AndySerrano on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/andyserrano/art/Jigokudani-Snow-Monkey-1-536010214AndySerrano

Deviation Actions

Jigokudani Snow Monkey 1

Published: May 28, 2015

874 Views

monkey national park river snow valley jigokudani yokoyu joshinetsukogen nagano

Description

The Jigokudani Yaen-koen (altitude 850 meters) is located in the Valley of Yokoyu River sourced from Shiga-Kogen of the Joshinetsu-Kogen National Park in northern part of Nagano prefecture. Because of the very steep cliffs and the steam coming off the springs in everywhere, ancient people called this valley ‘Jigokudani (Hell valley)’. Also it is buried in snow almost one third of the year. Even that kind of severe environment here is a paradise on earth for monkeys to live in. The troops of wild Japanese macaque (they are popularly known as snow monkeys) inhabit here naturally through the ages.

After the bus dropped me off at the base of the mountain, I had to hike up the steep trail with my backpack, past a waterfall, and to the ryokan where I would be staying the night. There was a geyser outside my window that gushed water about 200 feet into the sky all night long without ever stopping. The snow monkeys liked to warm themselves in the geyser water pool.