{"id":1492,"date":"2020-02-04T10:53:41","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T01:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/?p=1492"},"modified":"2020-02-05T11:51:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T02:51:15","slug":"snowhiking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/snowhiking\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow Hiking Experience in Tazawako"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1524\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Snowshoe-climbing-2-e1580871046420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p>Many tourists visit Tazawako for ski and snowboarding.<br \/>But to those who are not familiar with snow, such sports activities may be a big hurdle.<\/p><p>However, what I will introduce to you today requires no skill nor practice to enjoy the snow.<br \/>Allow me to introduce you \u201cSnow Hiking!\u201d<br \/>Wear a pair of snowshoes and off we go!<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1496 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-igloo-e1580373623432.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p>Our group started from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qkamura.or.jp\/en\/nyuto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo<\/a> (\u4f11\u6687\u6751\u4e73\u982d\u6e29\u6cc9\u90f7\uff09one of the seven Nyuto Hot Spring facilities.<br \/>The beech forest behind the hot spring was our hiking route of the day.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1495 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-walk-e1580373547361.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p>The beech forest was once cut down during the 2nd World War era. <br \/>After the war, the forest grew back to its original form without any maintenance.<br \/>Here is one of the trees that survived the felling 80 years ago.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1497 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-beech-e1580373807363.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p><p>While walking, the first thing we came across was a spicebush tree.<br \/>As names and natures do often agree, spicebush had a unique smell, and the guide told us that the branch is used as high-class toothpicks for people to enjoy the scent.<br \/>It is also utilized for medicine, tea, and aroma.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1498\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-branch-e1580373864257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"537\" \/><\/p><p>When we looked down, we could find footprints of a rabbit, and when we gazed above, we found a mistletoe on top of the beech tree(Christmas was over though)<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1499 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-rabbit-footstep-e1580373927593.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1500 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-mistletoe-e1580373956887.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p>It was interesting to see how beech trees grow in various ways. <br \/>Where sulfur is condensed in the fountain of hot spring, the pattern of the bark was rubbed off for toxic hydrogen sulfide.<br \/>Where the snow lay heavy, the tree grew crookedly.<br \/>When temperature decrease below -15 degrees, the bark cracks due to the turning of water to ice, unbearable for trees to hold the volume change.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1518\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/snowshoe_sulfur-e1580780739308.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1501 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-crooked-tree-e1580374090423.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p><p>We took a break in the wetland (now covered with snow) and had a little treat\u266a<br \/>Sitting in a snow bench with a cup of hot chocolate!<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1502 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-wetland-e1580374167859.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1503 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-tea-break-e1580374216661.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p><p>While we were heading back, we encountered a giant shelf fungus!<br \/>It is a fungus that is often found in trees or fallen logs in damp woodlands.<br \/>It is still used as an ingredient of Chinese medicine for anticancer drugs!<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1504 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-fungi-e1580374286450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p><p>Our climax was, of course, the <strong>snow slide<\/strong> in the end!<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M8FbgCVidjk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p><p>The 2 hours hiking finished in a flash, enjoyable enough to forget our time.<br \/>Snow hiking has another \u201cwaterfall of friendship (\u53cb\u60c5\u306e\u6edd)\u201d route which I would like to introduce to you next time.<br \/>Tazawako Area, Semboku has abundant nature that changes color many times in a year.<br \/>Visiting on winter may seem monotonous, but when you walk and see deeper inside, you can definitely feel the \u201cquiet liveliness\u201d within the white world!<\/p><p>Check it out for yourself!<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1509 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Snowshoe-snow-stick-e1580375275485.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many tourists visit Tazawako for ski and snowboarding.But to those who are not familiar with snow, such sports [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,33,27,34,24,35,32,30,38,37,39,36,31],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plan","tag-akita","tag-experience","tag-nyuto-onsen","tag-outdoor","tag-semboku","tag-ski","tag-snow","tag-snow-hiking","tag-snow-shoes","tag-snow-slide","tag-snow-trekking","tag-snowboarding","tag-tazawako"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1525,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semboku-gt.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}