this is a rather-crap photo of the HI youth hostel we stayed at while in the national park. norikawa is a tiny resort village in the japanese alps in western nagano prefecture. we spent over an hour winding up the narrow road up to the top of the mountain. with every foot we climbed the trees became less and less green until the top, where spring hadn't even arrived yet, and snow was abundant. the ski hills must have just closed, and only a few stragglers (mostly cyclists) remained to fill the lodges. this hostel was possibly not our most comfortable accommodation of the trip - cold, and a bit dank...and i did manage to embarrass myself in the most hilarious of fashions...uh...long story...