Fujiyama 2015

We arrived in Japan sandwiched between two typhoons. Wunderbar. We had two days before our third climb up to Mount Fuji. Mari was checking on the constantly changing weather forecast. Clear. Cloudy. Rainy. Clear. Cloudy. Rainy. Guy Hagi is alive and well in Japan. As a precaution, we had even booked another day in case the weather looked bad. In the end, we decided to go for our originally planned day and hoped for the best.

The two hour bus ride took us from sweltering Shinjuku to the lush forests of the Fuji Hakone National Park as we slowly motored our way up to the 5th station perched at 7,545′ elevation.

We got off the bus and enjoyed the cool air and scenic cloud capped mountain views.

The mountain. The mountain. The mountain. Crystal clear.

We pushed off at 10:40am, after having spent the suggested 45 minutes getting used to the thin mountain air.

Some people prefer to do their walking with hooves. Clip clop.

Most of the day tourists stopped here or took the lower trail. From here on, it was mostly hikers going to the summit.

Time to break out the hiking sticks. Serious hiking ahead.

The mountain silence was interrupted by the blaring multi-lingual PA system which encouraged hikers to use the tunnels to avoid falling rocks.

It’s pretty hard to get lost on this trail.

Mari making her way up to the Mt. Fuji Safety Guidance Center; where maps in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean are available. Pidgin map coming soon.

Hiking the wall less traveled. Until somebody yelled at me to get off the wall. Thanks Mari.

Back and forth. Zig and Zag.

Mari had eaten some dried mango earlier and it did not sit well with her, which made her slightly nauseous. She initially thought it was altitude sickness and would not be able to complete the climb to the top which would have been a huge disappointment for her. After sucking down some canned oxygen, her stomach settled down and it was back to climbing. Big sigh of relief.

The clouds parted to reveal the beginning of the climbing huts that offered rest, snacks and stamps if you had the yen for it.

Mari arriving at the first hut, Hana-goya. It was still a cool and comfortable 69 degree Fahrenheit. Nice relief from the sauna that was baking the city down below us.

Taking a break from the switchbacks.

Clouds started to roll up the mountain, blotting out the views.

The temperature was unseasonably warm at this altitude. Last year at this same altitude, we had already donned our fleece sweaters. Not this year. Still cool and comfortable.

Hmmm, let’s see. Water for $3. Sunglasses for $4. Beer for $5. Chips for $2. Red Bull for $3. Fish sausage for $1. How much for the vintage hut sign?

Up, up and away.

Looking down at the huts perched on the side of the volcano.

Resting at 9,154′ elevation. Getting higher.

I preferred climbing up the rocky sections over the numbing switchbacks anyday.

The gate is rebuilt every 60 years. Is it time?

Most of the huts had informational signs to read up on the history of the mountain. Too bad I’m illiterate.

Clouds literally rolling down the mountain side.

Going up one rock at a time.

Looked like the crew and cast of Extreme Hut Makeover paid this hut a visit. New siding and flooring.

Pockets of bright yellow flowers stood out from the barren volcanic landscape.

Hikers climbing towards the sun.

The sky’s so blue and bright, I gotta wear shades.

Two holes. One in the head and one in the mountain.

All smiles.

The weather was still cool and comfortable at the 10,170′ elevation.

The weather continued to hold strong and promising for us.

The frequent spacing of the huts provided good excuses to stop and take a breather in the thin air.

Mari still going strong. Second wind.

Back on the switchbacks. Ugh.

Let’s eat something. Not dried mangoes.

High above the clouds.

Started to get a little chilly at 10,662′. Time to dig out the sweaters and jackets.

Mari praying for the good weather to continue.

Where are we on the map?

Looking back at Lake Yamanaka, one of five Fuji lakes and the largest. Still got to visit at least one of them.

The final push up the stone steps as the bright blue sky beckoned us.

Hotel or hut? Don’t expect turndown service.

