Daisetsuzan, Hokkaido

Mui Fong did most of the research for places of interest n Hokkaido before we set off. She insisted on visiting this National Park. She read that this place is most beautiful in Summer and coldest in winter.

We took a train from Furano to Asahikawa, the second largest city after Sapporo in Hokkaido. From there we hopped on to a bus at Asahikawa JR Station which took us for a scenic one and a half hour ride to Asahidate Station.

Daisetsuzan (big snow mountains) is the largest national park in Japan. This park comprises of a group of mountain ranges which includes Mt. Asahi, the tallest mountain in Hokkaido .

We took the ropeway to the Sugatami Station which cost 2800 yen per person.

Mt. Asahidake. A breathtakingly rugged beautiful mountain. It is the highest peak in this mountain range. The term 'dake' is used instead of 'san' as in Fujisan is for this very reason as it is not a 'lone' mountain. It takes about two days to hike to the summit. Apparently it is not a difficult climb but the weather can be very fickle and temperature is known to dip suddenly. Just a few days before we were there, there was a group of hikers who lost their way and by the time they were found, ten died. Weather in the mountain changes very quickly and one has to be very well prepared.

Evidence of volcanic activity.

Steam activitiy.

Closest we could go to these sulfurous vents called fumaroles.
A bell to warn of any unusual volcanic activity.

Parts of the 60 minutes circular trail that begins at the ropeway's upper station.

1st view point of the trail.

Beautiful alpine plant along the trail.

These alpine flora are small but so, so exquisitely vibrant in their colors and shapes.

Maybe they sensed the fleetingness of summer and want to make the most of it.

These amazing beauties are found peeking from every nook of the rocky range.

'Husband and wife' ponds

We encountered about five of these lovely pristine ponds along the 1.7 circular path.