Lake Yunoko, Nikko NP

We’ve had a wonderfully peaceful day in the mountains, though we did walk quite a distance and feet are very are sore.

We got the bus (standing room only for 1.5 hours) as far up into the park as it went, to 5000ft, to Yunoko Onsen. It was warm and sunny. We had hoped to walk round the lake but the north-facing shore was closed due to snow, so we just did one side, and even then we had to duck under the no entry snow sign. There were only 2 small bits we had to walk on snow - the Japanese are very safety-conscious! The Blip is the lake when we go5 off the bus.

Then we took a path to the Yudaki Falls which were spectacular. We started at the top, then followed a long series of steps to the bottom. A nice Japanese chap obliged by taking our photo.

10 minutes further on we came to Kotaki Falls, which were mainlynin trees. We followed the river down, crossed it and continued on among pretty trees which were not in leaf yet. We stoped for lunch with a view of the winding river and Mt Nantia, which had lots of snow.

We eventually left the river to come out into the Senjogahari Moor which was dried grasses. We walked on boards and saw a few birders wish big lenses. Then we entered a forest area where we were warned to be alert for bears and monkeys.

We came off the boards onto a dirt track to the Ryuzu Falls from where we could see down to Lake Chuzenji which we’d seen from the bus on the way up. We came out at Shobugahama Beach. It was a more commercial area with lots of boating, hotels, cafes etc. However we did spot a few monkeys in the woods - the same type we’d seen at the hot springs. No bears thankfully, though lots of birdsong.

We got the bus for a few miles along the lakeside which took us to Chuzenji Onsen from where we took a 10 minute detour to the Kegon Falls, which fell straight down in one spectacular drop, though water poured out of the mountainside as well.

Then we walked over a mile along the lake to the British Embassy Villa and Memorial Park before trekking back to get the 5.30 bus back, by which time the cloud was down and it was cooler.

It was a lovely day, all the better of seeing the snowy mountains and pretty lakes in sunshine.