Wyoming Breezes

Nancy at Lake Towada Towada, Japan September 1979 I fell in love with the area surrounding Lake Towada because of its ever-changing scenery. The mists that hung over the lake on some days created breath-taking views. To see what the lake looked like on a clear day click here .

Nancy Stearns and Roy Sargent Resting on the Towada Lake Trail Japan 1979 Most of the photos I took while overseas were taken with a Minolta SLR camera. I hauled that heavy, but reliable, camera and lenses with me nearly all the time. It is the first camera I can honestly say that I literally wore out. With all our camera gear, Roy and I definitely looked like tourists. Often, I balanced the camera on nearby rocks, cars, etc. to take timed photos that became known as "rock shots." These two photos were rock shots, taken when Roy and I hiked the trail to Towada Lake. By the time we finally arrived at the lake, we were tired and the skies opened up and dropped buckets of rain. Thankfully, we found someone who agreed to give us a ride back to our car. Other photos of the Lake Towada area can be seen in these earlier posts .

Nature Trail near Towada, Japan - Autumn 1979 Beginning today, a photo taken during the two years that I lived overseas will be featured on Fridays. I loved the area around Lake Towada, but I didn't get there often. This photo was taken on a Saturday in late Autumn 1979. A friend and I parked and walked the trail toward Lake Towada without thinking of how we would get back to the car. Fortunately, we arrived at the visitors center just before it closed and managed to wrangle a ride back to the car some five miles away.

Lake Towada Northern Japan August 1979 I enjoyed visiting  Lake Towada  (a large volcanic-crater lake) when I was in Misawa, as it was beautiful in all seasons. Older, Foreign Friday posts about the walking trails in the area can be read  here and here . All the shades of blue shown in the photo were very common, which is the main reason I loved visiting so much.

Lake Towada Northern Japan 1980 Previous posts with photos of Lake Towada can be seen  here .

along hiking trail to Lake Towada Northern Japan Autumn 1979 The trails to Lake Towada were gorgeous when the trees were showing some color. Some previous posts about this area can be seen here .

Lake Towada Trail Autumn 1979 The trail to Lake Towada was a 5K trek and highlighted many beautiful scenes. Earlier posts that featured photos of the trail can be seen here .

Trail to Lake Towada near Towada City, Japan Fall 1979 Trails in Japan work around nature and not against it.

Nancy at a traffic control site rural Japan Fall 1979 I apologize if this photo has been shared before. This old bike and policeman were placed on this rural road to slow traffic. If I remember correctly this was on the road to Lake Towada or near Towada City. Behind me is a harvested rice filed. Rice harvest photos can be seen on  this post . Rice planting can be seen on this post .

Leaves floating on a small pond near Lake Towada, Japan Fall 1979

Public Restroom Lake Towada, Japan Fall 1979 This building was my first experience with a Japanese public restroom. In the subsequent two years, I saw many more public restrooms, but none that compared to this traditional and somewhat rustic restroom for cleanliness. In this building, the women's section was on the right, and the men on the left. A previous post about this restroom can be found here .

leaves on the edge of a small creek near Lake Towada, Japan Fall 1979 Fed by melting, mountain snow, the creeks and lakes in this region were crystal clear.

a creek on the Lake Towada Trail Japan Autumn 1979 Because of the high humidity and frequent rains, moss was common in Japan. It grew on rocks, sidewalks, in the cracks of the parking lots, and basically anything that didn't move.

Trail near Lake Towada Japan Autumn 1979 Fall was my favorite time to tour Japan.  Every twist and turn in the numerous walking trails provided breath-taking scenes - each one more memorable than the last.

Walking trail near Lake Towada, Japan Autumn 1979

Women's public restroom Lake Towada, Japan 1979 Part of adventure of visiting another country is finding unique services. The stalls in this public restroom were similar to non-flushing restrooms still found at many mountain campgrounds in the U.S. where water is seldom available or scarce. Although a bit challenging to actually use because it required squatting, the respite was indeed welcome. I'll answer WoolWinder's question here since others may be wondering about the red tray. It contained paper towels which I assume were to be used as toilet paper since there was none in the stall.