Fog Off

Blind stop two in Nikko: Kegon Falls. This we also couldn’t see, not because it was twisted into some mystical shape but rather because it was covered in fog. The fog would lift and for a few moments we could see the surrounding snow-laden mountains, but before we could catch even a glimpse of the famous falls the mist would thicken and again descend. We saw the outlet stream running away from the bottom of the falls when we rode the elevator down the lower viewing platform, but all in all—just more mist. We couldn’t even see the top of the cliff where we’d been standing a few minutes before, just a sheer cliff face rising into the swirling clouds. Finally we gave up our eye straining and left to get some noodles. As we walked away the clouds parted and for a brief moment we saw some water gushing from nowhere to nowhere but it was immediately reshrouded.