Mount Fuji
15 Jul 2006
When in Japan you have to climb Mount Fuji. Since the official climbing season is only two months per year (July and August), it was about time we took action. In the middle of July we had a long weekend, so that was perfect timing for our adventure. We decided to take a break at around 3000 meter for a few hours sleep, instead of climbing straight to the top. The mountain is 3675 meter high and divided in 9 stations. Each station has one or more hut where you can eat and sleep.
The hike starts at station 5, near Fuji Five Lake. That’s at 2300 meters. The bus trip to this station usually takes 2 hours, but because of traffic jams we were in the bus for almost four hours. It rained very hard on the way to the starting point, so that didn’t look very promising. When we arrived at station 5, the sun was out, there was a strong wind blowing, but we had good hopes.
In the beginning, the path was nice and wide. It wasn’t too crowded so it was easy to pass the slower hikers. After about two hours, darks clouds gathered around the mountain and in no time the rain came down on us like bullets. The wind was very strong and at times you were happy to be able to keep standing, let alone move forward. Lenette sometimes sounded like an old horse, partly because of the thin air, but of course the years of smoking didn’t help either.
Enjoying the view was only rarely possible, and that was a pity of course. We had booked a place to sleep on station 8. It is like working on an assembly line in those huts. You sleep side by side with your fellow hikers. They build big bunk beds, 2x6 meters. Together with about 10 other hikers you share a bed. Sometimes the hikers lie like fish in a tin, so you are looking at your neighbours feet. But that doesn’t bother you for too long, the effort it took to get here was big enough to make you fall asleep real fast. Unfortunately sleep doesn’t last long because taking shift arriving at a hut, means taking shifts leaving a hut. When we finally got comfortable (insofar that’s possible), it was time for those already in bed to get ready to leave again.
At 1:30am it was our turn to move on. It turns out that more people had that plan and it was very busy. That was a pity, because now the path was not so wide anymore and overtaking other hikers was hardly possible. It was so crowded that you could take two steps and then you had to wait a while again. The weather was still bad, a lot of rain and wind. The plan was to be at the top to watch the sunrise, but that didn’t happen. On the way to the top we had a short peek at sunrise through a slit in the clouds, but that didn’t last long.
We were very happy with the huts on top of Mount Fuji. Because we had to wait a lot on our way up, Lenette was so cold, it took her an hour to get back on temperature.
After that we started the way down. First part took us along the edge of the crater, because we had decided to go back via the other side of the volcano. That turned out to be a horrible route. In the beginning it was great, only a few people took that route and the path was easy to walk on. After about an hour the misery started. The path changed into a big gravel box. You sank till your ankles in the gravel and of course your shoes kept filling up with gravel. Lenette’s knees hurt, and lifting you legs out of the deep gravel every time is not so good on the knees. The last two kilometers took us one hour, pfff that was horrible.
But, nevertheless it was a great experience. We climbed Mount Fuji !
The hike starts at station 5, near Fuji Five Lake. That’s at 2300 meters. The bus trip to this station usually takes 2 hours, but because of traffic jams we were in the bus for almost four hours. It rained very hard on the way to the starting point, so that didn’t look very promising. When we arrived at station 5, the sun was out, there was a strong wind blowing, but we had good hopes.
In the beginning, the path was nice and wide. It wasn’t too crowded so it was easy to pass the slower hikers. After about two hours, darks clouds gathered around the mountain and in no time the rain came down on us like bullets. The wind was very strong and at times you were happy to be able to keep standing, let alone move forward. Lenette sometimes sounded like an old horse, partly because of the thin air, but of course the years of smoking didn’t help either.
Enjoying the view was only rarely possible, and that was a pity of course. We had booked a place to sleep on station 8. It is like working on an assembly line in those huts. You sleep side by side with your fellow hikers. They build big bunk beds, 2x6 meters. Together with about 10 other hikers you share a bed. Sometimes the hikers lie like fish in a tin, so you are looking at your neighbours feet. But that doesn’t bother you for too long, the effort it took to get here was big enough to make you fall asleep real fast. Unfortunately sleep doesn’t last long because taking shift arriving at a hut, means taking shifts leaving a hut. When we finally got comfortable (insofar that’s possible), it was time for those already in bed to get ready to leave again.
At 1:30am it was our turn to move on. It turns out that more people had that plan and it was very busy. That was a pity, because now the path was not so wide anymore and overtaking other hikers was hardly possible. It was so crowded that you could take two steps and then you had to wait a while again. The weather was still bad, a lot of rain and wind. The plan was to be at the top to watch the sunrise, but that didn’t happen. On the way to the top we had a short peek at sunrise through a slit in the clouds, but that didn’t last long.
We were very happy with the huts on top of Mount Fuji. Because we had to wait a lot on our way up, Lenette was so cold, it took her an hour to get back on temperature.
After that we started the way down. First part took us along the edge of the crater, because we had decided to go back via the other side of the volcano. That turned out to be a horrible route. In the beginning it was great, only a few people took that route and the path was easy to walk on. After about an hour the misery started. The path changed into a big gravel box. You sank till your ankles in the gravel and of course your shoes kept filling up with gravel. Lenette’s knees hurt, and lifting you legs out of the deep gravel every time is not so good on the knees. The last two kilometers took us one hour, pfff that was horrible.
But, nevertheless it was a great experience. We climbed Mount Fuji !