Last Fuji Pix

As some of you (now) know, there is a post office atop Mt. Fuji. As you can see in this picture, besides some postcards, I also bought a sheet of commemorative Fuji stamps (on the left), and, believe it or not, as if it proves anything, a "Certificate of Successful Ascent of Mt. Fuji" (on the right). Why? Why not?











Peeking through the clouds, you can barely see the parking lot where I started my climb.











Everywhere you go in Japan, you see toriis, including on Mt. Fuji.











Here's another shot of a torii.











As I descended the mountain, I got closer and closer to the sea of clouds below. It's now 5:10 p.m. and, as you can see, there are still plenty of people making their way up the mountain. Throughout the short climbing season, there is a constant stream of traffic heading in both directions on the trails.












Fuji vegetation.











Just before 6 p.m., I spotted this young boy heading up Fuji. At that point he still had over 1000 meters and, I'm guessing, at least 5 or 6 hours to the top.











Who knows if that kid pictured above even made it to the top. Many people don't, as they succumb to altitude sickness somewhere along the way. I talked to one young couple, for example, who turned around just about 300 meters from the summit, because they were feeling rather sick. And here's a picture of a young boy sucking in some badly needed oxygen. Even though this scene took place at about 3200 meters, I witnessed the same thing several times all along the trail, including at around 2500 meters, practically at the start of the climb! By the way, you don't need to bring your own supplemental oxygen; it's sold at the "stations." And I'm glad to report that I didn't suffer any ill effects from the altitude. Or did I? After all, I did seem to have trouble addressing postcards. In one case, I wrote the wrong zip code, and in another case, I left off a part of a person's name (in Japanese). Hmmm...











Clearly, not everyone suffered on the climb. These three guys were probably having the most fun on the mountain!











Besides the relatively small crowds, I was also pleasantly surprised at how little garbage there was along the trail. I heard Fuji-san was full of junk, but most of the litter I encountered was of the tiny variety, similar to garbage I find on just about any trail anywhere in the world.











Back at the starting point at 6:30 p.m., a little more than 9 hours after I started the hike. There's a saying in Japan: One who climbs Mt. Fuji once is a wise man; one who climbs Mt. Fuji more than once is a fool. So I guess I won't be climbing Fuji again any time soon. But there are different trails to explore and I may want to climb her at night someday. So who knows? Maybe I'll go climb her again in the future. Fool or no fool.

The Climb, Continued

Perhaps the oddest sight of the day was this guy jogging down the mountain. After he passed me, he stopped briefly to take my picture (that white thing in his right hand is a camera). I was too flabbergasted to ask him whether he had jogged up, too, but something tells me he did.











Yes, even babies "climb" Mt. Fuji. This little girl was the youngest person I saw on the trail. (The oldest person I came across, who I failed to get a picture of, was about, oh, perhaps 80! I passed him on my way down, probably at about 2800 meters. He was moving incredibly slowly and climbing by himself. I was absolutely amazed at his efforts.)














I packed plenty of snacks and drinks, but supplies are readily available on the mountain at each of the "stations" along the way, at least during the brief climbing season, which only runs from about July 1-August 31. The goods cost more than they do at sea level, but the prices are still rather reasonable.











The "stations" also serve as mountain huts. Many people spend anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire evening in the huts, trying to catch some valuable z's, usually before heading back out in the wee hours of the morning so they can catch the sunrise from the top. I decided I'd rather climb in full daylight. After the fact, I'm glad I did. The trail was way too rocky and slippery at times for climbing in the darkness, even with the aid of a headlamp. Perhaps one of the other trails is better suited for climbing at night.











I didn't expect to see any snow on Fuji, but the little snow I did encounter wasn't a surprise, either. This was at about 3500-3600 meters.











Just before reaching the top, the trail got a bit more crowded, but it was never as bad as what I expected.











Finally, just barely over three hours after I started the ascent, I reached the top of Mt. Fuji. Or did I? Actually, I reached the crater rim of the volcano, which included a shrine (rear, center) and a post office (rear, left). Do you see the guy just off to the right of center? Look carefully and you'll see that he's making a phone call. Not bad, eh?











