One of the first mountains that creates the northern entrance to the Gokayama valleys is Mt. Yaotome. It separates the urban towns from the rural valleys, and it's the final obstacle for Sho River to break away from the mountains and continue straight north into the Sea of Japan.
At the foot of the mountain on the urban side is Kanjouji Park, an elevated open area with lots of room for camping and outdoor activities. At the high point of the park is an observation point that overlooks Inami Town and gives a clear view of Nanto, Tonami, and even Takaoka, all of the western and southwestern open towns and cities of Toyama.
It was cloudly and rainy most of the morning. But, by the time I visited the observation point in the afternoon, the weather had completely cleared. Much of the moisture remaining the air, though, so it was difficult to see the more distant areas past Tonami and Takaoka. But, all of the areas of Nanto were in full view.
This was around 2pm. Later, I came back around 5pm to watch the sunset.
This was the highlight of the park. The observation point faces northwest so it has a clear view of the sunset. Or, at least it would in summer when the sun would set a bit further north. Being winter, the sun sets early and further south. You aren't able to see the full sunset unless you go over to the raised concrete platform.
It was a very radiant sunset on a chilly evening. Even though we're in winter, it wasn't really that cold. And even looking across the miles of homes and towns, there's no snow. It's a really eerie feeling looking at a view that seems like October or November when we're in the middle of January.
I stayed at the viewpoint for a while and watched as the orange hue faded into blue. As the blue color crept in, lights began to dot and brighten up bits of the towns and cities. More dots appeared as the blue deepend.
My camera was not so great and capturing those subtleties. It doesn't really like low light, and with the sun gone, the chilliness began to turn into cold, so holding the camera still was a little more difficult. I left before it got really dark.
It was a beautiful place that I would love to see again in Spring as the view begins to turn green.
