Oh, I understand now. Thanks very much. I'll look into adding a night in Nikko! We have the JR rail pass to get to Nikko, but should we also buy a rail ticket to get around Nikko while we're there or will the JR pass get us where we want to go? We won't have much time there, so we want to get around to see as many nature sights as possible (Kegon Falls, Lake Chuzenji, Ryuzu Falls, plus Toshogu Shrine). Any advice is appreciated!

Nikko is a place to relax and enjoy the food, atmosphere and hot springs. Maybe pick one or two of those places to see, and mostly relax.

majority of the buses in Nikko are Tobu operated, but I think you can get a day pass there.

if you leave kyoto around 6am and go directly to Nikko you will get there around 10:45 am ..

the bus trip to lake chuzenji from nikko station is roughly an hour and you will need to check the bus schedule

Maybe I'm not reading the schedule correctly, but I thought I could take a JR train from Tokyo to Nikko (leaving at 7:16 and arriving at 9:08). Then again, I find the Hyperdia site confusing (I can't tell if all the trains I need are covered by the JR pass or not).

You aren't mistaken about that 7:16 train (transfer at Utsunomiya).
Everything will be covered by the pass.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post that! It's very helpful.

oh sorry, my point of origin was Kyoto not Tokyo that is why I got that time.
I am not sure about JR train, when I went there I used Tobu, and took the first train out from Asakusa station around 6 am and got there around 8 :vsign: