Mt Fuji

What have I gotten myself into... 

Okay, cats and kittens, now, some of ya'll know I dig the outdoors. I've been off on overnight canoe trips many times and have done a little backwoods camping. I love proving to myself that I can do something that other folks say they can't (or tell me I'm crazy for trying). I also like adventures, exploring and just getting out and doing something. So when Chelsea mentioned she was going to climb Mt Fuji during the long weekend with some other folks, and asked if I wanted to join, I jumped on it. JR railline had this wonderful Three Day Pass which saved us so much coin on train fare, it was amazing. Still, though, it was a crazy long day which began at 5 am Saturday September 15th. I walked down to the Shichinohe-Towada Bullet Train station to catch my ride down to Tokyo.

It's almost go time...

I've got a golden tiiiiicket!

My chariot arrives!

Pretty swanky! Lotsa leg room! Wonderful way to travel across the country (tho a bit pricey for frequent use... However the pass was... about 26000￥ for the whole weekend, covered my Bullet Train ride to Tokyo and all the trains we had to take to get to Mt Fuji and back.)

Zooooooooooooooom!

 Chelsea and I met at my local station, and we met up with the other 3 folks down at Tokyo Station after we arrived at about 11:20 or so that morning. Joel, Makela and Dan (I'd met Dan during the Hirosaki trip, but the other two were new to me. Yay!). We promptly stopped for lunch (at the Chelsea Cafe, HA!), then started to make our way via various trains to Fujiyoshida to catch the bus to the 5th Station where our climb would begin.

Chelsea, Joel & Makela

Dan... so special... sitting like a pretty lady.

View from the train to Fujiyoshida... looming over us...

Bus ride to the 5th Station. We might be crazy enough to climb that mother, but we're not going to start from the bottom. lol.

I found a great map online here which illustrates the number of switchbacks and just how long the trail is... The 分 kanji means 'minute' (I think that makes this blog officially educational. Yippie!) but I don't think I followed that time estimate very closely... especially since I had been up for 24 hours by the time the sun was rising. Nothing like pushing myself to the limit! Woo!

Fuji-san... the remaining half, as viewed from the 5th Station. 

Look how eager I look to get up that monster.

Now, the mountain trek is 'in season' July and August, but we were really fortunate and got a clear night for the climb up, and no rain or snow at the summit. The only real downside of climbing in the off season is the hours of the huts, restaurants and what have you going up. It's a little colder, but we all dressed for it (I had to improvise a little since I didn't have any of my winter gear with me yet, but my Hawaiian sarong worked just fine as a scarf, and my rubber duckie bandanna (and 3 hoods from my hoodie, windbreaker and down-filled jacket (the latter two, purchased just for the sake of climbing) kept my brains from freezing.

Towns and cities twinkling below... 

As I made my way up, and was not surrounded by folks with headlamps who would wreck my night vision (dastards!), I would stop and enjoy the view. It was amazing, even in the dark. I'm sorry that my camera is not capable of doing it justice. There were two thunderstorms that I could see, one to the North and one to the East of me, flashing in the distance. It was really something to see the bolt of lightning fork all the way through a cloud and light it up from top to bottom. There were also bats flying around overhead, between the 6th and 7th Stations, you could hear them chirping in the black. The climb itself was interesting. I was too focused on getting to the top to stop and take photos of the various types of terrain I had to overcome, but there were some points where I was actually climbing from rock to rock... I'm not sure how so many folks made it up with their various types of hiking sticks... I preferred to be lower to the ground and scrambling up the rocks... I felt less like I was going to fall. Other times, it was a well worn path, sometimes loose gravel from all the previous hikers, sometimes it looked like there was no clear way to go, so you just had to make something up. It was very very interesting, lemmie tell ya.

Impending dawn...

Closer...

When I arrived at the summit, it was still completely dark. So, I guess I got up there around 4am? I'm thankful for my camera's time stamps so I have a way of referencing how much time lapsed between shots... But I didn't taken one in the dark when I got to the summit. These were taken around 4:30 in the morning. My camera doesn't quite do the colours justice. I tired to play with the settings a little, but it just couldn't see what my delirious eyes could, and my fingers did not like being un-gloved to fiddle with the settings.

I think I nodded off for a bit between this photo and the previous one... Hahaha

Dang it, clouds! Get outta the way! 

Up on the peak, there is a post office where you can mail things from the top of Mt Fuji. However, due to my state, and the fact that we were unsure that it was even open for business, I did not make the trek around the mouth of the volcano to send my post cards off. (sorry guys, they came up and down with me, tho!). I did, however, hobble to take a peek doooooooown the mouth (it was full of rocks. I was hoping for a doorway to a land that time forgot, but I think you have to be farther north for that... Oh wait, Savage Land is in Antarctica... So waaaaay farther south... either way, not in Mt Fuji)

Too cool.

