FUJI-SAN!!!

---

Fulfilling the Dream....

Before I cam to Japan I knew there was certain things I wanted to
do. The first thing was to hike Mt. Fuji, referred to as Fuji-san. I
was planning a trip and discovered it was going to be very very
expensive just to get to the mountain. My hopes of climbing Fuji were
dwindling. Then I found out that the ken was planning a trip for us all to go
on. I was elated!!!!
This is Stacey, Heather, Lisa (My canada girls) and I in front of Fuji-san at the 5th Station

It is tradition to hike at night so that you are at the top of Fuji
to watch the sunrise. It is good luck to watch the sunrise from the the top.

Hiroshima Ken takes on Fuji-san!!!!!
Last year's group hiked in the middle of a taifun.
Afraid that weather conditions could be just as bad, we all came prepared
with rainsuits and numerous layers. Nothing was going to keep me from
the top of this mountain. We started at the 5th station Yoshida trail
(there are 3 or 4 trails up the mountain), which put us half way up the
mountain already. There are 10 different stations up the mountain. At
all the different stations there is food and mountain huts you can
sleep in. Before we started the hike we all bought walking sticks. At the
different stations you can get various brands on your stick to show
where you have been. In total you can pick up 15 different stamps. At
200 yen each, I opted for the ones I really liked :-).
Getting my walking stick branded at the 7th Station
THE CLIMB
A saying on Fuji-san is 'He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise
man, he who climbs it twice is a fool." Being an experienced hiker I must
admit I was pretty sure of my ability to climb the mountain. By the
time I was at the top and at finally at the bottom, I am now a true
believer in the above statement. To put it bluntly, it was fucking hard.It
was the clearest nigh ever. We could see all the lights from
thesurrounding towns. We started to get so hot because we had on so
many layers. All of us, about 45, made it to the 7th station. We were hot, we were
sweaty, we were amped to be there. After that people started to
dwindle. As I said their are stations on the mountain. There are 10 total.
You would think that meant 4 huts scattered up the mountain. Turns out that each station has about 5 different huts between 10 different
switchbacks. Talk about a false sense of progression. You start to think
you are hiking for a long time and are reaching the next station, only
to find out you are still at station 7, hut number 5.
It was pitch black and all you could see were little headlamps
scurrying up the mountain. I definitely got to spend some quality time getting
to know some cool people living in my ken. We started at 7:30/8 and
got to the 8th station by 12:30 am. The 9th station was closed because
we were a weekend outside of the actual climbing season so some huts
were gone. As we reached the top and were wet from sweating, it started
to get pretty cold. We were told not to go to the top too early
because it was so cold and we would be miserable. a few of us decided to try
to sleep for a few hours in one of the mountain huts. Oh what an
experience! best quoted from Jen 'i feel like mold!'
Inside the moutain hut: cold and gross!
Definitely not the most comfortable experience but it something we will remember. When we
woke up to hike the rest of the way we were dumbfounded. When we went
to bed we were at the head of the pack. The mountain now looked like
christmas. There was a huge line of hikers along the trail headed for the
summit. From a distance Fuji-san must have looked like a big
Christmas Tree. Only on Mt Fuji will you be able to find gridlock at 3 am.
As my friend jason (fellow cal bear)put it, 'it was like we were
somalian refugees.' A hike that probably could have taken us 45 minutes to an
hour took an hour and half because of the line.

THE SUMMIT
Finally, at 4:45 we reached the summit! It was so crowded! There
were people everywhere! It was funny because many people had oxygen
cans that are normally reserved for mountains much taller than Fuji-san.
Many of the j-hikers were decked out in full-body windbreakers, hiking
sticks, backpacks...they were dressed to the t. Many of us looked
rather unprepared/disheveled in comparison to the j-peeps. I had enough
layers until the wind picked up. The sun rose around 5 am and it was
absolutely glorious. I appreciate it more now looking back at it when I
am not tired and exhausted and cold. We lucked out with the weather for
sure! As the sun rose over the clouds and showered us with warm light,
all the hikers cheered.











The sun rising over the clouds. It was absolutely amazing....








The original plan was to hike around the rim of the crater. That
lasted for all of 10 minutes.







Jason in front of the crater,
welcome to Middle Earth












We headed down shortly after. This trail was pure pebbles and sand. Past hikers
have run down this trail. Let's
be honest, I am not that coordinated. Being as careful as I could be I
ended up falling numerous times. Finally I reached the bottom, exhausted from hiking and lack of sleep.
We finished the afternoon with a shitty "japanese style" lunch and an onsen, aka a large bath.
Despite the poor quality of lunch and onsen, it was really nice to be clean and fed after the large hike.
We arrived back in Hiroshima by 10 pm and I was passed out in Kabe by 11:15.
Hiking Fuji-san was everything I expected it to be and more. At the summit I was a little bitter
and dreaded the hike down saying I would never hike the mountain again. Looking back I realize
how amazing everything was and how much fun I had. Would I do it again, say if I stay a second year and the
Ken trip to Fuji comes up again? Call me a fool...coming from the hiker at heart...yes I think I would do it
again!

*disclaimer: lack of photos of myself are due to how awful I looked. Also, would put more photos p
but they limit the photos you can post. The nerve! Will post more on clubphoto as always.

---