2015 A year of Matsuri-ies: Golden Line Drive, April 3rd

Sometime in early spring, the plows come out in Aomori prefecture and the hard work of clearing months and months of snow in the snowiest place on Earth begins. 

The Towada Golden Line is a 5ish mile stretch of highway that runs from Aomori to Towada via the Hakkoda mountains. This road is closed in late fall and remains closed throughout winter due to the intense amount of snowfall. Aomori city is actually the snowiest place on the planet (I am not kidding!) with an annual average of 312 inches of snowfall. 

In April, after the Golden Line has been plowed, it is opened first to pedestrians only (for a couple of days- I believe a ticket is required to participate) and then to vehicle traffic. This year, Sarah and I took the Bean for a drive to check out the awesome snow drifts. We are talking anywhere between 16ft to 20+ft walls of snow on either side of the road! Entire buildings are completely buried in snow. It is crazy!

A tree top peeking out from under the snow...

You can get out of your car and climb up over the drifts in some places. It is a truly spectacular scene. We were there on a beautifully clear day, which gave us awesome views of Hakkoda's peaks and valleys as well.

A giant hole in the snow wall!  

I can't wait to check this place out again next year! Maybe even try to do the walk through... After the freakishly snow-less winter of 2015, most of us are counting on a heavy snow this year so it should be a good opportunity to see it one last time! 

We are are serious adventurers.