We left another record breaking heat spell in Japan that was steaming her cities and embarked on our sixth visit to Mount Fuji. Fools that will never learn from the second time.

Bus depot

It took a train and a bus ride to get us to the 5th station.

Subashiri 5th Station

Wandering around the more undeveloped feel of the station, we should have taken a gander at KoFuji which was 20 minutes away. Missed opportunity that needs to be re-visited.

Trailhead

We donated to the Fuji Conservation Efforts and were rewarded with new shiny pins to mark our altruistic behavior.

Komitakejinja

Walking up to the subordinate shrine of Fuji Sengen, which houses Oyamazumino-kami, ruler of Japanese mountains and Fujisan-Tarobo, a long nosed goblin that watches the trails.

Subashiri Trail

Mari blessed to be hiking on the fourth and final trail up Mount Fuji.

Too bee or not to bee

One of many bees that were busy pollinating the plants and apparently my hiking stick.

Subashiri Trail

Passing the pine tree lined trail.

Subashiri Trail

Breaking free of the tree line as the trail took on more of an exposed nature.

Subashiri Trail

Zig zagging our way up through the switchbacks.

Osada-sanso

Our first stop at the sixth station. Is it Boy’s Day up in the mountains?

Heated inflation

The first stamp on my hiking stick. Price has risen to 300 yen from 200 yen last year.

Subashiri Trail

Some continued while others rested on the trail as it became more congested with fellow hikers.

Subashiri Trail

Clouds starting to drift in as we gained elevation.

Seto-kan

Quick stop at the original sixth station, another burn on our stick and off we went.

Subashiri Trail

Mari gave me back my hiking stick …

Subashiri Trail

… as she broke out her hiking sticks. Might as well use them if you’re carrying them.

Subashiri Trail

Somebody was looking forward to taking another break at the next hut.

Taiyo-kan

Mari making her way up to the seventh station. No marks, just stickers. 100 yen discount.

Subashiri Trail

Rocks drink sake?

Subashiri Trail

The pitch of the mountain soon took on a steeper slant.

Subashiri Trail

Isolated pockets of green plants pimpled the barren volcanic landscape.

Subashiri Trail

Silhouetted hikers on the cloud soaked trail.

Miharashi-kan

Socked in stop at the seventh station. Higher elevation equaled lower temperatures, which required us to fish out our fleece sweaters from our packs.

Hiking memorial

Tribute to all the fallen hikers that failed to summit the mountain.

Subashiri Trail

Hiking above the clouds.

Subashiri Trail

Following the signs to Yoshida trail.

Edoya

Passing the 8th station.

Yoshida Trail

Leaving the relatively quiet Subashiri trail for the jam packed Yoshida trail.

Yoshida Trail

The clouds constantly changing the landscape.

Yoshida Trail

The crumbly rocks gave way to loose volcanic dirt which made gaining traction uphill that much harder.

Yoshida Trail

Passing through the wooden gate which meant our destination was near.

Munatsuki-edoya

Reservations at the original 8th station? Sorry pal, we are going next door.

Yoshida Trail

Time to finally sit down and relax for the night.

Tomoe-kan

Our hut sweet hut for the night.

Yoshida Trail

Enjoying our solitude that would soon be broken by shoulder to snoring shoulder in the eight person cubicle.

Dinner is served

The Japanese sales pitch was blissfully blocked out by my inability to comprehenend the language so it became background noise as I ate my meal that has not changed from our first visit over seven years ago.

Yoshida Trail

The billowing clouds muted and distracted the sunset.

Yoshida Trail

Enjoying the twinkling city lights as I hurriedly made my way to the chilly community toilets.

Yoshida Trail

Joining the early morning crowds outside.

Yoshida Trail

Catching the breaking sunrise before the rain swept the mountain.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

What with the rain lashing the outside, typhoon warning and a minor headache; the painful decision not to summit and go back down the trail was made for us.

Yoshida Trail

Morning rush hour in the mountain.

Yoshida Trail

The swirling clouds filtered the green landscape below us.

Yoshida Trail

Shuffling through the loose switchbacks.

Yoshida Trail

Enjoying the panoramic landscape of the five lakes of Fuji.

Yoshida Trail

Just follow the signs down.

Yoshida Trail

What happened to the rain? The typhoon? Does Guy Hagi work part time over here?

Yoshida Trail

Sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the views.

Yoshida Trail

Making our way down to the very crowded toilets. Will hold until the next less crowded one.

Yoshida Trail

We met up with two of our hut mates.

Yoshida Trail

I guess shelter is not needed from falling rocks.

Yoshida Trail

Falling rocks anybody?

Yoshida Trail

Passing through the closed station.

Yoshida Trail

Winding our way down to the sixth station that was preceded by the loudspeaker instructions in multiple languages.

Yoshida Trail

The trail to the bottom of Fuji. Next time.

Yoshida Trail

Cobbling our way down.

Yoshida Trail

Enjoying the forest bath on our way down.

Yoshida Trail

Where the climbing route meets the walking route.

Yoshida Trail

Water for us?

Yoshida Trail

Goodie bags for the runners.

