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.

Yoshida 5th station

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.

Japanese mountain ranges

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

Mount Fuji

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

Trailhead

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

Have horse, will travel

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

Climbing route

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

Climbing

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

Falling rock shelter

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

Follow the signs

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

6th station

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.

Walking the wall

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

Switchbacks for days

Back and forth. Zig and Zag.

Inhale deeply

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.

Huts ahead

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

7th station

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.

Rocky trail

Taking a break from the switchbacks.

Hole in the sky

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

Hinode-kan

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.

Tomoe-kan

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?

Follow the chains

Up, up and away.

Huts in the clouds

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

Kamaiwa-kan

Resting at 9,154′ elevation. Getting higher.

Going up

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

Red Torii Gate

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

Torii-so

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

Cloudy skies

Clouds literally rolling down the mountain side.

Climbing up

Going up one rock at a time.

Toyo-kan

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

Fuji flowers

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

Silhouttes

Hikers climbing towards the sun.

Blue skies

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

Fuji puka

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

Climbing out of the clouds

All smiles.

Taishi-kan

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

Sunny skies

The weather continued to hold strong and promising for us.

Horai-kan

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

Hiking up

Mari still going strong. Second wind.

Above the clouds

Back on the switchbacks. Ugh.

Hakuun-so

Let’s eat something. Not dried mangoes.

Clouds

High above the clouds.

Ganso-muro

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

Mountain shrine

Mari praying for the good weather to continue.

Almost there

Where are we on the map?

Getting higher

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

Hut Sweet Hut

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

Fujisan Hotel

Hotel or hut? Don’t expect turndown service.

Tomoe-kan

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.

Looking down

Checking out how far we had climbed up the mountain.

Sleeps six

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.

Just in case

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?

Hut with a view

Click here for the larger image.

Kage Fuji

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.

Good night

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

Ohayo gozaimasu

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

Rush hour

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

Goraikou-kan

8.5 Station. Where is the other half?

City lights

Hiking up the mountain while the rest of Japan slept.

Mountain gate

Are we there yet?

9th Station

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

Dog Lions

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.

Looking back

The stream of illuminated hikers making their way up.

Mountain ambassadors

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

Not open yet

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

Morning glow

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.

Saiko sunrise

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

History

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.

Mission accomplished

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

Time to eat

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.

Windy

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.

High winds

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.

Yoshida trail

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.

Scenic view

Click here for the larger image.

Last shrine

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?

Share the trail

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

Last nature call

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

Last marker

Thank you Ministry of Environment.

Just water

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

Go back?

Next year.

5th station in sight

Just a little bit more.

Fuji lily

Splash of color.

All pau

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.

GPS Tracks

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.

I’ve visited Japan 16 times but had never gotten around to climbing the iconic symbol of Japan – Mount Fuji. 17th time was the charm. Rewind seven month earlier as my wife, Mari, planned everything from the gear rental, hotel and hut reservations and bus rides down to the last detail. Details such as getting canned oxygen (never used) and oxygen tablets to give one an extra boost of oxygen at the higher altitudes (only Mari took these). Just before our trip to Japan, we learned that UNESCO had bestowed World Heritage status on Mount Fuji. Great for Japan. Bad for us – crowds. Getting off the two hour bus ride from Shinjuku, we arrived halfway up Mount Fuji at the Kawaguchiko 5th Station. Crowds of day tourists, students and hikers were milling around. A lot of students and day tourists just go to the 5th station to gawk and say they went to Mount Fuji and get back on their bus. Mount Fuji’s summit was covered in clouds. The weather report had predicted rain for today. Too late to cancel our plans, it was Fuji or bust! I just prayed that the weather reporter was related to Guy Hagi. The air at 7,562 feet did not seem thin to me at all, but it’s recommended to acclimate yourself for an hour before hiking. So we bought a $5 hiking stick, paid 50 cents to use the toilet and looked at the various tourist trinkets until it was time to go.

Ride or walk?

We pushed off from the trailhead at 10:45AM as we joined others making the climb and returning from the summit. Mari walking next to a horse drawn cart, that will take one all the way to the 7th station for a small fee. Climbing season runs from July to August. I was pleasantly surprised to find the trails not as crowded, probably because we were doing it on a weekday. Expect madness and gridlock on weekends and holidays.

Izumigataki junction

The downward slope of the trail led us to Izumigataki junction at 11:08AM and we took the right fork up to the climbing trail.

Walking sticks come in handy

The slope of the trail now started to pitch upward. Notice the trees, they would soon be gone as we got higher.

