The first thing I should mention is that there are no lights on the trail up Mount Fuji (apart from outside the mountain huts). Our torches were indispensable, so I was pretty annoyed when my torch broke about an hour from the top. The night air was much cooler than I’ve become accustomed to in Kansai, though we were warm pretty much up to about 3200m because of the exertion. The night view was spectacular. The city lights flickered below us, and even as we started the trek we were aware of just how incredibly high up we were. We were already above the clouds and for us the night sky was perfectly clear. The photos don’t do it justice.
Initially the path seemed to be leading downhill, which led to a little self doubt over directions. Soon though, it turned into a much steeper ascent, which was a mixture of cobbled rock pathways and sand and loose rock pathways. Every once in a while we would stop for a moment to swig water and sip energy drinks. For about an hour and a half the trek was relatively simple and we were making good time, covering parts of the track in two thirds of the forecast time.
Then it became a touch more challenging, involving scrambles over steep paths of rock. This was particularly difficult with a torch as two hands would have been much more beneficial! It was at these moments that I became most light-headed. With the extra effort of climbing and the air being considerably thinner, it was pretty tiring. I found it best to take these sections quickly though, even though I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. I find that scrambling up things is easier with a bit of momentum.
We passed the sixth station and the seventh station, resting momentarily here and there to catch our breath. We didn’t rest for too long though, as the sweat on our backs became very cold very quickly. At the eighth station we took a bathroom break and had some more snacks (I chowed down a whole chocolate bar). We turned the corner to find yet another wall of rocks with a huge queue of people climbing excruciatingly slowly up one side of it. On the other side were less hand grips but there was more space, so we threw ourselves up it and sped past the crowds. This is just as well, because later on huge queues of people meant many didn’t get to the top in time for sunrise.
I didn’t suffer too badly from the high altitude. Right near the top my stomach started to feel a little bloated (the way it does when I travel by plane), but apart from that I was really lucky. Simon suffered with a headache most of the way to the top but took some painkillers and persevered.
We continued to power on up with intermittent breaks. Signs which told us how high up we were could sometimes be encouraging (‘look how far we’ve come!’) but often discouraging (‘what! All that effort and we’ve only gone up 100m?!’). The landscape became ever more barren and rocky, but the higher we climbed, the more beautiful the sky became. Up beyond the clouds and away from the light pollution of the cities, the sky was more full of stars than I have ever seen in my life. In fact, after the ninth station we took a longer break and sat for about 20 minutes, finally wearing all our layers, and gazing up at the stars. It was around this point that my torch gave up the ghost.
The final leg of the climb was a steep walk uphill which seemed simple enough, but the random rocks in the sand (or volcanic ash, I guess) made for some interesting dance moves. One last rock scramble and we passed under the torii gates which marked our arrival at the summit. Yatta!
So we made it to the top! It was a bit before 3am and pretty darn cold. As well as six layers, I wore a beanie hat, ear muffs and the hood from my coat and still felt cold. My lips are all chapped from the crazy change in climate. We all tucked up under Simon’s thermal blanket (the effects of which were probably reduced by the gaping big hole in it) and waited for sunrise. In the meantime, Simon’s friend who had conquered the Fujinomiya trail came over to chat to us. He said that on the trail he had taken, he had switched off his torch at one point to be guided by the light of the moon and ‘be one with the mountain.’ Then he stumbled across someone having a poo behind a big rock and regretted his decision. The sky in the distance began to lighten, and we waited for the sunrise.
Initially the path seemed to be leading downhill, which led to a little self doubt over directions. Soon though, it turned into a much steeper ascent, which was a mixture of cobbled rock pathways and sand and loose rock pathways. Every once in a while we would stop for a moment to swig water and sip energy drinks. For about an hour and a half the trek was relatively simple and we were making good time, covering parts of the track in two thirds of the forecast time.
Then it became a touch more challenging, involving scrambles over steep paths of rock. This was particularly difficult with a torch as two hands would have been much more beneficial! It was at these moments that I became most light-headed. With the extra effort of climbing and the air being considerably thinner, it was pretty tiring. I found it best to take these sections quickly though, even though I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. I find that scrambling up things is easier with a bit of momentum.
We passed the sixth station and the seventh station, resting momentarily here and there to catch our breath. We didn’t rest for too long though, as the sweat on our backs became very cold very quickly. At the eighth station we took a bathroom break and had some more snacks (I chowed down a whole chocolate bar). We turned the corner to find yet another wall of rocks with a huge queue of people climbing excruciatingly slowly up one side of it. On the other side were less hand grips but there was more space, so we threw ourselves up it and sped past the crowds. This is just as well, because later on huge queues of people meant many didn’t get to the top in time for sunrise.
I didn’t suffer too badly from the high altitude. Right near the top my stomach started to feel a little bloated (the way it does when I travel by plane), but apart from that I was really lucky. Simon suffered with a headache most of the way to the top but took some painkillers and persevered.
We continued to power on up with intermittent breaks. Signs which told us how high up we were could sometimes be encouraging (‘look how far we’ve come!’) but often discouraging (‘what! All that effort and we’ve only gone up 100m?!’). The landscape became ever more barren and rocky, but the higher we climbed, the more beautiful the sky became. Up beyond the clouds and away from the light pollution of the cities, the sky was more full of stars than I have ever seen in my life. In fact, after the ninth station we took a longer break and sat for about 20 minutes, finally wearing all our layers, and gazing up at the stars. It was around this point that my torch gave up the ghost.
The final leg of the climb was a steep walk uphill which seemed simple enough, but the random rocks in the sand (or volcanic ash, I guess) made for some interesting dance moves. One last rock scramble and we passed under the torii gates which marked our arrival at the summit. Yatta!
So we made it to the top! It was a bit before 3am and pretty darn cold. As well as six layers, I wore a beanie hat, ear muffs and the hood from my coat and still felt cold. My lips are all chapped from the crazy change in climate. We all tucked up under Simon’s thermal blanket (the effects of which were probably reduced by the gaping big hole in it) and waited for sunrise. In the meantime, Simon’s friend who had conquered the Fujinomiya trail came over to chat to us. He said that on the trail he had taken, he had switched off his torch at one point to be guided by the light of the moon and ‘be one with the mountain.’ Then he stumbled across someone having a poo behind a big rock and regretted his decision. The sky in the distance began to lighten, and we waited for the sunrise.
