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Published: July 13th 2014
Cloudy Mount Fuji
Mountain was very briefly clear my first morning there but the clouds moved in fast, Fujiyoshida.He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs twice is a fool. Never have truer words been spoken. I summited Mount Fuji (Japan's iconic and highest mountain) last Tuesday morning ~5:30 completing the eastern peak Asian Trilogy of Fuji-san, Mount Kinabalu, and Yushan, the latter 2 being the highest mountains in Malaysia and Taiwan which I summited in May 2006 and June 2014, respectively. I'm not exactly sure why climbing Fuji twice would be considered foolish although I certainly have no intention of ever climbing again. In good weather, rare during the official July-August climbing season although fleetingly amazing when I went, the ascent is not difficult and can be completed by the physically fit in 4 hours without stopping. However, the descent is annoyingly tedious, quite painful, and unnecessarily long as there is an inexplicable deviation from the more direct ascent track.
Before Fuji, I went from Kyushu to Hiroshima then Kyoto and the long trip to the mountain. It rained a lot in Kyoto which was a bummer but Hiroshima was very nice even with its tragic history. Fujiyoshida is far from the nicest place I've stayed in Japan but it served as
a good base for the climb. I had to stay there one night more than planned because the forecast called for nasty conditions Sunday overnight which was my original day for the ascent. Postponement turned out to be a good decision as I heard that the weather Sunday night on Fuji was very bad and many climbers did not make it to the top. Since Fuji I have been to Matsumoto and the Japan Alps where the weather has been hit or miss. Heading to Tokyo tomorrow for 3 days.
US$ ≈ 101 Japanese yen (¥)
Accommodation and food The general, Japan-wide trend I've noticed is that it can very difficult to reserve any budget lodging for a Saturday (and sometimes Friday) night stay. I arrived at Fuji on a Saturday and did in fact find very little in the way of available accommodation online. The only place I could crash before the climb was Mt. Fuji Hostel Michael's in Fujiyoshida where an impossibly cramped 10 person dorm went for a totally unreasonable ¥3,000. The 3 other Japan hostels I previously stayed in went for ¥1,880 or ¥2,000. Rather than get ripped off in the dorm I took
Sunrise
~4:20, Mount Fuji. my own room there for only ¥600 more which made absolutely no sense but served me just fine at least as far as my budget was concerned. However, the tiny room (as well as another) was wedged right among reception, the front door, the baggage storage area, and the shoe rack. The walls were paper thin so all the noise was transmitted right into the room at all hours. There's WiFi, no kitchen or lounge area but there is hot water, a toaster, and a microwave. There is also a ¥200/hour charge to stay on the premises after checkout which through all my travels I have seen at exactly one other hostel, unsurprisingly also in Japan.
The dining scene in Fujiyoshida is rather bleak. There's an OK food court in the basement of the Fuji-san train station which is primarily where I hung out after checking out of Michael's. A decent breakfast of pancakes, fruit salad, and ice cream was ¥680, ¥100 more for a good hot or iced coffee. For other meals I went to the Selva supermarket and self catered or grabbed ready made meals for ~¥300-400. The waffles at Maisan's looked nice (and there is also
a much better 4 person dorm, ¥2,500/person) but she kept limited hours for ordering food.
Transport With a Japan Railways pass the best route from Kyoto was via Yokohama on the
shinkansen then switching to rapid or express local trains to Hachioji then Otsuki. The last train from Otsuki (run by a private company so JR pass not valid although the regional JR Kanto pass is accepted) charged ¥960 to Gekkoji which is the first stop in Fujiyoshida and only a 5 minute walk from Michael's. I left Kyoto at 8:33 and arrived in Fujiyoshida at 13:58 making for a long trip. Without a JR pass, there are economical night buses between Kyoto and Fujiyoshida for ¥8,000 taking ~12 hours. Best to buy a seat on this bus at least one day in advance.
For getting to Mt. Fuji 5
th station for the start of the summit hike there are buses departing approximately hourly from the Fuji-san station (the other Fujiyoshida train station, ~15 minute walk from Michael's). The last bus leaves at 19:00 arriving at 5
th station ~20:00 so there is a lot of waiting time in the restaurant before heading up the mountain. One way fare
is ¥1,540 but round trip is ¥2,000 and good for 2 days. If staying in nearby Kawaguchiko, the last bus for 5
th station departs at 20:00. Return buses to both towns start at 8:00 from 5
th station running once or twice an hour. The friendly, English speaking staff at the train station tourist office can help with all transport inquiries. There are also lockers at the train station for those that want to stash their baggage during a one night ascent of Fuji.
