We were surprised to arrive at the summit of Mt. Sahoro without seeing the summit hut. According to the map, our route should have taken us directly past the front of it.

We did a visual search for the hut, walking north along the the summit ridge all the way to a small spur. I was beginning to think that I knew better, and that the Japan national Geospacial Information Authority (GSI – an official governmental department) had mis-marked the location of the hut. We had passed the spot where the hut was supposed to be, after all, and hadn’t seen any sign of it.

On my smartphone, I switched from Geographica (one of the great apps to display GSI topographical maps) to Google Maps satellite view. Right at that point, according to the eyes in the sky, we were standing exactly where the hut should be.

After staring blankly at the snow around us, it dawned on us. “Surely not,” I said to Rick. “Surely the hut isn’t completely buried!”

I’d seen pictures on the Internet showing the hut partially buried (such as in this blog post). But where we were standing, not even the chimney was visible.

The one-story hut we intended to sleep overnight in was completely and utterly buried.

I scanned the snow surface for clues. We could use our probes to confirm the presence of the hut under the snow, but that wouldn’t tell us where the door to the hut is. I didn’t fancy digging multiple 3m deep holes just to locate the door.

I scraped at a bump in the snow surface, and out popped a shovel handle. Some kind soul had, at some stage, stood the hut’s shovel in the snow. This was an important find. Most huts in Hokkaido have a shovel at the entrance of the hut. Could it be that this shovel was the “x” that marked the spot for the entrance?