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亀清はお盆後、子供達が学校に戻る前日に、休館して、シアトルから遊びに来てくれていた友達を連れて、皆でお猿の温泉(志賀高原の手前の地獄谷）にお出かけしました。私達は何度も見ていますが、今回も分かりましたが、いくら見ても飽きない。逆に、行けば行くほど、お猿の世界はどれだけ深いか、どれだけ人間に近いか、分かります。

今回のスノーモンキー冒険は車で行きましたので渋温泉から地獄谷の下の有料駐車場(亀清旅館から高速で約1時間）まで登って、車を止めました。駐車場から野猿公苑の入口までは歩いて約15分です。途中でお猿を見かけたり、横湯川の側を通りながら、杉木の森の中を上って、所々に鉄の色の水が流れていて、「あっ、地獄谷に近付いているな」と、どんどんドキドキしました。横湯川を渡る前に、後楽館と言う一軒の宿の寄りました。後楽館は地獄谷での一番美味しいそば屋さんです。(まあ、唯一のそば屋さんでもあります。）我が家族に人気があります。メニューにおそば以外はちまきもあります。笹の葉っぱで積んだもち米で、黄粉に付けて食べるのは二男のＫｅｎｎｅｔｈ君の大好物だ。そして、飲み物に志賀高原の地ビールがあって、Ｋｅｎｎｅｔｈ君のパパの大好物だ。今回もそうでしたが、相変わらず玄関にでかい犬が寝ていて、誰もいなさそうでした。大きい声で「すみません！」と言ったら、おじさんが出てきて、注文を受けて、少ししたら美味しいそばを持って来てっくれました。食堂から横湯川の谷景色を眺めながら、時々お猿を見かけたり、昼食を食べた。お猿がかなり近付くので、おじさんに聞いたら、食堂に入る事もあるそうです。犬は守らないか？まあ、この辺は完全にお猿の世界です。後楽館の露天風呂は人間専用だが、お猿は看板を読めないので違った意味の混浴になるそうです。

さて、食べ終わって、横湯川を渡って、地獄谷噴泉を不思議に見て、いよいよ野猿公苑に入りました。この日はかなり暑かったので、ゆっくり昼寝をしたくなる様な天気でした。そして、お猿の温泉へ行くアップろーちに気持ち良さそうに昼寝しているお猿さんを見かけました。人間と一緒！

お風呂の中にもお猿が致し、周りに沢山がうろうろしていたし、春に生まれた赤ちゃんサルはあちらこちらで遊んでいたし、一匹はライブカメラの上で休憩したし、とにかく、完全にお猿の世界。萩原さんと公苑のスタッフが詳しくて私と子供達の色んな質問を親切に応えてくれた。「お猿って、ゲップする？」とか、「どれがボス？」などなど。ちなみに、今のボス、トラヨは面白いヒストリーがある。実は彼が他のお猿に負けちゃって、＃２になった。しかし、数か月前にその新しいボスが怪我して、亡くなりました。そして、人間の歳で約80歳なんだけど、トラヨは＃1に戻ってきました。お猿の社会はテレビのドラマの様に、本当に面白い。

地獄谷のお猿を見に行かれたら、アドバイスは1つあります：カメラの電池を充電しといた方が良い。お猿がかわいくて、写真はたくさん撮りたくなる。うちの山菜の美咲ちゃんも、「カメラ頂戴」って、いっぱい撮りました。

After the O-Bon rush, and before our kids went back to school, we took some friends that were visiting from Seattle and went for a drive to see the snow monkeys at Jigokudani. Of course, there's no snow now, and we've seen the monkeys several times before, but I really came to realize that the monkeys are fascinating to see any time of the year, and the more you see of them, the more fascinating they become.

Since we went by car, we drove up from Shibu Onsen to the pay parking lot (1 hour from Kamesei Ryokan by freeway) that's a 15 minute walk from the park entrance. During that walk, we passed a few monkeys and, while walking up through the beautiful cedar forest along the Yokoyu River, there were spots in the river with a rust-like color. It was a sign that we were nearing the mineral hot springs of Jigokudani.

Before we crossed the river and entered the park, we stopped at Korakukan, a rustic inn that overlooks the river valley. Korakukan serves the best soba noodles in the area (well, actually, it's the only restaurant in the area), but it always seems a bit quiet at first. You have to step over the sleeping dog, poke your head in and yell "Sumimasen!". Then someone will come and serve you soba, as well as Chimaki (mochi rice wrapped in sasa bamboo leaves that you dip in Kinako powder -- our #2 son's favorite), and for beverages, they feature Shiga Kogen microbrews (our #2 son's dad's favorite!). While slurping soba, we enjoyed the view of the river valley from the dining room, and spotted more monkeys wandering around. They seemed to come up really close to the inn. Apparently it's not unusual for them to wander into the dining room (the dog's not much of a guardian), or take a soak in the inn's outdoor bath. The bath is meant for human's but the monkeys can't read the signs.

After our yummy lunch, we crossed the river, stopped to be amazed by the Jigokudani geyser, and finally went to the official park entrance. It was a hot day, and I thought it would be nice to stop and take a siesta. Just as I was thinking that, we passed a monkey splayed out on a rock blissfully snoozing away. How human-like! At the onsen bath, there were a few monkeys lounging in and around the bath, more wandering around nearby, and the babies that were born in the spring were playfully running all over place.

Hagiwara-san and the other knowledgeable staff happily answered mine and our kids' questions. "Do monkeys burp?" "Which one is the boss?" etc.

The current boss, by the way, has an interesting story behind him. He was beaten out by another monkey and relegated to #2, but then the new boss got injured and passed away a few months ago. So Torayo, despite being around 80 years in human age, returned to be the boss again. Monkey society is like out of a television drama!

If you go see the snow monkeys (and no matter what time of year it is, I highly suggest it), I have 1 very important piece of advice: recharge your camera's batteries before going. The monkeys are charming, and you'll want to take lots of pictures. Even our 3-year old Misaki asked for the camera, and took a bunch of photos.

地獄谷のＨＰはこちらClick here for Jigokudani's website.