June/July brought mostly rainy days but as usual August has pulled out a stunner in Hakuba with bluebird sunny days through most of Obon perfect for Canyoning, Kayaking, Canoeing, MTBing, Hot Air Ballooning, Hiking the Alps or just bbq’ing at the river. Below are some of the few excerpts from the last few weeks:

Canyoning – August 12th

Downriver Kayaking -August 15th

July 11th
Today saw the visit of a hot air balloon to evergreen allowing everyone a different view of Kokusai and the Happo area.

July 17th
A wonderful cycling tour from Togakushi over part of the Japanese Alps to Minami Otari and down into the Hakuba Valley. The tour travelled through high moutain passes once used to train ninja assassins. Some parts of the passes are closed in winter due to snow and only open for a few months of the year and even then only accessible by foot or on bike.

The route wound passed old shrines and soba houses that are hundreds of years old.

On the way the tour was attacked by ninjas

luckily some members of the tour were trained in the ninja arts themselves.