Conquering Fuji-San!!!

Summit of Mt. Fuji right after sunrise

"One who has never climbed Mt. Fuji is a fool! But, the person who climbs it more than once is a bigger fool." -Japanese proverb 


Well... fools we are not because we're NOT going to do that again... well, Damian said he would, but I think I'm all set- he can be a fool all he wants! First I would like to apologize to all of our faithful readers for being patient the past few months while the blogging has been slow (or non-existent), I will try to be better about keeping up! This blog is going to be a long one and should help fill that Beth & Damian void I know you are all having!

At the 8th Station

Well, let's start with a few Fuji facts!!! Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan and located on the main island of Honshu, about a 2.5 hour drive from where we live in Yokosuka. The summit is 3,776 meters high (or 12, 389 feet). Mount Fuji is a (dormant???) volcano and last erupted in 1707-1708. Geologists say Fuji is approximately 600,000 years old and people have been climbing it for over 1000 years! The first person to climb it was an anonymous monk in 663; the entire mountain is thought to be sacred and often worshipped! Women were not allowed to climb until 1858, and foreigners were not allowed to climb it until after that! Now, people of all cultures and all ages climb this mountain each year! The official climbing season in July & August, mostly because the weather permits you to get to the top and most of the snow is melted! It is estimated that about 300,000 people climb Mt. Fuji each year! More Fuji facts to follow, but let's get to our adventure...

All our bags are packed... we're ready to go!

Damian and I both worked a full day on Friday, and after work we rented a van and headed up towards Fuji with some friends. We rented the van for a few reasons: first, we weren't sure our 1996 Nissan Presea would make it up to the mountain, and second, if you rent a car on base, they pay for all your tolls on the way up there... which costs approximately $130 for both ways. It is about a 2.5 hour drive up to the 5th station which is where we started our hike. The picture to the right shows all of the stuff we brought with us... included in our packs was rain gear, flashlights, extra socks, hats, gloves, scarves, snacks, LOTS of water, Excedrin (for altitude related headaches), Immodium (for altitude related upset stomachs), chaptick, sunscreen, purell (LOTS), hand warmers, extra batteries, headlamps, lots of Yen, and of course bandaids for blisters (which we didn't get)! The temperature at the 5th station was a little cool, but the top was about 40 degrees and windy- I was happy I had lots of layers on!

Here comes the sun.... doo doo doo doo... here comes the sun!

We started our hike around 9:30pm from the 5th station which is located at 2,305 meters and you can already feel the altitude at this station! Before we began our long climb, we bought Fuji climbing sticks so we could collect stamps along the way! There was a full moon the night before so the moon was pretty big the night we climbed and helped to light the way. We also both had headlamps which we were very thankful for as the trail has many different terrains and you really have to watch your footing! At the first few stops we were both working up a pretty good sweat and when we stopped, got chilled right away! The altitude we were at was obvious almost immediately. I am glad we prophylactically took the Excedrin to prevent headaches, but the nausea was not so fun as we climbed higher. Damian did pretty well, but I was struggling for awhile with the altitude sickness- the nausea and shortness of breath was definitely not my favorite feeling in the world! Damian didn't tell me while we were on the mountain, but on the way home he admitted that he didn't think I was going to make it a few times... I guess he didn't realize how determined I was to climb to the TOP! It was probably the most physically demanding thing I've ever done, but my mind was set and no matter how rotten I felt, I was going to keep on climbing!

One of many stamps along the way.

At each of the stops on the way to the top you could get your climbing stick stamped- they do it with a hot iron heated over a fire- it was pretty neat! We ended up each getting 25 stamps in total (at around 300 Yen ($4) a pop)! They are all different and even though we don't know what most of them say- we think it is pretty cool! They look good in our house too! At the top we got a stamp that says "Sunrise Top of Mt Fuji 2012" which is pretty awesome! We also bought an extra flag to tie on our climbing sticks that says the height and "Summit of Mt Fuji" in kanji. Our climbing sticks are the BEST souvenir we could have ever gotten on this adventure. You can even see on each of ours where we held it from the sweat and oils from our skin... mine has blood, sweat, and even a few tears on it- Damian's just has sweat! haha I will get to the blood and tears later in the blog... At each of the stops you could also use the restroom (for a 200 Yen donation) and get food, drinks, supplies, and cans of oxygen... the higher you got, the more expensive it all got! We bought a few things along the way... I bought a banana (for almost $2) and Damian bought some Fuji pins that he put into our sticks when we got home- he's so smart!!! We both had enough water at least to get to the top in our camelbacks, but I ran out on the climb down and had to "borrow" some of Damian's! Even drinking almost 3 liters of water, I still felt dehydrated! Fuji fact: You burn around 7000 calories climbing Mt. Fuji! whoop whoop!

