On October 8, I accompanied third-year Tohoku University students who had come to Samani on a geological field trip to visit a small mountain of peridotite and the former plate boundary.

Horoman area as viewed from a small mountain of peridotite

Autumnal plants were in full bloom!


Hidaka-misebaya or Apoi-misebaya?


Yakushisou


Hosobatouki and Yakushisou


I also saw some yukimushi (snow bugs) flying around in the morning. This is a sign that winter is on its way.

Recently, when the sun sets around 4:30 PM, Mt. Apoi turns reddish-gold instead of its usual forest green. The shadowed part at the mountain's base is from the hill where Hotel Apoi Sanso sits. It's very beautiful!

Mt. Apoi Geopark Visitor Center

From Hotel Apoi Sanso

I went to Horoman-kyo Gorge on September 30^th to clean the bio-toilet and noticed that the leaves were starting to change color.


Horoman-kyo River


Inari Shrine


Japanese Sumac

Japanese Bush Cranberry

Japanese Bittersweet


Perilla

Akinokirinso?

"Journey of Earth Time," a traveling Geopark exhibit opened at Gallery 21 in the Samani Community Center on September 6^th and will stay open until September 26. Additionally, on September 19^th, a Apoi College lecture on "Hokkaido Journey and Geotour" will be held, and we hope you will attend both events.

The exhibit was also on display at the Samani Public Library, but the layout in Gallery 21 is a little different.

Some posters created by the Samani Elementary School 5^th graders are also on display and explain various aspects of the Geopark. Please help us out by filling out the survey as well!

The Samani Elementary 5^th graders hiked the Samani Mountain Path on September 5^th.

The Samani Mountain Path as built by the Edo Shogunate in 1799 as a way to pass the Hidaka Yabakei, notoriously difficult to cross sea cliffs, in order to increase security in the norther part of Japan. The elementary 5^th graders hike the Samani Mountain Path as part of their Geopark curriculum. We decided to start at Fuyushima Kotoni and hike to the Harada Inn ruins this time.

The path has many ups and downs.

The starting point at Kotoni has a small rest area with a great view of the Pacific Ocean.

Everyone is doing their best on the hike.

Since I am the Geopark's geologist, I explained to the students that the Samani Mountain Path crosses a plate boundary and that the different plates can be distinguished by the difference in the rocks. I pointed out that the first stream we crossed featured blue-green stone, while the last stream featured red stone.

Many of the students found various insects and kept asking the Geopark staff about them.

The Mimikomori (Parasenecio kamtschaticus) plant that deer refuse to eat.