All pau

Please take our picture.

Post hike meal

Two hot bowls of noodles topped off with a vanilla and sesame ice cream cone.

Ja mata

The clouds descended down from the mountains and enveloped the scenery as we boarded the bus back to Shinjuku.

Post script

Mari filling in the eye of the daruma after another successful hike up Mount Fuji. Was it the right or left eye?

GPS Tracks

Our sixth hike up Japan’s iconic mountain covered a little under seven miles. While we completed all four trails, we did not successfully summit this year due to bad weather. There is always next year!

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers.

Two fools paid another visit to Mount Fuji to collect our sunrise. Or so we hoped. Last year we had failed to see the sunrise due to a raging storm on top of the mountain. The two hour bus ride from Shinjuku did not look promising as we approached Fuji Hakone National Park as the summit was nowhere to be seen. Fingers crossed.

That will be one dollar

We got off the bus at the Kawaguchiko 5th Station and milled around for about 45 minutes to acclimate ourselves to the 7,545′ elevation. Using the bathrooms on Mount Fuji is not free and the toilets are non-flushing with microbes added to decompose the waste. Get use to that smell.

Can’t see the mountain for the clouds

Not an auspicious start to our hike as our goal was nowhere to be seen.

Horse model

For $3, you too can sit on a horse and get your picture taken. Just like at the State Fair.

Donations gladly accepted

Before Mount Fuji was declared a World Heritage Site last year, it cost nothing to enjoy this iconic symbol of Japan. Now they have a tent set up to ask for ten dollar donations to help with the conservation of Mount Fuji. We gladly donated. A small price to enjoy such beauty.

Here we go again

Deja vu. We pushed off the trail at 10:50am with high hopes as the weather forecast had predicted no rain. They didn’t say anything about the clouds though.

Climbing route

We began our climb towards Fuji-san. Saw a lot of day tourists taking the lower trail.

Play misty for me

The clouds seemed thicker and lower than last year.

Follow the flag

Japanese tour guides often have flags with them so that the group can easily find and follow them. This was no tour guide.

Yamabushi

Greetings of ohayo gozaimasu ( good morning ) rang through the crisp morning air from white garbed monks coming down from their mountain pilgrimage. They were happy. They were finished with the hike.

Easy way down

This guy took the horse ride down. Took a load off his feet and lightened his wallet by $30 too.

Falling rocks

This concrete tunnel was built to protect hikers from falling rocks.

Sixth station

The first station hikers run across is the sixth station, where they are nice enough to pass out hiking maps. I’ll take my maps in English please. Other choices were Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Sorry, none in Hawaiian. Auwe!

That way

The signposts made it quite difficult to get lost.

All smiles

Mari smiling on the trail. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Standing on the berm

Looking down at the hikers coming up the switchbacks.

Lot of switchbacks

Switchbacks make up the bulk of the trails leading to the summit, rarely will you find a straight up trail. While this makes it easier, it also stretches out the time spent on the trail.

Lost and found?

Rows of brightly colored miniature backpacks lined the sides of this switchback.

Huts as far as the eye can see

Huts that offered shelter, snacks and stamps started popping into view.

Two way traffic

The owners coming back to reclaim their backpacks. This trail is usually one way going up. But who’s going to admonish kids going the wrong way? I gave them credit for making it this far.

Seventh station

The seventh station marks the beginning of the roughly dozen huts that dot Fuji’s backside.

Can you spot Spot?

A dog was enjoying an afternoon nap, seemingly unbothered by the passing huffing and puffing of hikers.

Only 3.8km to go

That’s 2.36 miles for metric challenged folks.

Still smiling

Mari developed a slight headache at the beginning and was struggling a bit.

Another hut

Still on the seventh station?

Got snacks?

Every hut hawked shelter, snacks and stamps. Thirsty? Try the Pocari Sweat? Not as bad as it sounds. This year, I didn’t buy a hiking stick and get them stamped at each hut. The novelty had worn off from last year. Besides, the stamp price had gone up from $2 to $3. If you get a stamp from each hut, that would cost you around $60! More money to buy Pocari Sweat.

Back to hiking

If one hikes Mount Fuji outside of the official hiking season of July and August, no huts will be open for business.

Genki desuka?

Mari’s headache wasn’t going away, so she slapped on a nose strip which helped. We saw a couple other hikers wearing the same type of nose strip that probably had headaches as well.

One stick at a time

One step and stick at a time. Slowly but surely we will get to the top.

Follow the arrows

Need medical assistance? Just a stone away.

No reservations required

Most huts require advance reservations. This one had openings.

Snow!

Higher altitudes means snow on the mountains, even in summer.

Getting higher

We were leaving the clouds below us as we climbed higher.

Our first torii

Have we reached the promised land yet? Not by a long shot.

Hiking into the clouds

It’s always surreal to be hiking into clouds.

The finger

Some hikers started yelling “look at the cloud finger!” So I had to turn around and look. Can you see it?

Stay within the chains

A lot of hikers on the trail made for a slow pace. So I veered off the beaten trail sporadically. Not recommended. Safety first.

Smile break

Mari taking one of many breaks to the top. Still smiling.

