It's early summer in Hokkaido.

Its mountains reveal a variety of faces.

Glittering white snowy fields.

Colorful flowers.

And rough and rugged landscapes shaped by volcanic activity.

In this episode,

we'll go trekking in the scenic Tokachi Mountain Range.

Wild Hokkaido!

The Tokachi Mountain Range is located in the center of Hokkaido.

Its 2,000-meter peaks stretch for 15 km from north to south.

Our trekking course will take us along the ridge line

from Mt. Furano to the main peak of Mt. Tokachi.

With an altitude of 2,077 m,

Mt. Tokachi is an active volcano that still emits smoke today.

It's late June.

Good morning.

Good morning!

It's a beautiful day.

We're just getting ready.

Trekking today are American mountaineering guide

Tracy Lenard and his wife Mika.

Although they've climbed Mt. Tokachi many times,

this is the first time they'll attempt a hike at the start of summer.

Well, today we're going to Furanodake and towards Tokachidake.

And, it's going to be interesting to see

what kind of conditions we have on the ground today.

It's early season

so we're looking forward to seeing a little bit more snow

than what we normally see in the summer.

This is really the first time for me to be here

in this early season of flowers,

so I'm really looking forward to the combination of snow and flowers.

Safety measures are essential for trekking.

Because they're going to climb an active volcano,

they check the meteorological agency's website

to assess the mountain's current condition.

They also need to beware of bears.

They'll wear bear bells and carry anti-bear spray.

- You ready to go?
- Yes.

- Alright, let's go.
- Let's go.

They're all set and ready to go.

The trek will last two days.

On day one, they'll climb Mt. Furano,

walk along the mountain ridge, and stay overnight in a hut.

On day two, they'll head for the top of Mt. Tokachi.

Today, the snow has already melted at the foot of the mountains,

but further in the distance, there are still patches of snow.

Oh, look.

Our first snowfield. This is lovely.

The snowfields they were hoping for appear before them.

There's a special technique for walking across the snowfields.

Alright, this is a pretty flat snowfield

so we don't have to make too many steps,

and you can always use the little suncups that are already here.

But you always want to make sure you have good firm footing

when you're walking on a small snowfield.

They carefully mark their steps as they traverse the snowy slopes.

It's beautiful here.

I really like the contrast between the green, blue sky, and white snow.

And that's the beauty of being here in this season.

There's something growing beside the snowfields.

What are they?

Look at how beautiful these are.

What are these flowers?

This is the Ezokozakura.

Ezokozakura.

It's beautiful.

When the snow's gone, the flowers come out.

The flowers really signify a changing of the seasons.

Absolutely beautiful.

Mt. Furano is known for its alpine flowers.

During this season, a variety of colorful flowers bloom

and compete for attention as they cover the mountainside.

The couple takes a moment to enjoy the serenity.

Now, it's time to take in more of the spectacular scenery of Mt. Furano.

The slope has gotten steeper and more difficult.

They continue carefully, until...

Three hours after they set off,

they've reached the summit of Mt. Furano at last.

This is the panorama from the 1,912-meter peak.

They have a clear view of the summit of Mt. Tokachi, five km away.

When you see the Tokachidake area, it's brown.

The other mountains are all green.

They enjoy the impressive scenery surrounding them.

Time for a break on the summit.

Mika takes something out of her bag.

Here are oat cookies!

So, we always bring these oat cookies.

They're really easy to make and then it's very slow to burn,

so it's lasting energy.

So, it's perfect for mountain food.

Now for "SENSEI's Tips."

Let's learn how Mika makes her delicious oat cookies.

Take oats, raisins, nuts, peanut butter,

and maple syrup, and mix them together.

Shape, then bake the cookies at 180 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes.

Simple!

Try making some yourself.

Tracy has a slightly different recommendation.

It's wonderful. This set is beautiful.

It's a traditional Japanese tea set.

We take the matcha powder.

Spoon the green tea powder into the tea bowl.

Add hot water, and whisk it with the special bamboo whisk.

The tea complements the cookies nicely.

Thanks for the tea!

Ah, it smells good.

I love it.

They've spent a moment of luxury on top of the mountain.

That was refreshing.

It was tasty, thank you.

After leaving the summit of Mt. Furano,

the two head along the mountain ridge towards Mt. Tokachi.

They soon come across a cluster of boulders.

Just then...

I just heard one.

That's it.

So, let's stay here for a minute

and see if some of them will come out of the rocks, okay?

Okay.

They decide to search for the owner of the high-pitched squeak.

It's a Northern Pika.

Related to rabbits,

pikas are about 15 cm long and have a distinct high-pitched cry.

As it's sensitive to high temperatures,

it lives in rock crevices in alpine areas.

The couple stays put for over half an hour,

but unfortunately, the pikas are too shy to come out.

We heard them crying a couple of times.

They just haven't come out to show themselves today.

Oh well, they're a bit shy.

They're being a bit shy.

So, yeah, it can't be helped,

but this is the kind of environment they're usually found in,

so hopefully, we'll have another chance...

Yeah, if we're lucky.

After six hours of hiking, they reach Mt. Kamihorokamettoku.

Yay, Mika. Yay.

Look at that.

Wow.

It's starting to look a little bit volcanic, isn't it?

Wow, this crater is magnificent.

It looks like some other planet.

Although that's where we need to go.

Tokachidake is our destination for tomorrow.

It seems quite far away from here.

It's seemed quite far away from us for the whole day, hasn't it?

About 100 m below is a mountain hut.

Yay, Mika!

We made it.

This hut is free for climbers to use.

Today, I think we were very lucky with the weather.

We had beautiful weather in the morning

and then changing weather in the afternoon.

So, very happy with our weather today.

Tomorrow, we're looking forward to having better weather,

or the same weather we had this morning, and summiting Tokachidake.

They've trekked a distance of ten km today.

Tonight, they'll sleep here and rest up for tomorrow.

Day two. It's 3:30 am.

Mt. Tokachi emerges from the early morning glow.

Good morning.

Oh, wow.

Not looking too bad.

Wow, it's better than I expected.

- Are you ready?
- Yes.

Excellent, shall we take off?

- Yes, let's go.
- Okay, let's go.

It's an hour and 30 minutes to the summit.

The surrounding landscape is desolate,

characteristic of the mountain's volcanic activity.

There's little vegetation growing on the mountain,

and they climb determinedly up the steep rocky terrain.

Is that the top, Tracy?

We're almost there, Mika.

Almost there.

Finally, they summit Mt. Tokachi's 2,077-meter-high peak.

Wow.

We made it! Tokachidake.

This is one of what?

"Hyakumeizan."

Look at the view.

The volcano's crater emits plumes of smoke

against a backdrop of sweeping green plains.

It's as if the earth's heart is beating.

It took two full days to trek from Mt. Furano to Mt. Tokachi.

Tracy and Mika have enjoyed their wilderness adventure to the fullest.

Well, I really like the contrast.

Today, it's volcanic and rocky and so rough.

But yesterday, we had blue sky and beautiful flowers and snowfields.

It's not a long distance, but within a compact area,

we had a lot of variety, and I quite liked it.

The mountains of Hokkaido are very wild.

They are not over developed and they give you a sense of nature.

Wild Hokkaido!

takes you on great activities in the great outdoors of northern Japan.

Join us next time for another adventure!