Mt. Fuji Safety Guidance Center aka 6th Station

We reached the 6th station at 11:37AM and were handed maps, that they have in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. At the time, we didn’t even know it was the 6th station. No more trees to be seen.

Switchbacks

Mari coming up the switchbacks which are safely shored up by massive fences to prevent erosion. We saw a string of huts perched on the slope of the mountain as we made our way up.

7th Station – Hana-goya hut

At 12:43PM, we reached the 7th station, first of many huts on the trail. Mari was so happy as we didn’t know we had passed the 6th station earlier at 11:37AM, and now we were at the 7th station!

First stamp – 200 Yen

Shelling out 200 Yen or roughly two bucks for the first of many stamps on my hiking stick. Every hut that we passed sells water, snacks and of course a stamp to put on your stick.

Mari rock climbing

Mari climbing up the rockier part of the trail. Fun, fun, fun!

7th Station – Hinode-kan hut

Reaching another 7th station hut.

7th Station – Tomoe-kan hut

The trail from the 7th station to the 8th station is on very rocky terrain, lot of climbing involved. Luckily, huts are spaced out every 15 minutes or so to take breaks or shelter if needed.

More rock climbing

203 minutes to go. At whose pace? The trail was dotted with informational signs that tell you how much distance and time until the summit.

In the company of Buddhist monks

This section of the trail we shared with a stream of white clad chanting Buddhist monks. One of the monks actually fell in front of me, and another monk and myself helped him back up. Hopefully I will get good karma for my actions. Fat chance.

First Torii

 Reaching the first of multiple torii’s or Shinto gates that marked the trail.

Climbing continues…

More climbing on the rocky trail, only one way to go – up.

Climbing out of the clouds

Mari popping out of the clouds.

8th Station – Taishi-kan hut

After passing multiple 7th station huts, we made it to the first 8th station hut at 2:37PM. Air was getting thinner at 3,100 meters or 10,171 feet.

Taking a break

Every now and then, the cloud cover would give us a peak at the scenery below. The rain started as we approached the top.

8th Station – Hakuun-so hut

Another 8th station hut.

8th Station – Ganso-muro hut

Matthew from New York took our photo at this 8th station that we reached at 4:00PM. He was doing it in regular street clothes, those tough New Yorkers! Matthew had actually started the climb to Mount Fuji at the bottom, so he can actually say he climbed the whole mountain. Whereas, we were only climbing half the mountain. Hey, we got to start from somewhere. I want to hike from the bottom next time, Mari not so much.

Original 8th Station

 We reached the original 8th station at 4:32PM. The temperature dropped to 8 degrees Celsius or 46 degrees Fahrenheit at an altitude of 3,400 meters or 11,155 feet.

Home for the night – Tomoe-kan hut

We got to “our” hut at 4:50PM. Reservations for Saito? Cost was about $65 per person and they throw in a free meal. It’s best to make reservations ahead of time, otherwise you might literally be left out in the cold. It was such a relief to get inside and away from the cold wind and rain. Dinner was served at 5:29PM and consisted of a cup of hot green tea, beef curry, hamburger steak and rice. After downing the Japanese TV meal, we retired to our “spacious” sleeping quarters upstairs. It was basically 12 futons sectioned off. We were supposed to keep quiet so as not to bother the other hikers that had retired early. But people walking up and down the hallway, chatting away and the PA blaring out names for dinner kept us up until around 9:30PM.

Heading into the storm

After groggily waking up at 1:00AM to the rain pounding the roof and the winds shaking the walls, we got ready to climb the last stretch to the summit and see the sunrise. One of the selling points for this hut was that they allowed you to leave your pack behind, so that you can climb to the summit relatively unencumbered. Guess who got to be the pack mule? We left the relative warmth of the hut at 2:01AM to head outside and resume our climb. There is usually a line of people waiting to make the final push to the summit. The weekday and the storm combined to cut the usual crowds to dozens instead of hundreds.

8.5 Station – Goraikou-kan hut

We met up again with Matthew at the 8.5 station hut. Too early to get a stamp, was running out of room on my stick anyway.

9th Station

The wind and rain seemed to get stronger as we got to the 9th station at 2:50AM. At an altitude of 11,811 feet, we only had 656 feet left to the summit. The Gore-Tex jackets and pants helped us to stay dry despite the pounding rain and freezing wind. The only thing we were missing was Gore-Tex gloves, as our hands were wet and freezing the whole way up.

One of two dog statues

I almost missed the two stone guardian dog statues at the summit entrance due to the storm, luckily a fellow hiker pointed it out.

