Oze National Park

Last weekend we went to Oze National Park with our friends the Inoues. Their daughter, Mayu, is Mia's dearest friend in Tokyo.



Some quick and dirty Oze facts:

*popular hiking destination from Tokyo
*noted for wild flowers and birds
*highland marsh, over 1400m elevation
*home of Mt. Hiuchigatake 2,346m
*part of Nikko National Park until 2007
*less than 2 hours from Tokyo
*the largest marshland in Japan
*boardwalk trails over the marsh
*part of Gunma, Niigata and Fukushima Prefectures
*famous for skunk cabbage and yellow alpine lily
*spectacular mountain scenery




This was a perfect weekend getaway with kids. The trails were pretty much flat, which meant that even our 2 year old, Rhetto-kun, could hike by himself. All hiking was done on boardwalks, the novelty of this kept the kids truckin' right along.



But occasionally, one would catch a ride.



Here's Asa Inoue. She chose Oze as our destination, and what a perfect choice it was. She was in her element, fully enjoying the fresh air and open landscape. The scenery reminded me of Eagle River in Alaska.



Here's Satoru Inoue, in front of one of the huts. We spent a night at a hut. Calling them "huts" is an understatement. These huts had individual rooms, a dining hall, bathrooms, gift shop, bathhouse...



Here we are at the end of the hike. The last portion of the hike was uphill. Rhett and Mia did great and didn't grouse a bit. Aaron and I felt like we had entered a new phase in our family. A family hiking trip? Wow! Looking forward to more adventures with our kids and the Inoues.