Mt. Fuji

September 3rd 2005

Mt. Fuji Facts:


Mt. Fuji’s shape was created over multiple generations of volcanic activities by Ashitakayama/Ko-Mitake, Ko-Fuji (Old Fuji) and Shin-Fuji (New Fuji). Volcanic eruptions from Shin-Fuji began about 10 thousand years ago and erupted repeatedly over 100 times. The Hoei eruption of 1707 was the last eruption and is said to be the largest recorded
Mt. Fuji Height: 3,776 meters (12,400~ feet) Mt. Fuji is classified as challenging, the highest mountain in Japan

The climbing season of Mt. Fuji is from July 1st to August 31st. The weather is usually good for climbing during this time, beyond these dates the weather can be unpredictable, cold and very difficult. Below is a Google Earth picture of Mt. Fuji with 5th station highlighted

The Experience:


Let me say that it was one of the most exciting and adventure filled trip I have ever done! Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan and regarded somewhat as a religious site (respectfully called Fuji-san). I had read on certain websites that if you are in decent shape you can climb the mountain and that it's not that tough! Japanese people believe that the sunrise at top of Mt. Fuji is the most spectacular and the first sunrise in the world... they look at it as blessing of Lord Buddha. So I had to go and be there for the sunrise, the official sunrise time on Sunday morning was 5:10 AM
Planning: When I started planning, I realized getting information on transportation to Mt. Fuji was difficult, since I was going the week after the official climbing season. During the climbing season, Tokyo has buses every hour going to Mt. Fuji, however now there were only 2 buses a day. With my luck, the buses were booked! My option was to make multiple connections to get to Mt. Fuji. I took a bus to a small town called Kawaguchiko, which is close to Mt. Fuji. They have buses to the 5th station on Mt. Fuji (5th station is as far as one can go via vehicle on Mt. Fuji) that is where I needed to be to start climbing. I got help from a friend and I finally got on the right bus to Kawauchiko, I reached Kawaguchiko around 2:00 PM. The next bus to Mt. Fuji was at 4:30 PM. I had a few hours to kill and so I sat around the station watching people... I love doing that, every culture has it's own quirks and it was quite intersting to see the locals travel through. I was amazed at how polite people were...


The Climb:

Finally the bus took me to Mt. Fuji where the last stop is 2000 Meters above sea level. We went through dense low clouds, and I was thinking this is going to suck that I will be climbing through clouds... The bus takes you to 5th station, top of Mt. Fuji is 10th station, you get the idea, I had to go 5 more stations and an elevation of 1776 meters which is almost 2 kilometers. Each station on the climb has a "hut" that climbers use for rest or some basic food (at a very high cost). These huts close in September because of heavy snow. I carried my own food (CLIF Bars) and about 4 liters (135 ounces) of water, flashlight and layers of clothing (raincoat, jacket and 2 long sleeved dri-fit shirts). The backpack was quite heavy, but I was going to be isolated for about 17 hours... I wanted to make sure I had everything to survive that long. I hung out at the 5th station for about 1 ½ hours waiting for the right time to start so I can get to the top on time. It was already around 10 C (50 F), already a bit cool. I saw a few people starting their hikes and surprisingly there were not too many people, I had read that during the official season it is very crowded, glad I picked 3 days after the official season! I have to admit, I was nervous, I have never done anything like this alone. My previous hikes through the Grand Canyon, Himalayas and Mt. Ranier were with other people, I did not know what to exect, worst nobody really knew where I was going, no cell phone... nothing! An errie feeling but I was excited at the opportunity. I knew I had to do this, or I will regret it forever!

So I finally started around 6:30 PM, it was starting to get dark, it was quite pleasant once I warmed up to my body. The first 1.5 hours was an uphill walk, on a nice trail. I reached the 6th station and took a break for about 5 minutes. I continued walking and now it was getting dark. However the sky was very clear and the natural light was enough to see the path. After a while I came to a turn with rocks piled up as far as I could see. The nice trail was turning tough, now it was going to be rock climbing in the dark! So I continued climbing the rocks, using my hands... and it kept getting steeper. I was wondering what happened to the nice uphill trail… and how it would hurt someone if they fell! Eventually after about 1 hour of rock climbing I came upon 7th Station. This place was happening! A big group had arrived before me and they were inside the warm hut having dinner and drinking hot tea! I sat on the bench outside taking a break. I talked to a couple of Korean girls, they spoke no English... I spoke no Korean, but somehow we communicated! Surprisingly sign language conversation went on for about 20 minutes, they asked me if I wanted something to eat or if I was too cold (I was still wearing my shorts), well... eventually they went back inside the hut and I continued...