Sunrise over Japan!

Once we got to the 8th station we had been hiking for close to 5 hours... with just very short breaks along the way! Many people start their climb in the afternoon and stop at the 8th station and stay in one of the "hotels" for the night and then start the rest of the climb before sunrise. After seeing the accommodations, I was happy we decided to power through and climb it in one shot!  It  was pretty cold up there and at each stop we were adding more layers, hats, and gloves! It was worse when we stopped so we tried to keep moving up the mountain. Some parts were incredibly steep and you literally had to hang on to the rocks as you climbed at very steep angles! Damian was much better with this than me, but I had a little "Japanxiety" along the way as there were a lot of other people climbing and I felt like I was being rushed and I was getting nervous about climbing up the rocks fast enough... I couldn't believe some of these much older people and even kids who were climbing- that certainly helped motivate me (and discourage too- since I was sucking wind)!!! Once we could actually see the summit it was slow going- because of all the people. It was getting close to sunrise and everyone wanted to get to the top to see the spectacular sunrise in the land of the rising sun! It took a long time to actually reach the summit and we stopped to watch the sun come up and then finished our climb. From the 5th station to the summit (10th station) it took about 8.5 hours. We got up to the summit right around 5:15 am- and it was chilly up there!!!!

Summit of Mt. Fuji: 12, 389 feet!!!!

The top was pretty crowded when we first got there and we were surprised at how much was up there! There were a bunch of huts selling souvenirs, food and all sorts of stuff. You could hike around the crater (which takes an hour and we didn't do) or go to the Post Office (highest in Japan) to get a postmark from! We did walk over to the crater to check it out... it was nothing more than a giant hole with some snow. We got our sunrise stamps and paid 600 Yen to go to the restroom! Using a squatty potty after climbing a mountain adds insult to injury... my legs were shaking the whole time while I squatted- it was pretty gross... as a squatty potty on the top of a mountain would be! We spent about an hour or so up there taking in all the beauty the view had to offer. We went into one of the huts and got some oishii (yummy) miso soup with noodles- it was perfect and warmed us up! The Japanese guy who brought our soup saw our Red Sox hats and asked about Boston... he then apologized for Daisuke Matsuzaka and said he wished the Red Sox would have gotten a better Japanese baseball player... absolutely priceless!

Getting ready to start the climb down.

We started the decent around 6:30am, and it went A LOT faster than climbing up... BUT it was also a lot harder! Coming down puts a lot of pressure on your toes and ankles and you really have to be careful- as I learned many times as I fell! Even using the walking stick, the rocks under your feet were constantly moving and it was hard- never mind we had both been awake for well over 24 hours with NO sleep! This is where the blood and tears came in... I fell a few times (maybe more than a few), but I caught myself with my hands on the sharp rocks... except for one last fall close to the bottom where I landed right on my butt... ouch!!!! Not only am I sore today, but I can also feel where I fell that last time yesterday! I told Damian that all of my battle wounds shows just how hard of a fight I put up while climbing! The way down was really hot as well- the sun was out as you can see and it felt really strong- especially being at such a high altitude! After a few minutes we both took off some layers! As we climbed down, you sort of had to slide your feet- which made A LOT of dust flying through the air from everyone... as you can see below, we both look like chimney sweeps after the climb down! haha

Yup... we really are that dirty!!!!

We were back down to the 5th station around 10am and on our way home soon after. By the time we got back to base and settled at home we had been up for over 36 hours and we were both exhausted! We couldn't wait to shower and get ALL the Fuji dirt off... ugh!!!! We went to bed soon after getting home, but Damian had to go back to the ship last night for the next few days! I'm feeling pretty sore today but overall a good sense of accomplishment! As I said before, Damian said he would do it again, but I think climbing Fuji once in my lifetime was more than enough... on to the next adventure for me!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Yama: Mountain