Nikko National Park Hiking

Hi all!

This post shall feature our pictures from hiking in Nikko National Park.  If you follow my Facebook closely, then you've probably already seen these pictures.  But I know several of you don't use Facebook, so they're new to you!  It was a tour with MWR through base, and they're generally great tours.  And it was a lovely hike, but it appeared we were at least 2 weeks late to view the beautiful autumn leaves :-(   Nikko is directly north of Tokyo and it took us 5 hours to get there by the cozy bus.  As we were getting further north, the trees were really stunning shades of oranges and reds.  Gorgeous hillsides!  However, we kept going up, up, up the mountain to where all of the leaves had already not only fallen off the trees, but seemed to have disappeared  as well.   Very strange.   We went with some friends so we still had a good time :-)  Also, we finished our hike early, so our tour guide, Yumi (I love Yumi, she always introduces herself by saying, "You can remember my name by thinking of 'You and Me' or like 'Yummy' only Yumi".) convinced the bus driver to make a stop towards the bottom of the mountain area, where the leaves were colorful.  We didn't stop at the best place, but I was able to get a few pictures to prove that there really are beautiful colors in Japan.

This seems to be a common picture on the tours I take:  A pretty lake, surrounded by mountains with fog lifting from the morning.

This is one spot where if you use your imagine, you could understand why this is considered one of the most beautiful areas of Japan.

The view from the top of the first waterfall, looking down.

Us at the bottom of the first waterfall.

We did a big chunk of the hike on these platforms.  They're just about 2 feet off the ground and super nice because you don't have to worry as much about getting bugs on you or tripping on tree trunks and rocks.

We took a couple of breaks to rest and take pictures.

The group!

This guy was hilarious!  And he wore shorts in 40* weather.

See?  Dead everything.

Dead, but cool.  It was very smooth.

In case you're wondering, the water was very cold. 

Lady hikers!

One of the last waterfalls.

We had some amasake, which is hot sake, before getting back on the bus.

This is one of my favorite pics of the day.

See?  The prettiness did exist!

Also, in case you're wondering, the trees around where I live have not turned these beautiful colors and I don't know why.  We live in the city, but there are plenty of parks and lots of people have pretty big trees in their not-so-big yards.   Maybe soon???  If so, I'll add some more pictures!

Despite the grayness of our hike, I would definitely love to return, either next fall during the peak of the colors at the top of the mountain, or even in the spring when everything is blooming.  So pretty!

Next post:  Tokyo Disneyland!   And hubby is working on a really cool video of our day, so it's going to be a good one!