First of all... What a day. So I had that slightly freaky night camping in the woods. But it was still a beautiful and awesome campsite, and I took my time waking up and getting ready. As the sun had come up, older Japanese people started flocking to the campsite in waves to do the hikes around the top, as this was actually a fairly popular hiking area during the summer. I asked some people about the animal noises I'd heard the night before, but they were just as clueless as me. The start was a descent which was great. I basically descended until I got to some kind of civilisation, where I had some 7-Eleven food. From there it was back to climbing again, but I knew that it was only a short rest day and I would soon be booking a place in Kusatsu Onsen. But as I got closer to Kusatsu Onsen, I checked the hostel I'd planned to stay at and it turns out they were shut for the week. All of the other options were expensive. I knew there was only one option really left for me... but I wasn't keen for it. I convinced myself to do it though. So at about 2pm, I left Kusatsu Onsen after a coffee to climb the highest road in all of Japan. That's right, ahead of me was another further 1100m climb to get to the top. With 5 hours until sunset, and being fatigued from all the mountains climbs of the past week, I was apprehensive. But I knew that this would maybe be the hardest climb I would ever do in Japan, and I just needed to face it with the attitude of an athlete - no walking, only blood and sweat. But what happened next surprised me. The climbs, although at my lowest gear, did not feel hard. They were at a tough incline, but they were manageable. And it was like, because I went in with a fighting attitude, the past 3 months of cycling was paying off. My body was taking me over the finish line. It wasn't that long before the road turned magical. I started cycling into the part of the road that is only opened for a section of the year (due to snow and volcanic activity). Certain parts of the mountains were steaming from the hot springs underneath, the smell of sulfur filling my nostrils. It was at this point that cars going by started giving me thumbs up, waves, smiles and just general acknowledgements. One car was filming their drive with a 360 camera, so I waved to them and they started beaming and waving back. At one point a couple clearly wanted to take some photos of me going past, so I gave them what they wanted and did a thumbs up hero shot as I went past. As I got higher, I was now in the clouds. What was meant to be a slightly rainy afternoon was no more, because I was no longer below the rain clouds. When the fog got heavy, I cycled up to a Kamoshika (Japanese Serow) on the road. I had actually set up my camera on the ground to get a shot, so I quickly rushed back for it to go back up to film the kamoshika. But by the time I got my camera, the kamoshika had left the road. But I found it! It was 30m off the road in the bushes, eating the trees. I tried yelling out to get its attention, but it did not seem to care at all. At this point I was at about 1700m of altitude and I thought that I wouldn't get to see any sights due to the fog. But then suddenly, I was above it and the sights opened up. The mountains were vast, which some nature that I just hadn't seen before. They were no longer dense forests, but huge plains on top of the mountains. There were rocky parts with a little Tori gate 200m off the road, grassy areas, forest areas. There was a lake at the first peak, and they were blaring some message over the speakers there (there were also a couple of construction guys). I heard sounds over on another mountain nearby, to me it sounded like bears woofing in the forest but it was heard to tell. From that point on it was a bit of a descent to another climb, but this final climb was GORGEOUS. The views really opened up and I had never seen mountains like this. It truly took my breath away, and the cycling didn't feel hard at all. I was just saying "WOW!" out loud over and over again. At the top I crossed over to the other side of the mountain that was covered in fog, but here was the altitude monument.. 2172m altitude, the highest point of all of the Japan National Routes. Basically, the highest public road you could cycle in Japan. I sat there for 45 minutes taking loads of photos, videos, calling Steph and eating my onigiri. I considered even camping up there to see if the clouds would clear up in the morning, but I knew I was already satisfied with the sights I had seen. And so I started the descent to a campsite I had saved down the other side of the mountain near Shiga Kogen. But, the beautiful cycle wasn't done. By now the sun was getting closer and closer to bringing out some sunset colours through the clouds. I had to stop and awe at so many of the sights at the beginning of the descent. It was so cold but I didn't care. I made it to the campsite at 7pm, which was a paid one (¥1000) next to an onsen hotel. For an extra ¥700 I got to use the onsen before it closed, which was just the perfect ending to the day. I even sat in the hotel lobby eating my dinner, with chocolates from the reception. I helped a man buy a beer from the vending machine because he had no coins and it wasn't accepting his note, but then he was able to use his 1000 yen bill on another vending machine to buy me a milk chocolate + change to pay me back. The campsite was in a sort of swampy, marshy area with the sound of frogs. I left my food and scented items at the hotel for bear safety and set up in the dark, but I had a great sleep with the frogs nearby on the soft ground. I didn't have to re-blow my mattress as it deflated slowly like it usually does, because the ground was nice and soft. One of the most memorable and rewarding days of the trip. And although I hit my highest point ever, it didn't feel like the hardest. It all came together today!