To the top and back again

From Tokyo, I moved to Kawaguchiko next to Mt Fuji,

After hearing stories from other backpackers, I decided to try and night climb the mountain to get to the top at about 4am and see the sunrise.

I left the hostel at 6pm and arrived on the mountain side just as the sun was setting.
I wasn't able to see Mt Fiji till I was already on it due to heavy cloud and the sight was breath taking once i could see the peak. I was at the 5th climbing station above the clouds when i could see the peak, and i could see how far i had to walk.




I arrived at the 5th station just as the sun set over Fuji, the path I had to walk would take me from the west side of fuji, seeing the sun set to the east side to see the sunrise again.

The climb was to be done by 1000's of people that night from every bracket of ages, the 7-10 year olds up to grand parents who i swear could almost not walk let alone climb yet they where.

The Climb was broken up into stages, marked by these stations. At each station there was sleeping beds, first aid, toilets and food drink etc. The higher you climbed the more expensive items became naturally, as getting the resources up to these stations was hard as there was no cable cars or roads up and down the mountain to resupply them.

The climb itself took me 9 hours or so, along the way I would take several stops every 30 min or so as the higher you got the less air, and the harder it was.

I met loads of people that night including a couple of girls from america that had decided to climb that night without a torch, warm cloths or food, a very expensive decision considering the cost of those items on the mountain. Never the less i helped light the way for them with a few Japanese guys for a while till after about 3 hours they purchased a touch and sped on ahead. (It was about 2oC when the picture on the right was taken at the 7th station.)

I was less than 100 meters from the summit when the sun rays started showing. Everyone on the mountain stopped, found a place to sit and took in the sight. The atmosphere and the tranquility was amazing, its was dead silent till the sun showed then the 1000+ people on the mountain side erupted into a cheer and photos and stories of the 9 hour climb filled the air.

From there it took me about another 45 min to climb the last 100 meters, the air was so thin it was like running a triathlon each step, but i did reach the summit at about 5 am and then crashed in a hut there for a few hours to sleep, while i tried to shake the altitude sickness so i could walk around the crater. But never the less it didn't help and when i woke at 7am the clouds were rolling up the mountain and you couldn't see 5 metres in front of you, so there was really no point, so i decided to go back down.

At the very top of the mountain there was a final set of huts and camps (As stated above i took a nap in one), but there was also a building with a shrine, and loads of vending machines, these reaffirm the Japanese fascination with vending machines, if they have dragged 4 of them up to the very top of Mt Fuji. I found if quite amusing.

The picture on the side if the shrine that was in one of the houses at the top of fuji.

The climb down as even tougher, i had some 5 hours of 135 degree decline down loose rubble that was like walking on a sand dune down, only it hurt when you fell :) but never the less i made it safe and sound.

As you can see in the image on the left the cloud/fog was crazy thick and this lasted all the way down from the top of Mt Fuji till the 5th station where the tree line started and the busses could drive to.






This has by far been a amazing experience and i would love to do it again one day with family and friends, it really was a amazing enlightening experience.