Japan Moto Adventures: Trip 3: Day 9 - Ryuzu Falls to Nikko Yumoto Onsen

We had an amazing day today in the Oku Nikko Plains that literally snatched a win from the jaws of defeat. We rose at 6am, deciding to make the most of our brief stay in Nikko and check out the Kanmangafuchi Abyss before breakfast. This gorge, very close to central Nikko, is home to some 70 stone statues of Jizo, a Bodhisattva who cares for the deceased. It's a very cool sight, especially if you can snag it when the place is deserted.

Stone statues of Jizo in the Abyss.

We raced back to our ryokan for breakfast (adequate) and then headed to the bus stop to catch our bus to Ryuzu Falls in the Oku Nikko Plains. We let 3 separate local busses go past because they were filled to bursting before admitting that there was no other alternative and squished ourselves into the next one. The ride up the numerous switchbacks crammed together like a Tokyo peak-hour train was not fun.

Anyway, soon we'd arrived at the falls and could alight the rolling hell. The Ryuzu falls themselves were nothing special, but those Autumn colours! Seems like we had arrived just at the right time to see them in all their glory. We sat and had a well earned coffee before setting out on our walk.

Ryzu Falls and those spectacular Autumn colours.

The river was even more spectacular above the falls.

We had been told that the walk from Ryuzu Falls to Yumoto Onsen - our bed for the night - was closed due to typhoon damage. We decided in the end to brave it and see what happens. If worst came to worst we'd have to walk 7km back to the falls and jump on a bus.

The walk started strong, with plants and foliage not unlike those we had seen in Kamikochi a few days previous. Every now and then we'd stumble on a new river scene of Autumn brilliance. It was enough to keep our spirits up surrounded by so much natural beauty.

Early on in the walk. Beauty no matter which way we looked.

Only 2km in and we came to what we'd been dreading - a closure notice strung across the track we wanted to take. Seems that the track had been damaged in two separate places and both those 1km stretches of track were closed.

Damn typhoon. Still, where there's a will..

We decided to get a bite to eat, take stock, and try another promising track that, although longer, seemed to give us a way past the first blockage. And so on we went! We added a few more kms to the trail, but the trip was the better for it.

Additional walking meant additional amazing scenery to enjoy

We successfully got around the first trail closure, but we were unsuccessful in getting around the second. For that one we needed to return to the main road and hump pavement for 1km or so. Not a bad compromise to keep us moving in the right direction.

We finally arrived at Yudaki Falls at the outlet from Yuno Lake and could then continue on with the final part of our planned route - a spin around the edge of Lake Yuno before arriving at our onsen hotel Yumoto Itaya. The falls themselves were amazing - a wall of water like a huge chute falling out of the arse of the lake. We stayed at the falls for a little while, eating soba with tempura, avoiding the trout on a stick, and regaining our stamina for the last push.

Yudaki Falls - spectacular.

We finally started around the edge of the Lake Yuno, heading for the town of Yumoto Onsen. The foliage here was as pretty as any we'd previously seen, but we didn't linger too long. The sweet, relaxing heat of the onsen was calling.

More beauty as we edged along Lake Yuno

Soon we had reached our ryokan and were being ushered upstairs by the friendly staff. In no time we'd headed to the onsen for a pre-dinner soak. Turns out this is a died-in-the-wool onsen built on the top of geothermal sources; there's a distinct sulfur smell to the cloudy limestone onsen water. Heaven.