On August 13th (which is also Gabe Campanella`s birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!!!) Ulala and i left Umeda (downtown Osaka) at 7:30am on a tour bus headed for Mount Fuji. We drove for 11 HOURS!! Finally reaching the 5th station of Fuji (where vehicles stop - a bit under halfway ffrom sea level to summit) we discovered to our dismay that it was pouring rain. This didn`t stop us, mind you, it just made us very very wet. So our tour group rallied outside the bus and met our lead guide (Ohashi-san) who gave what seemed to be a well-spoken, motivating and witty speech to get us started. It`s a shame that i couldn`t hear him through the rain (or understand enough Japanese). I thought i caught the words "safety" and "caution" and "emergency" more than once but i`m sure it wasn`t important....
We started walking in the rain but luckily the rain stopped shortly after we began our trek so only the first half hour was rainy. After that it was just wet. And cold. And dark. Did i say wet? BUT we reached the 7th station (and our lodge for the night) quicker than expected. We were fed and in bed by 11pm. I thought i might have trouble falling asleep so early on a thin futon in a room of about 50 other people, 49 of whom were strangers, all lined up next to each other, but i was out like a light. And good thing too, since we were up at 4:15am to see sunrise on the East side of the mountain.
After a beautiful sunrise over a sea of cloud we had a light breakfast of rice and soup and started out walking around 5:30 or so. After you pass the 5th station of Fuji all the toilets (located at the lodges) cost a hundred yen to use (about a dollar). This is to support the lodges and help cover the cost of protecting the environment no Fuji. So after shelling out my morning pee-fee i tried to think dry thoughts until we reached the next station. Actually it wasn`t so bad and when we reached the 8th station, it was still quite early. The moon was still out and Ulala and i joked about how the moon wanted to stay up late to laugh at us would-be mountaineers.
This is a picture looking up at the 8th station. This was also the last painted torii (gate). After that they were unpainted, with a nice rustic feeling. We asked the guide why they weren`t painted but he didn`t know. Unfortunately i was in the habit of asking inane questions, the answer to which he often didn`t know. Nonetheless, he was a great guide and kept us moving at a reasonable pace - not too fast so as to avoid altitude sickness. Despite our pace, some members of our tour had to "retire" early and didn`t make it all the way to the top.
And this is us at 3000 meters! You`ll note the fancy sign and the fact that the clouds are below us. The view really was stunning! I do have to say though, that while the views were quite glorious, the old saying is true: the view OF Fuji is better than the view FROM Fuji. You`ll also notice that i`m wearing sneakers. In my last post i mentioned that i thought i would be fine in just sneakers instead of the recommended "trekking shoes" insisted upon by the brochure and (slightly more fervently) by Ulala. And i was right. Sneakers were A-OK. In fact lots of people on the mountain were wearing sneakers. The only time it was even mildly inconvenient was on the way down, which is long and low graded gravel. And even then i slipped less than many other members of our tour.
These were futons out in the sun to dry at one of the stations on the way up. It reminded me of pictures i`ve seen of Himalayan villages and i enjoyed the colours.
Near the summit i saw this figure standing out on the mountainside and it struck me as a good photo-op. The summit and the crater are like a moonscape (or maybe more like Mars since much of the volcanic rock is bright red). After we passed the vegetation line there really wasn`t much sign of life (besides the long line of tourists, that is...)
And here`s the crater. Those white smudges are actually huge and they are snow that has yet to melt since it is insulated by the dirt. The temperature was significantly lower at the top than at the bottom or middle. It also varied wildly depending on whether you were in sun or shade. I felt quite cool on the way up and at the top but i still got an awful sunburn on the back of my neck and my forearms. I`ll spare you the photos of lobster-Ian.
And yes, the rumours are true! There really IS a post office on top of Mount Fuji!! so here is the picture of the mailbox into which i dropped 46 postcards and a couple birthday greetings for all the folks back home! I hope you get them all soon!
And this is me at the summit marker. It`s a little strange that this is "officially" the summit since one or two parts of the crater seemed to rise above it, but maybe it was a optical illusion. While Ulala was too tired and worn out to continue hiking after we reached the summit, i continued with the guide around the crater. Not a lot to see¥, except black and red rocks but still a great experience.
This is the lodge where we stayed the second night. It`s built a little bit into the mountain, but not much. So the ceilings were quite low and again we were sleeping cheek to jowl with a small army of strangers. We had reached the summit by 1pm and then continued around the crater and back down to this station by late afternoon. We went to bed super early (maybe 8pm) and were again up at 4:15am for sunrise.
And here is sunrise on the second day. We were blessed with two clear mornings above the cloud cover.
As the sun rose we began our descent back to the 5th station. In this picture i can`t help but notice that "right" seems to point straight out into nothing. I`m glad we took the slower, more land-based route...
These plants, which were the highest growing things on Fuji-san actually have extremely long roots to collect as much water as they can since the volcanic rock and gravel doesn`t hold water very long on Fuji.
Sometimes cute and sometimes quite dramatic, every now and again a cloud would literally rub up against Fuji and slide it`s way upwards towards the crater, where it would then drop into teh crater before being pushed out by the wind. I wonder if clouds have fun? Cuz i swear i could hear them go "WEEEEEE!!" as they popped out of the crater. Maybe it was just the wind...
And this last picture is of a particularly striking flower. Unfortunately i forget the name and the details of the legend that our guide told us about the flower. Ah well, it`s still beautiful. Wait! Now i remember (sort of): it`s called "Hotaru no something something" and it means "Firefly`s luggage", and fireflies enjoy the bloom and crawling inside to make the whole bloom light up like a lantern.
All in all it was a great experience and i`m glad that we opted for the package tour with a guide and two nights stay in lodges on the mountain. That helped make it a more solid experience in my mind. i saw many people racing their way up the mountain, or racing back down to catch trains or buses. Many of them foreigners but many Japanese as well. I wonder how many of them really got a sense of Fuji, really looked carefully between the deep breaths of thin air and costly visits to the bathroom. And while i am satisfied with having crossed another thing off the "To Do Before I Die" list, i`m also very happy that i took the time to enjoy doing it.
Next on The List: Scuba diving in Thailand!!
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