Mt. Fuji

Starting point for the Yoshida Trail.

Before the hike.

Yesterday we climbed Mt. Fuji. We caught the 6:20 bus up to the 5^th station. It was recommended that we wait for about an hour to let our bodies adjust before beginning to hike. Our bus was full on the way up, but the mountain didn’t seem overly busy. We gave our bodies about 30 minutes before beginning the climb. Fuji is divided into stations and the maps give average times that it takes to get to each station. We knew going into it that we would not be able to summit. There was an avalanche during the winter, and they are still working to unblock the path. While we were on the mountain resting, a couple told us that some locals told them that you could summit if you went off the trail and around the avalanche. We decided that this was definitely not the right decision for us and turned around at 8.5 as was recommended and planned on by us.

As we were getting ready to enter the trailhead, we were called into the information office. The gentleman there was very nice but very concerned for our safety. He kept telling us to take our time. He was very adamant about this and warned about getting altitude sickness. Thankfully this didn’t happen to anyone, and after reassuring him that we would be okay, we went on our way. It took us just over an hour to get from Station 5 to 6. Here we had to pay a $10 conservation fee and were given a Fuji guide, survival kit, and wooden token that has Mt. Fuji on it.

Torii on the trail.

The hike from station 5 to 6 was relatively easy. Lodging and resting huts are set up along the mountain. They have toilets that you can use for a fee and warn about hiding out from bad weather in them. If you’re caught hiding in them, it’s quite a hefty fine. The hiking from station 6 to 7 wasn’t too terrible. The change in altitude is what I really noticed here. The trail up Fuji is quite nice and well maintained. They’ve clearly worked to make the trail a nice experience. They have large retaining walls built in certain locations, stairs in some spots, and chains to keep you within the trail.

At Station 7

Our view pretty much the entire ascent.

Starting after Station 7 is where the going got pretty tough. As Lynsey said, “This is as close as you can get to climbing without any actual equipment.” There were natural lava flow formations here that you had climb over. It was a bit daunting and I gave up the hiking poles in favor of using my hands. There were a few mad scrambles around and over rocks. It was at this point that I really started setting ‘make it to this next location’ goals for myself before stopping for a breather. There were quite a few lodging huts in between station 6 and 7. They made for nice stopping points to rest or eat a snack. The view from all of them was not good as clouds and mist surrounded us the whole climb up. We did get fairly lucky weather wise because it sprinkled but never outright rained really hard on us.

Almost there!

The closer we got to Stations 8 and 8.5 the colder it got. Danna was kind enough to let me borrow a winter jacket of hers and it came in handy up here. In the lower stations, I couldn’t make up my mind if I was hot or cold. While hiking, I would get really hot but start to get cold a couple of minutes into a break. The wind could be rather vicious at times. It was worse than the rain by far. Again, we got lucky because it would get gusty for a little bit and then die down.

Danna feeling triumphant for making it. 

Getting up to Station 8.5 was a wonderful feeling. It took us about 5 hours to get from Station 5 up to 8.5. It’s about 3.6 miles on the way up between these two station and 4.3 miles on the descent. I was bummed that we couldn’t go all the way to the summit as we were only about a 1.5 miles short. However my legs were happy that we didn’t have to go the extra distance for coming back down. I find it is much easier to climb up than it is to go down. I would rather climb up something two times in a row than go down it once.

Our stopping point on the trail.

During the climb down, the clouds parted and the sun came out for a little bit. It was rather surreal to be up above the clouds looking down at them. We couldn’t see very far around us as it was pretty steep, but we did get a good view of the switchbacks that were taking us down. From Station 8.5 to 8, you take the exact same trail down, but then it splits. The switchbacks continue until just above Station 6 where the trails meet up again.

At Station 6 we gave our survival kits back because none of us wanted to carry them around after we were off the mountain. The hike back from station 6 to 5 seemed way longer than any of us remembered. It wasn’t difficult in comparison to the rest of it, just long. Upon arriving at Station 5, it was crawling with people. It was like being in a completely different place from the morning when we left. There were dozens of tour buses full of people up there to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. Just like the previous day, the clouds parted for a short period of time, and we were able to the top of the mountain.

 

We didn’t linger at Station 5 for very long. Our timing worked out pretty perfectly with the bus schedule. We only had to wait about 15 minutes and we were close enough to the front that we got a seat. I’m pretty sure I would have just waited the extra hour for the next bus in order to get a seat after 9ish hours of hiking. The four of us took the back row of the bus and made room for another couple we had seen on the mountainside to squeeze in with us. As Scott said, “We know you deserve a seat!”

We got back to our first hotel and asked them to call a taxi to take us to our next room. Lynsey and I had originally tried to book a Ryokan or traditional Japanese lodging. However, none of them made it through our price filters because they were either too much or already booked. So instead, we booked a traditional Japanese room with a ‘tatami’ floor. To say that Scott was less than impressed with this decision was a bit of an understatement. There are no traditional beds in these types of rooms, just thin futons, or mattresses, which are easily foldable. I have to admit that I was rather shocked by our room too. I thought we were at least getting a little cabin and not just a room in a hostel. Apparently I was rather confused while booking some of our accommodation here in Japan!

After dinner, Danna, Lynsey, and I attempted to find a nearby onsen that we got a discount to go to for staying at K’s House. We were armed with a map and a name. The only thing was that the name on the hotel’s sign that contained the onsen was only in Japanese, and we were armed with only an English name. We went back to our hostel to ask how to get there when we found out that the name was not in English. I was already really tired and could feel myself getting cranky. I parted ways with Danna and Lynsey and just went up to our room to have a shower and go to sleep. I think everyone was so tired from our day on Mt. Fuji that it really didn’t matter that we were sleeping on the futons. To be quite honest the thin mattresses on the floor are not that much harder than the regular mattresses we’ve been sleeping on this entire trip. Scott definitely disagrees with me on this matter.

All in all, it was a great day to visit Mt. Fuji and hike up it. We had fairly great weather, and we did get to see the top of the mountain after we had descended. We all made it up and down safely without any injuries.