It was a sunny day on the next morning and we had high hopes for koyo on our 3rd hike in Daisetsu Kogen onsen (大雪 高原温泉)  😎

Arrived at the temporary parking lot near Daisetsu dam before 9am and there were plenty of cars – it was the first day of a long weekend. Took the 9am bus (standing) uphill and attended a mandatory briefing in the Bear Information Centre (ヒグマ情報センター) – video in Japanese on trails/timings, bears, food and toilet arrangement etc.

Commenced hiking after 10am. Due to a mixture of mud, widespread puddles and snow along the trails the hike was slower and more demanding, while there were more hikers along the way than in our last two visits.

Reached the first pond – Tohyou-numa (土俵沼) at around 11:30. The pond surface had partially frozen to our surprise.

Skipped the next Bashou-numa (till descent) and headed up to Takimi-numa (滝見沼) immediately. Koyo was less impressive though covered in snow – also photogenic 🙂

===>  Kogen onsen (Part 2)  ===>