Ignoring Barriers

If I'm on foot or bicycle, chances are I'll go round barriers like this one.

In recent weeks, barriers across trails all over the Twin Cities have become a fact of life. Flooding and fallen trees have made walking and cycling more interesting.

That got me thinking about a hike back in April on Sado Island, in the Sea of Japan.

I wanted to walk to the top of a snow-capped mountain. Trails at higher altitudes were still impassable, so this would be a road walk.  I figured it would be a quiet road, or at least it became a quiet road after I passed a gravel quarry.

Then I came to the locked gate shown at the top of this post.

I decided not to bother using my phone's Google Translate app to figure out what the signs were trying to tell me. I probably wouldn't have done anything with the information.

I climbed round the gate and continued my trek to the top. I wondered if I would be intercepted by the authorities, adding to the drama of my walk.

My senses were well-rewarded.

Note: Next day I hiked in the valley and wrote about this in Plain Views of Sado Island.