Mt. Fuji Summit

I am currently writing this after coming home from Mt. Fuji. It was seriously the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life. I wanted to quit so many times along the way, but I continued on the dangerous path and climbed all the way to the top. Unfortunately it was really cloudy so I was not able to see the sunrise, but I did get to briefly see pink clouds.

So let me start from the beginning... I'm writing it now, even though I'm exhausted, cause I figure it would be the freshest in my head. To begin with, if you were to climb Mt. Fuji, I highly recommend bringing:

1.) Money, you need to pay for the bus there and back, also some food, hot drinks, and stamps for your walking pole
2.) Head lamp and extra batteries (THIS IS CRUCIAL!!)
3.) Warm clothes, layers, rain proof gear, extra set to change into later, hat and gloves
4.) Water, snacks, food
5.) sunscreen
6.) small towel
7.) hand warmers
8.) tissues for bathroom, as well as 100 yen coins
9.) BUY a walking pole at souvenir store.... trust me, you are going to want this
10.) a cover for your backpack
11.) Camera!! and don't forget small plastic bags and big plastic bags to put everything in... it WILL get wet.

If I think of any more, I will let you know... so my climb started at Station 5. If anyone says this is easy, they are dead wrong. Our bus drove up there around 8:15 pm.... and after we got changed and such, we only started climbing at 9:00, and officially started the climb the mountain at 9:30. It was pitch black, and all you have is your head light and a stick for support... not to mention that your backpack is pretty heavy. Definitely pace yourself. We started out with five members in our group... all girls! This soon turned into 4 girls because one of our friends just couldn't take the altitude and had problems breathing and keeping up. There is no clean path up Fujisan. It starts out pretty neat and has some steps and you think... yeah I can do this. HAH! Just wait until past station 7. That's when the stairs disappear and you are left with climbing rocks. The only way you know that you are going on the right path is if there is a string border... and thats if you shine your head lamp at it. Otherwise, like my other friend, you may end up going the wrong way. A more dangerous way where the rocks are steeper than they are supposed to be for that part. There were times when the rocks were just so steep that it feels impossible to climb or were too slippery or just slipped out from under you. Did I mention that it was also raining?? and getting cold? If there weren't gusts of heavy rain, it was always misty. I felt like a vegetable in the veggie section of a supermarket. The ones that are constantly misted to look fresh? Yeah... kinda like that, except you get soaked.

There are overall 10 stations on Mt. Fuji... but honestly it's more like 1 to 5, then a 6 you barely see, 7, 8.25, 8.5, the real 8, 9 you barely see, and then BAM you're on top. The eight's pissed us off. After climbing so long in the awful weather, and being almost blown off several times, you are still at station 8. It was raining it what seemed like all directions. There was nowhere to hide. Pretty much expect that you will get soaked. No matter how good your rainproof gear is, you will still get soaked. At one point I was so numb that I couldn't even think anymore. I just went from one rock to another hoping that I will be there soon. The past several nights, the wind was also 80 to 90 mph. Can you imagine this?? My friend got blown backwards and fell. Luckily a tour group was behind her so they were able to catch her before she hit her head on a rock. Trust me when I say this... this climb was incredibly difficult. All I knew was the when the wind was blowing, get close to the ground and pray you don't lose balance and fall down.

They also sell oxygen tanks at each station, but I didn't use one. I did have trouble breathing at several points and my head did get light headed, but when I got to a station, I was fine so I didn't buy it. By they way, they cost 1600 yen.

At one point we got stuck behind a tour group... they too were having difficulties. What frustrated me the most was the leader.... every now and then she would say 'あと、もう少し’ which translated would but just a little more... she kept saying this for about what seemed like an hour!! 少し my ass... yeah they were words of encouragement, but when you are being given false hope in such a situation, you probably would be pissed too.

I think I almost started crying with happiness when I saw the red tory, which symbolized the top, and end of the upward journey. By then it was freezing, and the winds were RIDICULOUS!!! I kid you not. There were times when I swear I thought I was going to die. SO scary!!! Seriously... so so scary. "Why am I doing this?" I kept asking myself the entire way... But I made it.... I couldn't stop shivering once they let us into this hut thing. I ordered miso ramen and after such a journey, that was the best ramen I ever had. I also had to buy two hot drinks because I just couldn't stop shaking. My friend cried when she reached the top. She was so happy. We were all so cold...

I think we stayed at the top for about an hour before climbing back down... which was a snaked path where you could easily fall or slide down. At the top there is also a post office, where I mailed two post cards :) and I also got a stamp on my walking stick. Each station has a special stamp... I'm just really regretful that I didn't get it at station 8. I was going to get it, but I figured if I get it at 9, then it would be motivation to keep going... my bad for not knowing that station 9 was barely noticeable.

It took us a total of 7 hours to get from station 5 to the top, and then another 6 hours to get back down. My legs are hurting SO bad right now, it's not even funny. I was also scared the entire time that if my knee pops out at any point during the climb, I'm pretty much fucked. It's kind of like fend for yourself sort of deal. There are first aid stations... but only at the stations. I guess if I pop my knee out between stations I can kind of crawl my way there?? Also you don't really get a phone signal on the mountain.

Obviously we all passed out on the bus back home, and right now, as I sit on my bed writing this enormously long blog, the climb up to Fujisan seems almost like a dream. After going through such an ordeal, I honestly don't know where I got the will to do it, and how I was able to keep going, when everything was screaming for me to stop. I'm happy though... I can now cross another item off of my Things to Do in Japan list ^__^