Snow Poles Tunnel Count = 6 After a Seven Eleven microwave breakfast I left my guesthouse in Iiyama and found myself on fast straight quiet roads heading north, the valley was wide and I was staying on the smaller road side of the river. I eventually crossed it after 10 miles on a bright red girder box bridge. I passed people fishing half way across the river at times in waders and at 13 miles I even went off route - the old road looked awesome and even though I had routed away from it I suspected there was a way to get back on route further up so I diverted and was hugging the river passing dams, hitting tunnels and a long stretch of covered, columned road which offered great views. Next I passed a village which looked almost new build but which was also very traditional with a large impressive shrine. I picked my way back onto the route crossing this time a green box girder bridge and straight into another tunnel. At Tsunan there was a really beautiful bend on the river with a viewpoint next to an engraved stone boulder - I even posted a video on Facebook ! There was a hard black carved stone set on a base and across the meandering river was a sparse low rise village which sat beneath a forest of multi green colours. Within a couple of miles my route crossed the river again on a weir which again offered great views - each gate open was producing a mini whirlpool in the river next to the gate and there were great reflections of the painted machinery, the green forest and a red pylon on the hill. On the downstream side of the weir there was a huge fish ladder which was like a hairpin bend for the fish. As I approached Uonuma the snow poles became more frequent and there was snow melt at the roadside, some of which was still 3 feet deep ! The mountains surrounding Uonuma were snow capped and I'm heading in to them tomorrow so I expect some snow photos. Tomorrow is a hard day with lots of climbs and 80 miles cycling so I was glad to finish today not long after 3pm and after a walk in the park ... Literally I did walk in the local park, I found a great Udon noodle restaurant to set me up for tomorrow.