Fuji summit climb Having barely slept Sunday night before the Monday night ascent, I don't remember much in the way of specifics. I left the parking area at 21:53 with someone I met from Seattle in the restaurant but we went very slowly so as not to arrive at the summit too early before sunrise. There seemed to be a shop or high mountain lodge for sleeping every 10 minutes not long after we started the hike. The wind was really wicked and it's not possible to hang out in any of the shops without buying anything (i.e., ¥300 for a Snickers bar) and even then each purchase only allows 30 minutes inside. Much worse was
Weather Station
Can see the boot track high up on the snow field, Mount Fuji. up high at one of the 8
th station lodges where the caretaker wanted ¥6,000/person to rest from 2:00 til 5:00. Needless to say, I was able to mildly suffer in the wind at that price. Actually, the wind seemed to abate the higher we got and the air temperature was well above freezing even on the summit so it was never close to intolerably cold.
Other climbers at the hostel had told me it is only 1½ hours from the 8
th station (where many people spend the night, waking up just in time to reach the crater rim for sunrise) to the "summit" but what they really meant was the crater rim. What I did not realize is that there are several 8
th stations. On the way up we decided to leave what we thought was the last 8
th station at 2:30 in order to reach the summit before 4:30. However, since we weren't as high as we thought it took much longer and we just made it by ~4:20 to the viewing area at the crater rim, not the true summit. I knew the actual summit was on the other side of the crater but was not sure
Summit Pose
~5:30 and seriously beat. Not sure what the phallus is for, Mount Fuji. which way to go around. I, together with a Swiss climber I'd met earlier at the restaurant, could not find the trail going around the west side of the crater. There was a lot of snow on the east route but there was clearly a trail so we headed that way. After 20 minutes we were confronted by a snowfield with a defined boot track that looked a little intimidating since we were not carrying any alpine gear. Four Swedes, also
sans equipment and 2 shod in nothing more than sneakers, passed us while we were deliberating and blasted right up. Marcelle, the Swiss dude, turned around which was definitely the prudent course of action but I followed the Swedes. It was probably a hasty and unwise decision but the snow turned out to be fairly soft and it was easy to kick into the steps. There was one marginally hard, icy section but fortunately it was over a flat spot on the trail. Falling here would not have been good.
We reached the weather station, site of the true summit at 3,776 meters (12,389'), around 5:30 where there was already a group from Taiwan who had wisely
The Crazy Swedes and I
3 of them are wearing beanies that say, "You're Nuts." Indeed, Mount Fuji. taken the west side trail from the opposite side of the crater. That was a welcome relief as I was not looking forward to descending that snow field. It was really warm on the summit with great views but with visions of pancakes dancing through my head, I did not linger for long. I was really keen on catching the 8:30 bus back to Fujiyoshida which would give me 2 hours to pack up and grab breakfast before the 11:34 train out of Gekkoji. Heading down the ascent track, while presumably possible, would have been difficult as there were several, steep rocky sections that would have been very challenging in my exhausted and frazzled state. I'd heard that the wide Subaru descent trail had been smoothly bulldozed across the volcano's slopes. It was indeed an easy track but it was not very steep with countless, mind numbing switchbacks that took hours to negotiate. Then the endless contour along the trail back east to the 5
th station finished off with an unwelcome, harsh and bitter 1 km rising traverse.
I got back to the parking lot at 8:45, narrowly missing my preferred bus, and had to settle for 9:30 leaving
Weather Station and True Summit
Taken from the proper, west side route, Mount Fuji. me no time for breakfast back in Fujiyoshida save for my 2 packets of knock-off Japanese Oreos
®. Harsh and bitter indeed. I had just enough time to pack up and sort my accommodation in Nagano, the next destination. The Gekkoji train did leave right on time for Otsuki where I quickly procured 3 more train tickets to Nagano via Kofu and Matsumoto on ever comfortable JR trains, perfect for cat naps. No chance of missing my stops since I was getting off at the last station on each run. Arrived in Nagano at 15:55 where after scrubbing off sweat, sunscreen, and volcanic grit I took a long and well deserved soak in the hot tub at my guesthouse. Very sweet.
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jiangzhihan
non-member comment
This is the legendary Japanese Fuji mountain?
If it is not very odd steep Oh, so only can see the scenery, feel is the sunrise! more