What is that?

We could barely make out the summit torii as it was being washed over by the rain storm.

Hot cocoa at the summit

We made the summit at 3:29AM to be greeted by the twin neon glow of vending machines! On top of Mount Fuji! How odd and Japanese at the same time. The temperature must have been close to freezing at the top, so we all tried to find scant shelter from the wind and rain wherever it could be found. A couple minutes later, the outside lights came on and we were attracted like moths to a flame. Everybody was chomping at the bit to get inside and away from the cold. We had to wait a couple of minutes until they got everything ready. We all streamed inside, cold and shaking. At least a couple foreigners were wet and freezing as they had not come prepared and were close to hypothermia. The hut owners were charging $5 for a small cup of hot cocoa and $7 for a cup of noodles. But when you’re cold and wet, you would pay black market prices to get something warm in your tummy.

Inside or outside?

As the sunrise time came closer, I decided to venture out into the storm to try and get a picture of the sunrise. Key word – try.

Sunrise?

We made it to the top of a 12,172 foot mountain to get buffeted and pelted by a freezing rain storm, all to see a magnificent sunrise. Instead we caught a brief flash of light at 4:46am, before the clouds quickly swallowed it back up. Such is life.

Where’s the view?

Photo opportunity. At least we got a sign to take our picture with, but we would rather have the sunrise. Pretty please.

Final stamp at Kusushi shrine

Getting the final stamp on my stick. I collected a total of 22 stamps on my stick, which cost about $36. We forgot to pray at the shrine.

Safe to go down?

No chance of walking around the crater in this weather. We had to pay one of the shop owners to get our postcards mailed from the summit, as it was out of the question to walk to the post office on the crater in this storm. We also paid $8 for a bowl of pork miso soup to help keep warm. At 6:45AM, the storm was still raging but at somewhat reduced strength, so we decided to make our way down. The trail is not the same as the one coming up. It connects to the 8th Station and then switchbacks all the way down to the 6th Station, bypassing all the huts and along with that the snacks, water and benjo (toilet). 

Windy trail down

The wind was literally pushing us around as we made our way down the Yoshida trail. We hugged the mountain side going down, as this trail section didn’t have any fencing to prevent us from being blown off the trail. It was that windy!

Snow in July!

We came across a patch of snow. Not enough to make a snowman, but enough for a snowball fight.

Going back to Tomoe-kan hut

Making our way back to the 8th station hut.

Picture taking time

As we got lower, the clouds started to clear up. Prompting almost everybody to stop and take out their cameras as it was a no view hike until now.

Clouds clearing

The cloud deck started opening up to reveal the mountains and lakes.

Fuji-san’s slope

Taking a small detour to get back to our hut to retrieve Mari’s backpack.

Slip and slide

Coming down the pitched volcanic ash trail tripped Mari going down. Luckily only her ego was bruised.

Go left, not right

Here the trail continues to the left on a narrow trail that continues down the mountain.

Extreme hiker?

We saw this one hiker that was not doing the switchbacks. He just ran down the side of the mountain using walking sticks as support and brakes. Not smart and safe for other hikers. As he was running down, he was dislodging rocks onto the trail and almost fell off. Mount Fuji is not a technical hike and can be done by most people of all ages in reasonable good physical condition. Now if you want to make this hike an extreme one, check out this link!

Nice view

A nice view of the scenery below us.

Bulldozer has the right of way

We saw numerous bulldozers coming up the trail as work crews started working on excavating new trails. This is how sick people get down the mountain.

Best anpan?

We took an anpan break at sign #42 at 9:05AM. The hut we bought it from said it was the best anpan, when you are hungry, your stomach will agree with anything. It was actually pretty tasty.

Views are getting better

As we kept dropping in altitude, the clouds starting to clear up along with great views. Too bad it wasn’t like this at the top!

Scenic viewpoint #1

Mari with Lake Yamanaka in the cloudy background.

Scenic viewpoint #2

The town of Fujikawaguchiko in the cloudy background.

Coming down

We passed the last set of tunnels that are supposed to protect hikers from falling rocks.

Need a ride back?

As we made our way back down, there were a couple of oji-sans (older men) with horses calling out to hikers if they wanted a ride back. For a small fee of course.

We made it!

We made it back down to the 5th station at 11:14am. The round trip was a total of 13.8 km or 8.57 miles. We gained 1,405 meters or 4,610 feet in elevation. We were both so happy to have completed the hike to Fuji-san. As the Japanese say, a wise man climbs Fuji once, and a fool twice. Call us fools as we will be back for our sunrise!