We checked in at our hut at 4:40pm. Just in time for dinner. TV dinner. Temperature was a comfortable 54 degree Fahrenheit at the 11,154′ elevation.

Checking out how far we had climbed up the mountain.

Hut reservations were down due to unfounded fears of a possible eruption. More room for us. We got our own six person compartment all to ourselves. Just like a private room with its own view. The Hawaiian Host macadamia nut chocolates probably didn’t hurt either.

I noticed the rows of climbing helmets hanging from the ceiling in case of an eruption. Last recorded eruption was in 1707. There have been talks of a potential eruption due to the recent earthquake back in 2011. Hmmm, what are our helmet sizes?

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Mirror, mirror on the mountain. Mount Fuji cast her impressive shadow on the clouds as the sun set behind us, it was one of the highlights of the climb. Quite the show.

We went to sleep early watching the twinkling Tokyo city lights.

Nothing like waking up at 1am on top of a freezing cold mountain. Thank goodness for heated toilet seats.

We joined the slow, shuffling line of hikers making their way up the mountain. Let’s keep the line moving folks.

8.5 Station. Where is the other half?

Hiking up the mountain while the rest of Japan slept.

Are we there yet?

No more stations or huts until we got to the summit.

We quickly took our picture next to the pair of stone statues that sat perched below the final torii gate before the summit, before we got run over by the hikers behind us.

The stream of illuminated hikers making their way up.

Arrived at the cold and dark summit at 3:20am. The only illumination coming from a pair of vending machines. Refreshing and uplifting!

Scattered, huddled and bundled hikers tried to find any kind of shelter to get out of the wind chill. It was cold. Ice cold.

As we waited for the goraiko or arrival of the sun, I was holding a hot can of cocoa trying to transfer the slowly dissipating heat to my numb hands.

Our 4:38am sunrise. Not a bad view from our 12,389′ perspective.

Our three year journey finally paid off. The first year we got a glimmer. The second year we got sunbeams. This year we finally got the whole show.

Third time was the charm! The summit was storm and cloud free!

Now it was time to get out of the biting cold wind and slurp down $7 bowls of pork miso soup to warm our bellies. Once you sat down in the huts, it was hard to get back up and go out into the cold.

The gusting winds were pushing us around something fierce, so we didn’t get to traverse around the crater rim known as ohachi-meguri and her eight peaks. Next year.

We pushed off at 6:20am from the summit to make our way down the Yoshida trail, as fine volcanic dust washed over us. We needed a shower, but not that kind.

Sliding, walking and falling down the volcanic ash covered trail. Not necessarily in that order. We didn’t run across any patches of snow this year. Blame everything on global warming.

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One of the advantages of staying at Tomoe-kan is that you can leave your backpack there and travel lightly to the top. Then as you make your way down, the trail intersects with the hut again and you can pick up your backpack. Well not everybody. Somebody has to be the Sherpa. Guess who?

Miniaturized heavy equipment making their way up. This is how the trails are maintained, supplies are delivered and sick people taken down.

Mari took the last opportunity to use the bathroom before the final push back down. Make sure to donate 200 yen.

Thank you Ministry of Environment.

The horse guys thought they had some customers. Guess again. Just water please.

Next year.

Just a little bit more.

Splash of color.

Our third time up Fuji, where we finally got treated to the sunrise that had eluded us twice before. Finishing the sunrise hike was made even more special to Mari, as she had trouble walking eight months earlier and was worried that she would not make it up her favorite mountain this year.

Our climb up and down Fuji covered only 8.04 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of 6,650′, which made the hike seem longer than it should have been. We had two hours to kill before our bus ride back to Shinjuku, so we had our post hike meal of katsu curry and udon noodles. Back for more next year? Yup, as there are at least three other trails to explore that goes up to the summit.

Tagged as: fuji-san, fujiyama, goraiko, japan, kage fuji, mount fuji, sunrise, volcano, world heritage site