September 7, 2011
The culmination of sightseeing in Tochigi-ken was at Kegon no taki, 華厳滝, a 97-meter tall waterfall rushing over cliffs of columnar basalt with a name with Buddhist sutra heritage.
This waterfall was formed when a lava flow blocked the river exiting Chūzenjiko. Swollen with water from the typhoon, the waterfalls produced so much mist that it was difficult to get a good photo of the falls! My lens filter became immediately soaked and all of our clothes were damp after leaving the waterfall.
Eventually, some of the typhoon-induced mist subsided, and we were able to take some pictures without drowning our cameras.
Water hit a rock in the middle of this side waterfall, splitting like a mustache, and occasionally producing rainbows.
More columnar basalt, hooray!
Numerous smaller falls seep out of the joints in the basalt.
Yay more columnar basalt waterfalls in Japan!