First ever TWMC Hike - Nikko

Hi everyone,
We have decided to go hiking in Nikko on May 23rd and 24th. On 23rd, we are hiking on a valley trail from Chyuzennji-ko to Yunoko. We will stay around Yunoko at the night of 23rd. We have not decided to camp or stay at a hotel, yet. On 24th, we will go hiking to Shirane-san, which is moderately strenuous. We will be back at night on 24th. Both hikes are very good according to our guide book. Please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in the hikes.

I look forward to seeing you next weekend.

There was no official hike report for this hike, but Archana Singh wrote this to the list:

Hi everybody!

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Archana and I was one of the participants for the Nikko trip. My husband Alok is an employee of NRIM. I've been in Japan for 8 months. We have a 4 year old son. We're from India. I have a littlebit of experience of walking on the mountains of India (including Himalayas). Having lived on Himalayas for four years, Alok is more experienced than me. For this Nikko trip we deceide that Alok takes care of the baby while I join the group. Next time it'll be my turn for babysitting. We would like to go with the baby if there are more families with the babies and the walking course is of simpler and flatter type.

Nikko trip was my first serious hiking venture after the last one I had in Himalayas five years ago. This club is a fantastic idea and has helped me in getting back to hiking. It was one of the most enjoyable and adventurous trip I've ever had and I am happy I came back alive. Not to mention about my stiff knees and legs. I would like to thank all of you. We had highly specialized manpower (and womenpower). I don't have to say anything about John. You already know his organizing skills are great. We couldn't have possibly managed without Koichi, who was constantly being troubled by all ofus for translating what we wanted to communicate to local people and also the maps in Kanji. If he was not around we would turn to Nadia who is also very good in her Nihongo skills. Paul was the strongest and fittest of all -always walking at least 3 Kms ahead of the rest of us. And we had a highly skilled and experienced couple Luc and Nadia who have climbed up to Fuji Luc - 3 times!!).

I congratulate twmc for its first successful hike.

Archana