Fuji

So in July, I climbed Mt. Fuji with my friend Zainabu and her good friend Iona. For our trip, we took a bus from Fujinomia city, at the base of the mountain, up to the 5th station around dinner time. It's about 1/2way up the mountain, as far as the road will go (the rest you hike). Even starting at the middle, it still took a good 24 hours to complete the hike.

We started our climb at 8pm in the evening, just after sunset, hoping to summit the mountain at the same time the sun comes up (I'm pretty sure there's a Japanese expression that goes: "if you see the sun rise from the top of Fuji, you will have prosperity or wealth or straight teeth..." or something like that). The wind was blowing pretty fiercely and it had been pouring rain the entire week. And it was pitch black out. Cool, huh?

(Iona takes a breather)

We managed to get from the 5th to the 7th station by 11pm, and the winds were picking up to a dangerous level. We were twisting our ankles pretty bad on the volcanic rocks because all we had to go by was our flashlights and headlamps, so we decided to turn into a warming hut to get a few hours of sleep and let our bodies adjust to the elevation. It turned out to be the right decision, as rain started to pour throughout the night, until the very next morning.

Realizing that our goal to see the sunrise was impossible (the rain, and we were already exhausted), we stayed in the warming hut until the next morning (about 7am).

(Zainabu does her best Mr. Miyagi impression. The warming huts were open loft/bunk bed style, just a couple of huge rooms with enough space to sleep about 100 people).

When we emerged from the hut, it was full blown daylight, luckily, the rain clouds had blown over! We hiked the rest of the day with blue skies at our back and nice weather. It was cool because you could see everything on the way up (and down). There was even patches of nevermelting snow (this is in the middle of muggy hot July, mind you), which gives you and idea of how cold it was.

(Shrine gates were periodically placed along the path)

(Here's the view from above the cloud line)

Yay! After Hiking for 7 hours, we made it to the top. Sitting down never felt so good.

Here's the shrine that was at the top of the mountain. I saw a priest up there performing some kind of ritual too. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I think he lives up there at the top! These guys with the soccer jerseys hiked at the same pace that we did, and ended up being our trail buddies for the day. You see quite a few people on the trail, and it's especially cool at night because all you can see are the lights from their flashlights, so it looks like a bunch of ants winding up this big hill.

Here's a map of the huge crater at the top of the mountain. The wind is going so strong at this point you have to yell to talk to each other.

Me and the Z, clownin' at the top.

Thank god.

So we hoofed it back down the mountain after being at the top for about an hour (it was cold, we were tired), and had to run down the bottom half to catch the last bus leaving from station 5. I've never been so happy to take my shoes off in my life.

You hear a lot of bad press about Fuji through the grapevine - how cold it is, how the altitude sickness will get you, the crowds of people, and how ugly the hike is. While I think this is partially true, I think that it's all about how you approach the hike. It's a bitch and can be monotonous at times, but I had a good experience. I definitely will never do it again, but I highly recommend it.
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So my buddy Doug lived in the town of Fujinomiya (he's gone home to SF now) and he gave me the grand tour the day after the climb. Fujinomiya is famous for 3 things - Mt. Fuji, The Fuji Shrine, and Yakisoba (fried noodles). That's what the sign says!

I can see why the town is famous for noodles. They were awesome! Check out the chunks of octopus in there, and the fish-flakes on top, mmm.

Here's the side view of the Fuji Shrine. It was so nice to be back in the hot weather after the freezing cold at the top of Fuji.