Ahhh...Fujisan...
I'll begin by explaining the basics of mount fuji. At 3776 meters Mt. Fuji is Japan's tallest mountain. Supposedly around 200,000 people climb mount fuji a year and this is mostly during the official season between the beginning of July and the end of August. The mountain is climable during other times of the year but the months of november through may are suggested for experienced climbers only as there is snow and extreme climate conditions. Many Japanese have been to the 5th station, about halfway up the mountain and a popular place for starting the climb to the summit, and never climbed, simply taking the view in from this fifth station.
Knowing all this, plus a lot more I began planning my trip to mt. fuji about two weeks ago. I got a group of people together who wanted to go, gathered information, printed out info for them (including a list of things to bring and stuff to wear) and basically put together this whole thing. What everone should know is I'm pretty bad at planning trips, but I did my research and di my best. Of course, buses run less frequently during the off season so this threw a small hitch in my plans. I had intended to get evryone to the fifth station around 4 or 5 so that we would be climbing through most of the night and end up at the summit closer to sunrise. However, the buses we wanted to ride left only at 9 and 11 in the morning (putting us at the 5th station around 1). Also, I had waited till friday, to be sure about the weather on saturday, before calling to reserve bus tickets for our group of seven. Of course, I somehow forgot to call till 6:30 and by then the call-in office was closed. So I rushed to shinjuku station trying to get there before 8 because I was sure the office would close by then. I go to the station around 7:45 and ran around it about five times trying to find the right office. Finally I asked the shinkansen people where it was (the lady spent about 5 minutes telling me-but she also mentioned it was open late). When I got to the correct office (which is outside the station) I found out two things: It's open till 11 and the highway bus tickets I wanted to reserve are first come first serve the morning of.
Despite the confusion I still think
this website is the best for getting information regarding buses, weather, and anything else regarding fuji should you be planning a trip.
So, my group consisted of seven people: Me, Andrew, Tyisha, Yukari, Karen, Jon, and Dampierre. I let everyone know we'd be meeting at around 9at shinjuku station to buy tickets. Of course, I slept not at all the night before I was so excited about fuji. I got up really early saturday morning and packed my bag then sat around for a couple hours. I decided to go to shinjuku early to go ahead and make sure the tickets didn't sell out. When I got to the station there were a lot of people in line so I panicked and purchased everyone's tickets in advance.
It was no problem because everyone showed up^.^ Some of us went and bought our food and water for the trip and then we just waited for the bus. We were super ready to climb mount fuji! (and I was jumping out of my skin)
Riding the bus was kind of fun. We all just talked about nothing in particular. Jon showed us the good luck not his hostmom wrote us, we saw mount fuji from a distance and all thought it didn't look so big (and I thought-why the heck is there still snow on the mountain!?), we held our breath for good luck underneath all the tunnels, and we later learned that we somehow annoyed some old guy on the bus. We learned this from some people we passed on the mountain later who recognized us. They told us this guy was complaining about su the whole time (we were pretty much the only ones talking on the bus). I don't see why people get upset about other people talking on buses, particularly if people are with friends on a two hour bus ride. We were all pretty amused by this though.
Once at the fifth station we wanted to burn a couple hours before starting the climb so we grabbed lunch. Most of the food at the fifth station is expensive but andrew did get this cool fuji shaped curry rice. This is also where all the souvinir shops are. We also visited the shrine here and prayed for our own luck on the mountain. The air was so clean and fresh, it felt great already! We all considered buying walking sticks but then opted not to. I'll say this-BUY THE WALKING STICKS! if you go that is. While we were here some of the shopowners started talking to yukari about our trip. they asked if we were climbing to the top and then said we couldn't that there was too much snow and that it was abunai! (dangerous) They kept telling yukari stuff like this and that all we could do was climb to the 7th station and that was it. Yukari got really freaked out so I let her know that we'd climb to the 7th station and if it looked too bad from there we'd stop. I wouldn't force her to climb if she didn't want too! I was kind of mad at the shop keepers for freaking her out because I wondered if it was overcautiousness (which I know is very common, particularly if you're doing something out of season) but I was also worried myself since I felt pretty responsible for everyone seeing as I had planned the trip.
We finally started climbing around 3 ish. The first part is this little flat walk to the ascending path. There was a bit of snow here so we messed around and then kept going. Once we got to the ascending path it was pretty nice, not too hard, mostly like walking through slightly steep woods. The only thing is we're already pretty high up in the air so we all got tired a lot faster than we thought we would.
We got to the 6th station and made another stop for some light snacking. It was already a gorgeous view. The weather was perfect for this climb!
From the 6th to 7th station is a zigzag path with lots of walls to prevent erosion since there are so many climbers. We didn't see too many people since it was off season and we stopped about every other switchback since the air was thin and we wanted to take as much time as possible to climb. While climbing it get pretty hot but when you stop it gets cold fast! still, it was beautful! I can't even describe how surreal it felt to be climbing mt fuji!
