Michinoku Cycling Road in spring, April 26, 2016 （菜の花 と 新緑 の みちのく自転車道 ２０１６年４月２６日）
（Michinoku Cycking Road with rape blossoms, Koriyama City, April 26, 2016. 春の みちのく自転車道 郡山市 4/26/2016）
Today, I pedaled through Michinoku Cycling Road from Yasuhara Bridge near the city center of Koriyama to Otsujigataki Fall in Tamakawa Village in the south. The road was surrounded by rape blossoms as shown above.
本日は、みちのく自転車道を、郡山市街の安原橋から、玉川村の乙字ヶ滝まで、往復走りました。ちょうど、写真のように、菜の花に囲まれていました。
The cycling road goes mostly along the Abukuma River. Photos above show some other scenery along the road which was beautiful enough with fresh green leaves and rape blossoms here and there.
みちのく自転車道は、阿武隈川に沿って進みます。その間、新緑や菜の花で、写真のような光景が広がります。
The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。
Katsurao Village, a remote village on Abukuma Highlands, April 24, 2016 （阿武隈高地 の 葛尾村 ２０１６年４月２４日）
Today, I visited Katsurao Village which is located on remote Abukuma Highlands. The village expects lifting of evacuation this June and the village office has already returned to its original place. Photo above is a view of the village as of today with the background of Mt. Katsurao-Fuji or its another name Mt. Tatsugoyama (920m).
本日は、阿武隈高地にある葛尾村を訪ねました。村は、この６月に避難区域の解除を予定していて、村役場は既に元の村内に戻っています。写真は、本日の村の様子で、遠くに葛尾富士、または竜子山（９２０ｍ）が見えます。
Photo above shows a view at the village center. A tall blue sign on the left says that the village boasts no fatal traffic accident for 13,000 days or more than 35 years. This is amazing.
写真は、村の中心部です。左手の青い標識は、村が１３，０００日、すなわち３５年間以上、交通死亡事故ゼロを謳っています。これは、すごいです。
Photo above shows an entry point to the village through National Route 399 on the border with Tamura City. You can see the road has been renovated new.
写真は、国道３９９で、田村市都路から、村に入るところです。道路が、新しくなっているのが、わかります。
Photo above shows many tourist sites in the village. It has beautiful mountains and rivers during spring through fall.
写真は、村の観光を示す標識で、入口の近くにあります。春から秋にかけて、山や川が美しいです。
The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。
You can trace the route and altitude in the map below. (Up: 3.2%, gained altitude: 865m, Distance: 90.7km)
下の地図で、ルートの距離や標高を見ることができます。（上り３．２％、獲得標高８６５ｍ、走行距離９０．７ｋｍ）
Skunk cabbage habitat and beautiful scenery of the lake at Konanmachi, Koriyama, April 20, 2016 （湖南町 の 水芭蕉 と 飯豊連峰 を望む絶景 ２０１６年４月２０日）
（Skunk cabbage habitat at Banushinden, Konanmachi, Koriyama, April 20, 2016, 馬入新田 の 水芭蕉 自生地、湖南町、郡山市 2016/4/20）
This is a skunk cabbage habitat at Banushinden District of Konanmachi, Koriyama City. It is already in its full bloom. They started to bloom several days earlier than usual due to the warm weather.
写真は、郡山市湖南町の馬入新田の水芭蕉自生地です。既に満開です。今年は、暖冬のため、例年より開花が数日早いです。
（Iide Mountains and Lake Inawashiro, Konanmachi, Koriyama, 飯豊連峰 と 猪苗代湖、湖南町、郡山市 2016/4/20）
On the way back to my home, I stopped at a viewpoint on the southern edge of Lake Inawashiro. Today, a high pressure system from the west covered Fukushima and I could view excellent scenery of snow-capped Iide Mountain range as if floating over Lake Inawashiro as shown above.
その帰りに、猪苗代湖南岸のビューポイントに寄りました。今日は、西からの高気圧が福島県を覆い、すばらしい景色が見えました。写真は、猪苗代湖の上に、冠雪の飯豊連峰が浮かんで見えます。
Photos above are about an interesting site I found today. This site is called "Kusatori Jizo" or weeding Jizo. There is a legend accompanied to it as the stone panel in the picture above says. Once upon a time, there were hard-working young man and his mother. One day, his mother got sick and the young man was struggling with weeding the rice field alone. A young woman suddenly appeared and started to weed the field with him. She was so fast with the work that the weeding was finished by the end of the day. Then she quietly disappeared. He searched for her and found that a standing stone Jizo statue wore the same clothes as the woman. --I love this story.
写真は、「草取り地蔵」という面白いものです。石のパネルに書いてある伝説が伝えられています。気に入りました。
I had a lunch at a soba restaurant in Konanmachi. It is located before ascending toward Sanmori Pass that I can fuel myself with some food. I had a very nice soba noodles, although I have neither photo nor its name. The location is on the map.
帰りに、湖南町の蕎麦屋で昼をとりました。三森峠に上っていく前にあり、ちょうど補給できます。写真も、名前も無いですが、場所は地図の通りです。
The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。
