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After our morning meeting, we have left our home of 3 days and now headed for the Mori no Kuni Park.
http://www.sanin.com/site/page/daisen/instituti...
It is large nature park that will allow the students to enjoy outdoors and play equipment in a safe environment.
We would like to say a special thanks the staff of The Hotel Daisen Shirogane. They were so friendly, so accommodating, with service and accommodations that were fantastic. We want to say a special thanks for providing meals for students with dietary restrictions. Thank you so much!

After a refreshing bath and an great dinner, we had our second big event of the day - the evening campfire.
We started with the recreation of the lighting of the Olympic flame with VP Uchimura doing the honors. After that, each class was given 10 minutes to perform two dances that they had been practicing for. Each class performed so well as all the children wanted to do their best in front of their peers.
We ended evening with the teachers doing a play of Taketori Monogatari.

To prevent large crowds in small places, half of the 5th graders ate indoors as half had a BBQ outdoors. The indoor group and salmon and nave and the outdoor team enjoyed a BBQ prepared by the teachers. I don’t know if it’s the delicious food, the fantastic tasting rice, or food just tastes great after a very long and hard hike, but everyone ate so much and seemed to really enjoy their dinners. Or were they just relieved that the climb was over?

Our class was hiking at a brisk pace and came in a bit earlier than expected. Therefore, we had to make a short visit to Daisen Temple before heading back to our hotel.

These are photos just before we got back to our accommodations.

The Tale of the Tape
8.7 km of hiking
960 meters of climbing
Climbed to 1709 meters

We are now taking a must well deserved break at sector 6.
The children are doing so well but are starting to complain about the very long descent. But, they are all smiles and laughs at this break after a very quiet way down.

Our way down from Mt Daisen was less rigorous, but still tough as everyone was tired, the path is steep, and difficult to navigate. Several students had slips on the way down. Fortunately, nobody got any serious injuries. We took the scenic way back and we’re fortunate to see much of the landscape which was hidden to us from the clouds as we climbed.

　

At the top, it has suddenly become cloudy.
But, that is not stopping the students from enjoying their lunches.

We are now having lunch at the summit. After a pretty hard climb but the nice weather made it easier for us. After leaving around 8, We finally reached the summit just before noon. There were points in which many students wanted to give up, but after some well timed breaks, everyone made it to the top safely.
Just when we reached the top, we were greeted by a sunny summit! The warm sun, an incredible view, and a delicious lunch had put a smile on everyone after such a hard long hike.

We are having our second and last major break before the summit.
It is a popular rest stop as many groups have stopped here.
Everyone is doing well and pushing forward.

We are now at sector 3.
Everyone is doing fine and the weather is perfect. From here, we have been told that we have only 700 meters to climb and it will take approximately one hour.

We are now starting sector 5. Students are starting to tire, but these short breaks are giving the students a chance to recover and restart.

We are picking up one stone and taking it up to the summit. These little stones will help rebuild the hiking paths.

We have started our climb at 750 meters.
Beautiful blue skies and bright sun will help us up the mountain. Some of the students seem a bit nervous, but our guides are leading us at a very pace comfortable.

Good morning. After the light showers yesterday, we have some perfect conditions for hike. Today is the main event, the climb up Mt Daisen which peak is at 1729m.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e8150.html
We woke up at 6, cleaned our rooms, got our daily temperature check, and now we are breakfast in our rooms.
Then, along with 10 teachers, 2 veteran photographers, and a nurse, we also have the expert guidance of 7 local guides to take us up Mt Daisen. They will be setting the perfect pace to get us all to the top safely. Wish us luck.

Lights out at 9 PM as we are getting up at 6AM with the first group starting their accent at 7:20 AM. Everyone will need to be well rested for the big climb.
We were expecting some students to stay awake and talk the night away, but just an hour after lights out, the entire hotel is as quiet as a mouse.
This will be my last update for the day, goodnight.

When arriving in the Daisen area, there was light rain all night making the outdoor BBQ a bit of a challenge.
Tomorrow we will have the perfect conditions for a hike with weather with cloudy skies with a low of 18 and a high if 23. The top of the mountain it will be a brisk 12 degrees. Hopefully, we will have more good fortunes with clear skies at the top.

Good evening! We are had enjoyed a lovely with half of the classes enjoying a BBQ dinner and the other half enjoying a meal in the cafeteria. The teachers worked so hard for hours barbecuing for the students. It wasn’t until all the student were fed and full that the teachers had a chance to eat. These are a few photos of the teachers BBQing the night away.