The start of the trail after 7th Station was definitely tough... very steep and large rocks, there were signs warning of falling rocks, and I remember somewhere seeing a picture of a bear but the text was Japanese, so I wasn't sure what the hell it said, my best guess was "Beaware of bears"! That's great news, now I have to deal with bears in the dark. The mountain now was completely barren with volcanic rocks and ash, with no sign of any vegetation. I continued my climb, tough, but I was doing quite well, didn't need much rest except to admire the town below with it's glowing lights and watching the sky, dreaming and enjoying nature!

When you are so far from civilization hearing sounds of nature is so exciting… I could hear all sorts of sounds, and then the sound of an airplane flying overhead, those fucking humans and their machines are everywhere! So anti-climatic! I felt the same way years back in tranquil Himalayas, when the quite peace moment was broken by a 747 jet flying above! Anyway I continued… I definitely needed the flashlight (a great investment) I must have been dreaming at some point, because I slipped on one of the rocks and bruised and bloodied my hand, It wasn't too bad, but I had to remind myself to be extra careful. Things were definitely getting tough, the temp. was very cold, almost freezing and I knew I still had a long, long way to go! I was go glad it wasn't raining, that could have made this hike very treacherous. I reached another rest stop and put my long pants and started adding layers. There I hooked up with 2 Japanese guys, they spoke no English, but somehow we communicated and took turns leading the way. The tough part was when you climb rocks with a heavy backpack, it tends to pull you back, so there were quite a few times I had to hold onto the rock or I would have fallen back onto the rocks. I learned very quickly to compensate for the heavy backpack. It was around 9 PM now and was getting windy and colder! I have been climbing rocks for 3 hours... with no relief in sight. We passed a sign indicating that we are at 10,000 feet above sea level. The sign reminded the climbers that air gets thinner and oxygen becomes less as you go along... so tough terrain, freezing weather and less oxygen, perfect match for what they call an easy climb! My Japanese friends and I started stopping often, one of the guys was getting tired easily. Surprisingly I never seemed to run out of breath, but in the spirit of climbing together, I stopped with them and we offered each other food! I had no clue what they were offering me, but I did not want to offend them and ate what they had. At one turn there was a sign showing kids flying off the cliff and the parents holding onto them... I assumed it said "wind gusts, hold on", the Japanese have a knack to express messages via cartoons... it's actually quite common to have cute creatures or cartoons depicting a message. At 10 PM we reached the 8th station, it was very windy and cold now, the temp. read 2 C (35 F) with a high wind chill, it was definitely freezing (0 C, 32 F). I had enough layers on, and was ok as long as I kept walking and kept my body warm, but when I stopped to take a break, I started getting colder. I realized that at this pace I will make it to the top around 1 AM, which is 4 hours before sunrise. However the weather at the top was -4 C (24 F) and with the wind chill was predicted to be -8 (21 F).

My two buddies decided to pay money at the rest stop and take a nap in their bunk beds and wake up at 2 AM and finish the climb. I wasn't too sure what to do, so I found a bench and stretched and tried to warm up! At 10:45 I was so fucking cold, that I ended up paying the money to get a warm cup of tea and a warm floor. I sat on the floor dozing in and out for 3 hours and finally at 2:30 AM decided it was time to head back out! That was the best decision I made, the cold could have really been dangerous and the $50 I paid for 4 hours of warmth was definitely worth it! I didn't have to tell the guys who ran the hut what I needed, I'm sure other people try to stick it out also but eventually cave in! Until now I had been eating my CLIF Bars and I saw a snickers bar there and ended up paying $3 for a sugar buzz... sneakers bar has never tasted sooooo gooooodddd! I could not stop grinning and swallowed the damn thing in a few bites!

