Mount Fuji
My day started on July 18th at about 11:30pm. I had just spent 4 hours sleeping so I would be ok for the hike up the mountain. There are 2 things sure to give you elevation sickness, being too tired and not being hydrated enough. I had gotten a full nights sleep the night before, but my sleep schedule is a bit weird so when 7:30 came and I needed to crash it took me a while to fall asleep, and even after I did fall asleep I had woken up 2-3 times and forced myself back to bed.
1am came and my friend Brian Paone and I made our way to the Naval Base by car. We got there and I freaked because I thought I had forgotten my hiking boots back at his house. I didn’t though they were in his car. I had too much stuff to carry that I just hadn’t grabbed them This was the last of my airhead moments, which there had been a few during the day. I thought for sure he was ready to kill me when I suggested that I may have forgotten them. Luckily that wasn’t the case.
The bus ride left at 2am and from the naval base was 3 hours including a 20 minute pit stop at rest stops on the Tomie express highway just before our exit to head towards the mountain. The bus ride was fairly uneventful, except for the road up to the 5th station, which was awesome because the pavement had been designed to be musical, so on our way up to the fifth station we got a musical treat.
Arrival at the 5th station was greeted by some awesome views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. 5th station is above the 1st cloud layer, so you get to see the surrounding mountain peaks above the clouds. Most people start climbing from the 5th station. So technically when people say they climbed fuji they cheated a little because they started 1/2 way up. Apparently my father-in-law has climbed from the bottom. I could probably do that if I made the hike a multiple day hike.
Both Brian and I started the hike a bit poorly. It was cool at the 5th station so we put on our fleece which was the worst mistake ever because within 15 minutes we had taken them off. The heat from the hike was more than enough to keep me warm until about the 8th station. I had my rain suit on because it had started raining on and off. Fuji starts off with a brisk walk to whole lot of switch backs. To keep rocks in place they have used steal rods and wood planks to create steps. I hadn’t even made it up to the 6th station and I was having back pain. Brian kept trying to get some energy into me, but at 41 and out of shape was having none of it. My lower back was in pain from carrying the pack which I am no accustom too. My thigh muscles burning with pain. I kept moving forward. While we were walking we met one of the others from our tour Christopher who was mega cool. He would walk a couple switch backs and wait for me. If I stopped he would give me a minute and tell me to keep moving. These little goals help keep me going. I am very grateful for that. Brian and he would wait and chat. Eventually when we had gotten to the 8th station he treaded onwards because we were running out of time. Which was totally understandable. Between Chris, Brian and the group of Japanese who were keeping a similar pace as us and chatting it up every station I was able to beat back my desire to call it a day and go back down. Brian was full of energy and was able to keep a faster pace then I. I basically had said if I fall behind leave me I’ll be there when I get there. He went forward and arrive at the summit a bit before me. The last kilometer was the worst though. It was mostly rock formations, no more nice trail, you had to pick you footing and since it had been raining a lot of the rock was very very slippery. Luckily as a kid we use to climb the cliffs near the train tracks so I was familiar with looking for good hand holds and foot holds.
The way down is 100% switch backs, and should be easy, but since my knees and legs were so worn from the hike up, it was almost worse going down then going up. I was in serious pain by the end of the switch backs. The group leader had caught up with us and let us know we were the last 2 on the mountain. He gave me his 2 hiking sticks to use to help with my knees, and we managed to get back to the bus with only 45 minutes left before the bus was ready to leave.
The trip we were on was sponsored by the Navy, so we had a schedule to keep. Starting our hike at 5am we had 7 hours to make it to the summit. We had 5 hours to make it down to the 5th station before the bus left, and it would have left without us. My opinion is they should have given us another 1.5hrs in there total. I made it to the summit in 6.75hrs I had 15 minutes on the summit and then had to start my way down to the bottom.
I am glad I went. I am glad I didn’t chicken out and quit when I could have. This was probably the most challenging thing I have done in my life both physically and mentally. I am glad I was able to experience it. I wish I had taken more photos than the ones posted. After a hot bath a soak in the hot tub at the local public baths I feel much more human. My climbing clothes are washed and hang drying since it can’t be put in the dryer. Tomorrow I will scrub the bottom of my hiking boots and put them back in their box until the next time I decide to do something crazy….