tea pot. This area is also famous for its tea pot making technique. Heather has been wanting one for months. When we got to the store it was closed. I guess we will just have to come back!

We also bought the biggest apple we’ve ever seen from a fruit stand. We also had to buy a normal sized apple just to show the difference.

That was all just on Saturday. I can’t believe how much we actually fit into one day. Sunday morning we drove the long way home because we wanted to see some more fall colors. Unfortunately the weather didn’t really cooperate. But we still saw some cool stuff along the way!

And made it home by Sunday afternoon!