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In mid-October we took a family trip to Nikko National Park in Japan. My wife had not seen the leaves change fall colors very much in her life and she was excited to see it. This was also my wife’s second trip to Nikko and I think she was sick of me going by myself. It would also give us a chance to go hiking with our 9 month old daughter. Lilly had spent some time in the backpack before but this would be her longest hike yet.
On our first day, we did a small hike at Kanmangafuchi Abyss near our hotel
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGY_J4ePSr4&t
Hotel: https://tinyurl.com/TurtleInn
Kid Comfort Backpack: https://amzn.to/3TmkL8g
On day two we were ready to go on our big family hike. We took a bus from Nikko Station all the way up to Lake Yunoko (湯ノ湖). Lake Yunoko is partially fed by hot springs and is one of the easiest high places in Nikko to get to by bus. From Lake Yunoko we walked to Yudaki Falls (湯滝).
This impressive slopping waterfall serves as the start of the Yugawa or Yu River (湯川). We hiked along the river passing through forests and Izumiyado Pond (泉門池 / いずみやどいけ） until we reached Senjogahara (戦場ヶ原).
Senjogahara is an impressive, expansive peat bog. The wetlands come alive with blossoms in the summer but was still beautiful in the autumn. However, the wetlands are windy and the cold started to get to Lilly and my wife. Combined with my wife getting tired we decided to cut the hike short and not go all the way to Ryuzu Falls (竜頭ノ滝).
Lilly did well in the backpack and she seems to still like hiking. We plan to keep hiking with her so that she loves being outdoors in the wild just like us!
00:00 Intro
00:51 Lake Yunoko
01:51 Yudaki Falls
02:35 I Rant About wildlife
03:41 Izumiyado Pond
04:29 Of Birtch and Chaga Mushrooms
05:15 Senjogahara
07:02 Back to the Yugawa
07:21 Cutting the Hike Short
1 Comment
Did your parents hike with you? Or do hike with your kids?