Arrived in Teshikaga by evening and checked into a seven-room guesthouse. The owner was warm and talkative, asked where we were from and where we were headed, and when I mentioned the scenery was beautiful but the cold was brutal, he nodded and said this stretch had been unusually cold even for him. Followed his recommendation to a ramen shop nearby. The staff spotted us as foreign visitors and kept offering reassurances of "daijoubu!" which helped. I ordered the fish broth shoyu ramen: rich, salty, with enough depth to warm everything back up. Exactly right for the day we'd had. Quick supermarket run on the way back. The cashier asked if I had a membership card, clocked my expression, and smiled before I could say anything: "never mind." Back at the guesthouse, ended the night with a soak in the communal bath.