When we got to the 7th station we did indeed find snow on the path but it wasn't so deep and it didn't seem to cover the entire path up. So we all decided to keep going. Since three people only had sneakers they went after everyone with hiking boots except me. I went last so I could cathc anyone^.^ Karen who went first made steps in the snow which the other people with boots fortified. It worked pretty well and got us past the snow. After that there were only two more places with snow that we crossed and they weren't even as bad. But also, after the 7th station, there are a lot more rocks and the climb gets a lot steeper. Plus it got super cold and windy as we were climbing.
Now, from here on it's hard to tell exactly what station we were at. We had decided we would climb to the 9th station, take shelter behind one of the huts (which are open during the season bu closed during off season) and then climb to the summit about two hours before sunrise. All we knew was that the 9th station would be the last hut. So anything in between was kind of hard to tell. Still, we kept climbing.
When the sunset it was pretty gorgeous but it also made things a lot more interesting. The path was getting steeper, the weather colder, and the air a lot thinner. We had to stop more frequently which made us colder and it was hard to see-although the sky was clear it was a new moon which means no moon! or moonlight for us to see by. We of course had flashlights and the stars were out but seeing was not an easy thing to do.
We kept climbing after the sun set for probably about two hours and I kept thinking we were at the 9th station but then I'd see another hut. Finally we got to the hut before the last hut-so I guess it must have been the end of the 8th station, stopped for a break and then tried to find the path. Only, there was snow again, and this time it was very very deep, so deep we couldn't figure out where the path was or which direction we were supposed to go. It was dark and we were all getting pretty cold-have I mentioned that pretty much no one paid attention to my warnings to layer and bring warmer sweaters and jackets for the nighttime wait? Even so, even I was unprepared for how cold it got. I expected it to be warmer since it was so close to open season. I was really worried about our safety and even though I knew we only had one more hut to get to we all decided it was best to stay at this hut and watch the sunrise from there.
At first, I was a little sad that we weren't going to go to the summit but I realized more and more that climbing it might have meant someone getting seriously hurt and I was really happy at how far we got. I mean, I challenge anyone to do what we did with the same kind of preperation we had. It was pretty kick ass of us to get as far as we did. We passed the 3000 meter mark and i think we were within 500 meters of the summit. As close as we were I'm prefectly fine with the fact that we stopped-it is one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life!
Anyway, we stopped around eight so we had eight hours to sit and wait for the sunrise. Did I mention how cold and windy it was? I had told everyone to pack blanketsif possible since I'd been planning to camp at the summit and Tyisha and I were the only ones to do so. We all huddled together udnerneath them, blocking out the wind and sharing body warmth. Seriosuly a very interesting night. Only danpierre slept-and that was hilarious because he denies it despite his snoring! We told silly stories and did anything we could think of to pass the time though it was still every thirty minutes that someone asked-what time is it?
Around 2 I decided I couldn't stay huddled anymore. Jon had decided that long before so we got everyone up and started jumping around-singing and playing word games for the next two hours until the sun rose. When it started getting light we all just stopped in excitement and anticipation-I dont think I'll ever see anybody as excited about the sun rising.
The sunrise took about thirty minutes. During this time I realized how impatient a person I am. I think this was also affected by the cold though^.^
As soon as the sun was up we could FEEL the difference. It was amazing. We alos almost immediatly packed our stuff back up and began climbing back down. We were pretty ready to be off the mountain.
The hike down took about 3 hours and I definatly got burned on my face. We saw a lot more people climbing up while we came down so that was interesting. We also saw a lot fo snowbaorders and skiiers which I still can not believe!
Once down we ate some food and rested, bought souviers and waited for the bus. orgionally we had intended to hit an onsen on the way back but we all decided to just go home. The route home was a two bus trip as opposed to the one and I slept so it was fairly relaxing.
Once home-well, taking a shower has never felt so good and neither had climbing into bed. I should also mention that fuji looked a lot bigger on the ride home.
So...that was my trip. It was an amazing one. I still can't believe it...if I didn't have pictures I don't know if I'd believe it!!! I'm so proud of myself and all the people I climbed with-I seriously think most people would have not done what we did under our conditions (perhaps they would be smarter than us). I know one day I'll go back and climb all the way to the summit-though not within the next three years at least-but I am so happy and pleased with this trip. I seriously loved it and I think anyone who is in japane longer than three weeks should do it. I'm also still glad we did it in the off season-I don't think the experience would have been nearly as cool otherwise.
So...since all these pictures are super tiny check out the big ones in my photobucket album marked mt fuji.
Also-some updates:
For the last four days I am here I'll be staying with Yukari in her apartment since Okaasan and family will be on their family vacation.
Okaasan forgot her password for her old blog so here's her new web address: http://hostfamilyintokyo-okaasan.blogspot.com/
That's all...
Much Love!