To get to the actual summit, I had one last climb in front of me, Kengamine, where the weather station is located. That was about another 100 meters to the left and, of course, up. After a quick 10 minutes... I was finally... drum roll please...











on top of Japan!











Here's the view looking down upon the shrine and post office area.

Climbing Mt. Fuji

My biggest concern about climbing Mt. Fuji was what the weather was going to be like, especially since the weather forecast wasn't all that promising and my climbing window was rather narrow. In fact, I planned to climb on Monday, August 3, and about my only other option was going to be Tuesday. But that really wasn't much of an option. So when I arrived at the airport in Fukuoka on Sunday and was told that I wasn't able to check in for my flight to the new Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport since the weather in Shizuoka was so bad, you can imagine how I felt. Nevertheless, despite the initial delay, my plane actually took off on time, and, even though we were told that our flight might be diverted to Nagoya, we landed where we were supposed to. (Check this: The folks at JAL told me that if we did divert to the other airport, we would have to make our own way back to Shizuoka, nearly 200 km away! Huh?)

Believe it or not, I didn't get my first glimpse of Fuji-san until I woke up early on Monday morning. I spent the night in a town called Fujinomiya, since that was where I was going to be able to catch a bus to the trailhead in the morning. At about 5:45 a.m., I awoke and immediately thought, "I wonder if I can see Fuji." And there she was, right outside my hotel window. And the weather was great. So I knew the climb would be a success.











There are several trails leading to the top of Fuji (3776 meters). For logistical reasons, I chose the Fujinomiya trail that starts out at 2400 meters. Before I even started my hike, I could go shopping and dining.











Many people buy a traditional walking stick before they begin their hike and have it branded (for a slight fee) at each "station" along the way to the top, generally from fifth to ninth. I elected to do without the stick.











Many people told me to be careful on Mt. Fuji (two climbers froze to death about a week before I climbed, for instance) and there were several signs along the way warning of falling rocks, but I was never worried. Fuji was more difficult to climb than I expected, but still far easier and far safer than many other climbs I've been on. Despite the warning signs, I never once felt as if what I was doing was unsafe.











You encounter poor translations throughout Japan, including on Mt. Fuji! What's a PHSU?












Lots of people climb Fuji late in the day or throughout the night so that they can see the sun rise from the summit, like these two guys, who have made it most of the way down Fuji by 9:30 a.m.
If you look closely, you'll see people spread out higher up on the trail. There were a lot of people climbing, but no where near as many people as I expected, which made for a nice surprise.















A climber resting on the trail at about 2700 meters.












Two more climbers enjoying a relaxing moment on the trail at about 2800 meters.











A lot of people who climb Fuji are climbing a mountain for the first time in their lives. Hiking boots do come in handy, but some people climb in regular ol' tennis shoes.

I'm back!

Hey everyone! I'm back. At least for now.

Sorry about leaving you hanging all these months(!) since my last post.

Why haven't I written for so long?

Well, for one, since the new school year started, I've been going to twice as many classes as I did in the previous year. I now go to about 15-18 classes a week! And I go to the first class of the day pretty much every day. So sometimes when I have a brainstorm on the way to school and want to write about it when I get to school, well, off I go to class. As a matter of fact, I sometimes go to all four morning classes. So by the time I have a chance to write, well, I'm pooped!

For two, the mid-day schedule has changed a bit, and I've been given an additional, rather time-consuming responsibility just before lunch. So that has taken some of the air out of my blogging sails. (I'll fill you in about that soon!)

Also, well, I guess you could say it's because of a combination of such things as: 1) not being as dedicated to my blog as I need to be; 2) having been on vacation here and there and therefore not able to write; 3) spending a lot more of my free time studying Japanese; 4) spending a lot more of my free time with bicycle riding; 5) spending a lot more of my free time with other thoughts; and 6) not willing to make public a lot of what has been going on lately, especially at school.

In any case, it's now the beginning of a new month so perhaps this is a good time to start writing again. Also, August 6th marks the beginning of my third year in Japan! So that's another new beginning, right?

OK!

So... What can you look forward to reading about next?

Well...

Tomorrow I'm flying to Shizuoka.

Because on Monday...

I plan...

to climb...

Mt. Fuji.

Stay tuned for more.

As if you weren't already...

Thanks for your patience!