Chris and I have wanted to climb Mt Fuji ever since we found out we were headed for Japan. We had heard that the best way to experience Mt Fuji is to climb through the night and reach the top in time to witness the sun rising over Tokyo. Chris had 4 days of leave so we planned our trip so that we could get to Tokyo and climb through the night on Thursday, then head back to our hotel and rest a little bit on Friday so we could have Saturday to explore Tokyo before heading home. Our friend Joe Bob, who arrived in Misawa on the same flight as us, came with us for the trip.
Our plan was to take the train from Misawa to Yokota Air Base (on the outskirts of Tokyo). We left early Thursday morning so we could get into the hotel early enough to grab a long nap before starting the hike. When we went to check in, Yokota had lost our hotel reservations and the base had just experienced a flooding disaster in one of the tower apartments so they were trying to accommodate all of the displaced residents. So we got booted out and had to look elsewhere for a room. Luckily, Joe Bob's reservation didn't get lost, so we had a place to go and at least get ready for the hike. Unfortunately though, we didn't get that nap we had wanted.
First there was the 20 minute walk from Yokota to the train station...
Then there were two different trains we had to catch and finally there was an hour-long bus ride from the Kawaguchiko train station to the Kawaguchiko 5th station (the trailhead).
At about 9pm we made it to the trailhead. After making sure we had everything we needed and rearranging our packs, we set off on the trail at about 9:30pm.
Chris, myself, and Joe Bob right before beginning the hike.
This is the 7th station. There are several stations on the way up and even more small huts where you can sit and rest on benches outside, or pay to go inside in the warmth and rest, or even spend the night. All of the stations have drinks and snacks for sale.
We didn't take many pictures on the way up, but it was an incredible hike. As we climbed higher and higher we could see more and more of the city lights below. We were supposed to have thunderstorms all night but instead we had clear skies and only a few clouds in the very far distance that would occasionally flash with lightning. Another thing I loved about climbing in the dark is that I couldn't see very far ahead on the trail. All I could really see was the next switchback, or the next hut, or the next station. I didn't realize how intimidating the climb could have been until I was coming down the next morning and looked behind me at the sheer magnitude of the mountain.
We reached the last station before the top just before 1am. By now, it was freezing outside so we went in for a warm bowl of ramen. We only had about an hour left to go to get to the top, but none of the stations up there opened until 3:30am.
We took this picture three times before I managed to keep my eyes all the way open. I was so, so, so exhausted. We decided it was well worth the 1000yen ($10) per person per hour to be able to take a tiny nap before leaving to catch the sunrise.
I slept about 20 minutes, and when I woke up, this little station was packed and you could feel everyone getting anxious to hit the trail to the top before the larger tour groups started up.
We left the last station at 2:30am. We got out before most of the people there but still there was pretty much a single file line heading all the way up to the top. It frustrated Chris, but I enjoyed the slow, deliberate pace that the hikers in front of us had set.
We made it through the torii gate at the top at 3:30am; one hour before sunrise.
I apologize for the blur... this is about a 25 second exposure and we didn't use a tripod. I know, rookie mistake. You can see the headlamps of the hikers behind us streaking through the gate. I love this picture, in spite of the blur.
Waiting on the sunrise. We had been able to enjoy the view of these city lights all the way up the mountain, thanks to clear skies.
There were benches set up to view the sunrise, and it started getting crowded as more and more hikers streamed up the mountain. The wind was pretty brutal, and the dust was flying everywhere.
We were able to watch as everybody's hard work paid off and they made it through the gate. It was an amazing experience. This group of girls lined up across the gate and all stepped over together. You could see it in their faces that this hike had been so hard for the three of them and they were thrilled to be making it to the top just as the sun was rising. I could see tears on a couple of their faces as they were hugging each other.
Breathtaking.
(Don't forget that if you click on a picture, you can view it larger.)
We went back around the corner from the torii gate to see if the station was open yet, but apparently this was the day that all of the owners decided to sleep in. Oh well. I had already had one hot bowl of ramen, I didn't need two.
We went up a little farther past the station to check out the crater and the actual summit, but it really wasn't much to see. It's a little hard to tell in this picture but I'm the bundled up hiker and behind me is the top station. They even have a post office there, I'm told. But nothing was open yet.
Fuji's snow filled crater.
One of my favorite pictures from that morning.
Me and my essential Fuji gear: down jacket, rain coat, day pack (and camel back of course), extra water bottle and gloves. Not pictured were the hiking shoes, hiking pants, rain pants and hat. I looked like a blue marshmallow, but I was warm.
Making our way back down the mountain. As you can see, there was a solid line of hikers. This was the narrowest and steepest part of the trail and there were a few stragglers trying to come up still so there was a little bit of a bottleneck. Later on, the trail split and there was a separate trail just for descending the mountain.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn't realize the magnitude of the hike until I saw it all in the daylight.
I think the view was equally amazing on the way down.
If you look closely, you may be able to make out all the switchbacks coming up.
They don't accept credit cards at the grocery stores in Misawa, but you can use your Visa on Fuji. Amazing.
We were almost all the way down the mountain before we hit the trees. Most all of the hike is completely exposed.
We got a souvenir wooden stick to get branded at all of the stations on the way up. It had a bell attached to the top and we were told by a Japanese man in very broken English that we would take it off later. We finally realized what he meant when we saw the pile of bells. I'm not sure what the significance is, but we had been trying to silence that bell for the whole hike and we were happy to get rid of it;).
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