Challenge: Mt Fuji

Task: Survive!

It was a challenge not to be taken lightly. We were faced with a mountain 3776m high and we didn't know what to expect.
From Tokyo, we caught a couple of trains to Kawaguchiko, an area at the base of Fuji-san. Then we unloaded our luggage at the hostel we booked for the night after the climb, and got ready the necessities, trying to pack as light as possible hoping that it wouldn't be too cold at the summit.

At 6.30pm a bus took us to the 5th station of Mt Fuji which is about 2400m high. It was already raining and looked like it was going to rain all night. So equipped with new raincoats and walking sticks (a must for the hike; these can be stamped at every station at about 200-300yen each), we began our overnight trek.

The climb up was made more difficult in the dark, (plus I didn't have a torch, so had to rely on others' light) and at times we had to clamber up rocky steep inclines on both hands. Some of us had difficulty adapting to the thinning air as we ascended. And you couldn't climb for too long as you just got tired really easily and needed plenty of breaks. Every step felt like a 100 steps.

There are 10 stations on Mt Fuji that you could stop at to get a hot cup of coffee (even beer) and something to eat, at phenomenal mountain prices! A cup noodle cost 500yen and choc bar around 400yen a piece. And you also pay 100yen to use the toilets.
The 7th and 8th stations had several "half" and "quarter" stations along the way, which made it quite confusing to know exactly where one was.

It got really jam-packed with people between the 9th and 10th stations as the path became quite narrow. At times I was dozing off while standing up waiting in line! I did give myself quite a fright a couple of times when I awoke to find myself teetering on the edge of the mountain.

The conditions were really cooling down even more and we didn't have enough warm clothes to put on. At around 4am we stopped. We were still about an hour away from the last station. But we wanted to make sure we could watch the sunrise instead of waiting in a queue of some sort. So in freezing and windy conditions we awaited the sunrise.
It was a beauty. As if there was a choir from the heavens accompanying its debut of the day, it opened up its arms of warmth and comfort upon our tired and aching bodies.

We trudged upwards again after mustering some super-human strength we didn't really have. Victory came slowly....more lines, more patience, more strength....we saw the torii gates of the last station but it just took forever to get there.

And then we did. At around 6:40am after 9 hours of climbing, Rich and I walked through the gate holding hands up in the air and let out a weak "woohoo". We suddenly found some energy to pose for photos, eat a bowl of ramen and take in the view. And then crashed on a bench for half an hour.

We spent about an hour at the summit, exploring the crater a little. Mt Fuji isn't beautiful; it's really just a rocky reddish-brown dormant volcano. But the views you get from the top is just breath-taking.

I still can't believe I've climbed Mt Fuji....and I'm not even going to spoil it by mentioning the way down. That was a downer.

See photos here and here.