(Day 160 on the road)I finally had the hiking experience I had been looking for for such a long time - the Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, from Asahi-dake onsen to Shirogane onsen. Up north in Japan on Hokkaido island, in the remote national park of Daisetsuzan, I spent five full days hiking of and camping in almost complete solitude. The trek is challenging and long, and temperatures dropped to below zero at night. But the biggest problem actually was access to clean water - at this time of the year (early September), water was extremely scarce up there, and it did actually cut my hike short by one day. If you are contemplating doing this hike, read on for some tips or email me for more information. I found the only hiking book there is about Japan
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