I still had 2 hours to go to the top. Seems like the huts I passed along the way had released their hounds (sleeping climbers) earlier, and the trail was starting to get crowded, there's nothing worst than climbing rocks with crowds. However within about half an hour there was plenty of space between groups. Breathing was definitely tougher, and the going went slower and slower! It was funny to see people trying to walk fast only to get tired in a matter of minutes... and some folks walked slower but never seemed to stop! I saw a grandmother totally kicking her husband’s and the grandkids… she was awesome! Eventually at 3:45 AM I reached the top of Mt. Fuji, it was a feeling of relief at first, then I realized what I had accomplished and felt overjoyed! I wanted to kneel down and kiss the ground, but the extreme winds and cold temp. sent me scampering to a hut, where they were serving hot tea! I realized I had made it to the top in one of the first groups and got a seat on the bench and warmed up with a $4 cup of tea. I had expected my arrival to the top of Mt. Fuji to be more dramatic, maybe a Eureka moment, maybe a life changing moment, maybe something that brings tears… but all I could think of was warming up and holding a cup of hot tea, and it felt really good! I sat there contemplating my night and felt really alone among the crowds… I wished I could share this incredible moment! And then the herd of people showed up scrambling to get inside and warm up! I had my seat and I was going nowhere, I had a precious seat that everyone wanted, and for now it was mine! I was sitting in front of some British tourist’s and one girl had really bad altitude sickness, the other one was saying that the climb was so tough on her that she had been crying for the last hour or longer! I saw a lot of people with altitude sickness and some bend over, not sure if they were hurting or stretching! And they said this was an easy climb??? Finally I felt warm and went outside to check out the sunrise. True to it's task it was the most fabulous sunrise I have even seen, and it was greeted with ohhh's and ahhh's all around! Sunrise itself it a symbol of hope and a new beginning, but being at the highest point in the land of the rising sun, I have seen the first sunrise in the world, and it’s nothing short of incredible! As a kid growing up my mother and grandmother always prayed to the Sun God, this brought back childhood memories of my family. The Japanese consider the sunrise at Mt. Fuji as Lord Buddha’s blessing, I hope to have received the blessings of Lord Buddha. I am not sure how it eventually effects real life, but beliefs make us who we are, and my beliefs were definitely satisfied by my experience on top of Mt. Fuji and now I understand why anyone who climbs Mt. Fuji respectfully calls it Fuji-san.
I went to check out the volcanic crater in the middle of Fuji-san, it was one of the most incredible sight's I have ever seen. A massive part of the mountain was blown out, I could not even imagine what force it would have taken and how mean and nasty Fuji-san can be. I felt overwhelmed just trying to even grasp the strength and the raw power that can be unleashed! Also, the size of the crater was huge and it was all rubble inside. I stayed at the top for a while (it was so windy, cold and miserable, I don't know why I hung out there for so long), just taking it in! I could not help but think how Fuji-san had been kind the night I climbed. Fuji-san is completely capable of being devastating and fierce, but my experience was extremely pleasant, and it felt that the mountain was being gentle and welcoming. My legs were feeling fine, and overall no problems with altitude! The average time for climbing to the top is between 6 - 8 hours, I got up there (not counting my sleep) in 5:40 minutes, so I guess I did pretty well.

Downhill:

Eventually I started on my way down at 6 AM. Having hiked down Grand Canyon, I know that hiking down can be very deceptive and very difficult! So I was ready for this one, but Mt. Fuji presented a completely different challenge that I wasn't expecting. The descending path was made of volcanic rubble and ash, which provides horrible footing. So people were slipping and falling all over... while it was funny, I realized that you can twist an ankle or break something! I also had my moments where I felt like a ballet dancer... or trying to do a "triple saw kow" like an ice skater... The worst thing was rocks getting into my shoes... every few minutes I had to dump out the rocks from my shoes, and that really sucked! so I figured out a way to avoid this problem, by gliding on the surface, however that presents with a whole set of different problems, like when you can't stop gliding or when the person in front of you has stopped! Going downhill gives a workout to parts of your legs that you normally don’t feel, trust me, if you have never done it you will feel it!!! I finally came back to the 5th station and found out that I had come down in 2.5 hours, while the average is 4 hours! I was shocked and amazed that I could do so well, I guess all the running and going to the gym paid off. I could not help but look back at Fuji-san and it was a beautiful morning with no clouds, from the bottom I could look up and see the top of Fuji-san, and believe me I have a whole new respect and admiration. For me it wasn't about climbing Fuji-san but experiencing the awesomeness of Fuji-san. How could I ever feel I could climb Fuji-san and feel superior, it seemed that the mountain was kind that night with it's elements and could have turned nasty any time. I see this as a way of experiencing and gaining respect for Fuji-san. I couldn't have been luckier. I knew all along that there was a “Super-Typhoon” in the south Japan sea that day and in the afternoon the mountain did turn nasty and continued in the night. The last reports I read were that the weather was extremely windy, heavy rains and very cold! I am glad I got lucky... again, in some sense the mountain creates it own weather and the day I was climbing it was kind and merciful! I gave myself a treat to an overpriced ice-cream... I think I had earned it!

Back home:

So I finally made it back to Tokyo around 4 PM on Sunday, and while I was out walking around 7 PM I experienced my first earthquake! It was a mild one, around 4 on the scale, but I could not help imagine if I was on Fuji-san and with all the loose volcanic rocks... anyway, I couldn’t help but feel how gentle Fuji-san had been when I was there and I am extremely grateful. The hot shower felt great back at the hotel. Around 8 PM I thought of taking a nap before going out for dinner, the next thing I knew it was 5 AM. I skipped my workout this morning... giving my body the deserved time off! When I woke up on Monday morning I realized I had not given my body food (except CLIF Bars) for 48 hours... and the breakfast that morning never tasted better! Life seems back to normal… the work day has been long and hard, but this weekend will never be forgotten! With nature’s elements a lot of things could have gone wrong for me, starting with me taking the chance to climb Fuji-san alone, earthquakes, typhoons, cold, wind, rain, rocks etc. but I really felt Fuji-san was gentle and kind to me and I am very grateful and I pay my respects, I wish to come back some day and do it again!