Last weekend 2 friends and I decided to take on Fuji San. Now every single one of our friends thought this was a terrible idea as the 3 of us are not exactly at one with nature and climbing season finished 2 months ago. Not only this, but the weather forecast thunderstorms and as our insurance policy considered the climb an extreme sport and we were not covered. Nether less our tickets were booked and we were trying to be optimistic!
So after our 8 hour night bus to Tokyo, and a 3 hour bus ride to the mountain, we were ready to start the climb at 10:45am!! The weather was not the greatest, extreme fog and a little rain but nothing we couldn't handle...6 exhausting hours later, 3 snack breaks, 1 picnic, 200 photos, the most breath taking views I have ever seen, 5.8km and 4 extra layers of clothing later we were 300m from the summit!! I couldn't believe it! We thought it a little odd that we saw only 4 other climbers all day but didn't worry too much.
So after our 8 hour night bus to Tokyo, and a 3 hour bus ride to the mountain, we were ready to start the climb at 10:45am!! The weather was not the greatest, extreme fog and a little rain but nothing we couldn't handle...6 exhausting hours later, 3 snack breaks, 1 picnic, 200 photos, the most breath taking views I have ever seen, 5.8km and 4 extra layers of clothing later we were 300m from the summit!! I couldn't believe it! We thought it a little odd that we saw only 4 other climbers all day but didn't worry too much.
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Photos: Top- Just a little fog!, Middle- View from the 9th station, Bottom- Huge shadow of Fuji, probably should be down the bottom by now!
It was 5pm and going to get dark soon so we started heading back. Mistake number 10 for the day, should have left 4 hours earlier...it got dark very quickly and it wasn't long before we took the wrong trail and got lost. We saw lights on in a cabin and thought we would ask for help as it was 8pm and we were exhausted! Turns out the last bus left at 3pm (we probably should have looked into this a little more) he let us sleep there for the extreme price of ¥5500 each. But we were very great full as we didn't exactly have many options and it was about 5 degrees.The place was so traditional, complete with a pot belly fire in the lounge room, deer heads on the wall and 1huge communal bunk bed to sleep in. We were asleep by 9pm!
We woke up ready to head back for the bus and couldn't believe the beautiful views! The day before we missed out due to the fog on the lower level, but it was phenomenal! The leaves have started to change for fall and it was beautiful!It was probably the most difficult thing I have ever done - every muscle in my body is still in pain, and I won't be doing it again anytime soon, but I would highly recommend it! Maybe just plan your trip a little better!
Amazing views that we could have missed due to the fog the morning before
You have some great photos here but the post seems to be about you and your adventure rather than Japan and Japanese culture. I am glad you didn't die... or get hurt.
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