Eighth station

We finally moved up a number. Thought we were stuck at seven. From the seventh to the eight station, the huts are spaced out every 20 minutes or so. Many opportunities to stop and take a break.

Only 2.7km left

Getting closer or 1.67 miles left to the summit. The air got noticeably thinner and colder. Time to break out the jackets.

Let’s do this!

Ganbatte!

Panoramic view

Click here for the larger image.

Above the clouds

Taking a photo opportunity at one of the rest stops.

Air is getting thinner

Time to break out the oxygen tablets.

Sucking oxygen

Mari inhaling compressed air to combat the effects of the thin mountain air and hoping it would get rid of her headache.

One step at a time

Are we there yet?

Gateway to the clouds

Shashin o totte kudasai or please take our picture.

Fuji shrine

I wish I had paid more attention to a guide that was educating her group about this particular shrine perched on the slopes of Fuji. The group was foreigners comprised of Chinese and Westerners, so she was speaking English. Even more so, I should have paid attention.

1.8km to go!

Little more than a mile left!

Our hut for the night

We reached our hut, Tomoe-kan at an altitude of 11,154′ around 5:30pm. Home sweet home. At least for the night.

Damp and cramped

The musty futons from last year had been replaced by tacky, thin plastic sleeping bags that was permanently damp from the cold mountain air. Usually each “room” is shared by 10 hikers. Communal living at it’s finest. Luckily we only had to share it with four other hikers.

Sales pitch with our meal

Nothing like eating your hamburger steak and curry washed down by hot green tea while being loudly reminded that anpan, postcards and trinkets were available for sale.

What time is it?

We woke up at the ungodly hour of 1am to get ready for the final push to the summit. The only good thing about waking up this early was that Mari’s headache was gone. Going to the outside bathroom in the middle of the freezing mountain night is not fun. Thank goodness for those heated toilet seats!

Getting chilly

While the weather was not stormy like last year, the wind chill kept it freezing cold. Stark reminder that we were on top of a mountain. In the wee hours of the morning.

Traffic jam

Snails pace going up behind other hikers shuffling up the mountain to catch the sunrise. Cruel joke.

We made it!

The lion statues and torii welcomed us again to the summit of Mount Fuji at 12,388′ at 3:20am.

A better picture

And then the clouds cleared. Actually this was taken later in the morning when the crowds had thinned out.

Civilization

Twin beacons of hot and cold beverages tempted us with their neon glow. Vending machines are everywhere in Japan, even on top of Mount Fuji.

Wait for it

As we sat and shivered in the freezing wind, we bought $4 cans of hot cocoa to warm ourselves up outside and inside. Some enterprising hikers had brought their own stove with them and were busy cooking up hot ramen. The sun rises at 4:30am. So we all sat and waited with baited breath. Is that the sun we see? Not again! The mythical Fuji sunrise has eluded us again for the second time. Fools we are! After the major disappointment, we retreated into one of the huts to slurp down their $8 pork miso soup and $9 chewy ramen.

Better than nothing

At 6am, we ventured out into the whipping wind to capture our consolation photo.

Is this volcano active?

Peering into the maw of Fuji’s crater. Most people don’t realize that Fuji is an active volanco, with the last recorded eruption in 1708. One study speculates that the 2011 earthquake has made another eruption more likely.

Crater rim

Going clockwise around the crater rim that is known as ohachi-meguri. There are supposed to be eight peaks ringing the crater rim. Last year, we were unable to hike the rim due to a raging storm.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet …

Passing the post office. Yes. A post office on an active volcano.

Uma no se

Walking up the “horse’s back”, the slippery and steep slope to kengamine or the highest peak on the crater.

Unmanned weather station

Last manned in 2004. Now a fully automated meteorological station that sweeps for incoming typhoons and heavy rain showers.

Highest point in Japan

Standing on kengamine, the highest peak in Japan at 12,402′.

Snowball fight?

The snow was still pretty thick up on the rim. Took about an hour to traverse the entire rim.

Going back down

After the wind had died down somewhat, we went down the Yoshida trail around 8am.

JSDF

Japanese soldiers coming up the mountain. Part of their training in case Mount Fuji gets invaded by the North Koreans.

Scenic point

The views were definitely better at the lower elevations than the summit. Go figure.

Bulldozers have the right of way

This is how supplies, workers and sick hikers get up and down the mountain.

Sharing the anpan

Munching on the best anpan ( sweet bean filled buns ) on the mountain. Well, that’s what the salesman said! It was actually pretty good and Mari’s favorite anpan in Japan.

Final stretch

It’s all down hill. Just don’t fall down again.

Got 3,000 Yen?

The day was drawing to a close and with no customers, this old man closed up shop and rode his horse back to town.

Almost there

We could see the 5th station where we had started from the day before.

All pau

We made it back down the mountain around noon, happy and disappointed that we missed the sunrise again. Third time is the charm? Perhaps. The Japanese have a saying that you would be a fool not to climb Mount Fuji once, but a fool to climb it twice. So what would that make us if we do it a third time? We will be back for our sunrise to find out the answer!