| Author | Message | ||
     Darthane |
So, with only a couple weeks left here in Japan before heading back to the States (perhaps for good...still working on that), I still had a couple things left on my to-do list. Topping it - Mount Fuji. 3,776 meters - more than 12,400 feet. May not sound like much until you actually climb up the damned thing. Anyways, here are some pictures from my trek up the dormant volcano. We started out with 26 people - only ten of us made the top.  First thing's first. I started from the bottom, which isn't even shown on this map. We took the blue trail that starts at the top up.  This is a twilight view of the mountain from our hotel room, across one of the five 'Fuji Lakes'.  ...and the following morning. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. Sunny, but not hot, with a light breeze, and clear, clear, clear.  As we approached the 1st Station, which was 1700 meters up already, we got our first glimpse of the top since setting foot on the mountain...   These two are from the Safety Center, roughly 2400 meters up. You could see for probably 40 or 50 kilometers...what a gorgeous day.  This is looking up at the last of the 7th Stations, where we stopped to rest from about 4pm to 10pm, before resuming the trek. The intention was to reach the top for sunrise at about 4:30am.  The lights that are farther off in the distance there are Tokyo - about 120 kilometers away...  This was taken at the last of the 8th Stations. Obviously the weather had turned nasty on us. You'd have to have been there to appreciate it. It was perhaps 5 or 6 degrees Celsius, with a steady wind of about 50kph, gusting to 100kph. In case you've never been in a wind like that, it's enough to knock you down if you're not really careful, and throw pumice rocks a couple inches in diameter at you. Oh, and we were bouldering up frozen lava flows in it. Joy. I got that red pumice dust EVERYWHERE. I'm still cleaning it off and out two days later.  When we finally reached the top, it opened up and just POURED. It was so back I couldn't even get a picture, not that there was anything to see. This is from the shelter/restaurant/store at the top where we warmed up and tried to dry out a bit. There is a post office at the top where I mailed postcards to my family and girlfriend from, and, being Japan, there are vending machines.  This was taken at the 8th Station on the way down. It had just started to clear up after raining, hailing, AND snowing on us. If it weren't for the clouds, the top would be visible in this picture.  Here's a nice picture of Fujiyama as our bus was leaving to go back to Hiroshima.  ...and for those of you who don't think there's much of a pressure difference between sea level (Hiroshima) and 3.78km, this is a bottle of water I had last opened at the 5th Station, which is only 2300 meters up... All in all, great memories and experience, though I'd never do it again even if given the chance. I've got two sayings related to Fuji that I fervently believe now, having experienced it myself. 1) Those who go to Japan and never climb Fuji are fools...those who climb it twice are twice the fool. 2) If climbing Mount Fuji is punishment, getting back down is torture. By the time Roby and I had made it back to the 5th Station to await our bus, we had been walking for almost 12 straight hours. After we got back on the bus, we went into town to bum around a bit. I wasn't up to much, so I just kind of wandered. They must have been having a ride up the mountain that day, because there were bikes EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately my camera was locked in the bus at this point. I saw a S1WL, X1, XB9S, XB9R, and a custom painted S3...Buells and Harleys were very well represented. ...after that, I got back on the bus and fell asleep...got back into my apartment at 6am, took a half hour shower trying to get rid of the pumice, and went back to sleep for another five hours. I think I'm finally awake again... | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
Neat report. I climbed Fuji when my Dad was stationed there. The trail was tough because of the pumice gravel. You'd take two steps forward and slide one back! Congrats! Did you get a Fuji stick? | ||
| Darthane |
Yes, I did - that and a rock from the top were my two true souvenirs...and yeah, that fricking gravel crap was far and away the worst part of it. I'd rather clamber up the lava flows all day than walk on that stuff. | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
Alas, I regret, four years in Japan and I never did it. I'm going back though!  | ||
| Blake |
Cool. Japan was mostly work for me. I at least saw the mountain from our Satcom site one clear morning. Really impressive. | ||
| Darthane |
I've been lucky enough to sneak off to all sorts of places. I still want to go to Kyoto - hoping I can sneak that in the day before I leave. No regrets, though, even if I don't make it. This has been a great experience. I'd been past the mountain 7 times in trains and never once saw it due to weather or time of day...first glimpse of it was on the bus after nearly ten hours. | ||
| Turnagain |
btw Darthane, thanks for the tour. I've got memories of the mountain, though they're pretty vague -- was four or five at the time. You can checkout Tsukamoto's site linked off of this page: There's an email address, on his site, if your inclined to hook up before you leave. Steve(2) | ||
| Darthane |
Wish I could, but I'm down to the wire, now...the mountain is SO much more beautiful in winter, though it'd require a lot more in the way of preparation to climb it then... It was cold enough in the middle of July! |