Tori gate on the peak.

Looking down my nose at some lesser mountains.

Serpentine! Serpentine!

The way dooooooown...

Oh my gawd... walking down that slope... There were little old ladies who scooted past me, I was walking so slowly. I took baby steps the whole way down because my knees hurt so much. It was almost unbearable. I headed down before the rest of the group because I was so cold and it made me have to pee real urgently. However... there was nowhere to stop along the way. Thankfully the act of walking down lessened the need a little, but the pain in my legs made me want to stop... but if I stopped, the need increased... it was a vicious cycle... so I just kept on trudging down down down. I figured for sure that the rest of my group was going to catch up with me, I was moving so slowly.

There are very few (read: 1) signs along the way to confirm that you are going the right way. And since I climbed at night, I did not have much to go on as far as points of reference. I looked down and thought I was aiming for a certain spot, and looked at the various paths and thought I had it figured out which way I had to go... but it just kept going on... and on... and on... I'm not quite sure what time I got down the mountain exactly... I sent an email to Chelsea to tell her that I was sitting by the locker we'd rented before embarking on the hike, but it took me quite some time to locate the right shop that held said locker. I stumbled around in a daze peeking in the shop windows, trying to find the familiar set up... However everything worked out just fine, and we all met up at the lockers and tried to get some food before catching the bus to Fujiyama, getting to the hostel, showering and passing out for a few hours.

Poster in the hostel lobby

Made it up and down that mountain... and those damn stairs!

If you're ever in Fujiyama and need a place to stay, this hostel was great. Friendly staff, clean accommodations and only an exhausted stumble away from the train station (well, what's another 20 minutes after walking for... 15 hours or so). Plus it's right above an American style pub which served up some delicious burgers (I had ginger beer, tho... everyone else had a burger, apparently the pattys were from Costco. Haha)

Top bunk! Totally called! :D

Expensive beer made from magical Mt Fuji water. We picked up a  can bottle canister of the Dunkel (which I thought would make a delicious beer float base, good dark beer with a hint of chocolate-ness) and the Weizen (which I didn't really care for)

Monday morning, our group parted ways. Chelsea and I really wanted to go and soak in an onsen and our tickets home were for the same train, so we stuck together. The other three had a similar set up along with plans to tour a brewery (which we would have joined in on, had we not enjoyed the onsen so much). So we said our goodbyes and set off on our merry ways. As Chelsea and I made our way to the onsen and then to the train station, I spied a few curious signs and thought I should snap a few photos to add to the Engrish content of this blog. I hope you are not disappointed.

Hair cuts in the rap of Ruxury.

So, which is it? Coffee or Cafe with rest?

 Japan seems to love pretty things. So much so, that even the manhole covers have elaborate designs based upon what the particular area is famous for.

Fancy manhole cover

Fancier manhole cover

 One of our trains to get back to Tokyo was super cute. Inside, all the blinds had Thomas the tank engine pictures and at the end we sat at, there was a little conductor booth for kids to use and play pretend. There was even a hat for them to wear. I refrained from taking photos of other people's children because I did not want to seem like a creep. :P I know I'm not allowed to post pictures of my students online without explicit permission from their parents, and I'm not sure if that extends to other things... so... I decided to play it safe and just stick with a nice, colourful, exterior shot.

However, I did not have a problem with snapping a picture of this bag with all kinds of English words scattered about and absolutely no sense to be made. Just like that last sentence. Yeesh.

I sure hope it's the ring of power.. to command dachshunds... which grow from the ground after it rains?
Man... I don't know.

The rest of the journey back to Shichinohe was pretty uneventful. We did not miss our trains, we grabbed a * delicious* dinner of nigirizushi in Tokyo station (I think, about 8-10 pieces for 1500￥) which I ate before I thought to snap a photo... but I assure you it was as beautiful as it was delicious! I got a seat on the Shinkansen back up north... but was charged 510￥ by a railroad employee... I think it was cheaper than reserving a seat, but I was told later that was unusual... so... I dunno. Still, it was nice to sit and not curl up on the floor like I did on the way up. I got to chill in a chair, and charge up my phone, write a few post cards and just relax as I zipped through the night. The train arrived at 21:20, I got a lift back to my apartment where I cursed the stairs (but not as much as you might think), did some laundry, showered and then passed out for a few hours before I had to get up and go to work. :D

Pretty fab weekend, if you ask me.