Every year, Mount Fuji is officially open for public from 01 July to 27 August. That is due to the unpredictable weather on top of the mountain and also to the fact that the submit is at its warmest during summer. Since my classes ends on the 20 Jul, I thought it would be good to go climbing the week after that, and also to beat the peak period of Aug..
After doing some research on the Net, I found out that most people will start climbing Mt Fuji in the evening and make their way up in time to see that sunrise.. The easiest and most popular route will be to start from Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）. I told my classmates of my intention and in the end, everyone wanted to climb Mt Fuji.. So the group consists of 6 guys (Oo-san, Shin-san, Liu-san, Song-san, Chua-san and Alex-san) and 3 gals (Kim-chan, Raila-chan and me).. Oo-san went to get the tickets for all of us at the Shinjuku Express Bus Terminal. One way to the Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）cost 2,600yen. Thus, to and fro tickets cost each of us 5,200yen..
The date we chose to make the attempt is 24 Jul. We planned to take our time climbing the mountain and enjoy the sceneries. So instead of the usual 6 hours ascend, we decided to stretch it to almost 10 hours.. Before the trip, I was worried about the weather, as rain or strong wind could either stopped us from reaching the top or make the climb much more difficult than it already is.. Luckily, the weather was on our side.. :)
In order to record clearly the progress made, I will break this attempt into segments for better narrations...
24 July, before 9am
Woke up before 7.30am.. Couldn't really sleep well, as I was thinking about all the possible scenarios that could happen along the climb.. Took a bath and did a final check on the things I was going to bring along.. Jackets and extra shirts among other things.. Brought along several boxes of chocolates and some bread.. Wanted to bring 2 litres of water but the bag was already quite heavy with all the clothes and food, so I've decided to buy water along the way up..
24 July, 9am-11am
Met up with Chua-san and we left the dorm at 9am. He wanted to get some hiking equipments and some food. Since he knew the location of the bus station, I decided to follow him.. Took the train to Shinjuku and got out at the West Exit. We reached the bus station around 9:40am. The hiking store was not opened yet. We went into one of the convenient stores and bought some breakfast.. We then went back to the bus station and waited for the rest to arrive. Soon, everyone arrived at the bus station, except Raila-chan. It was almost 10:45am and yet still no sign of her.. Then she called Alex-san's handphone and started asking for directions to the bus station.. After some frantic directing, I managed to guide her to the bus station and we all made it to the 10:55am bus to Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）. 老实说，对于这种态度我非常不认同。既然知道自己对车站的位置不清楚，那么就应该提早到达，而不是让其他早到的人担心或令大家赶不上巴士。。还好大伙都顺利地搭上了巴士。
24 July, 11am - 2pm
The journey to Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）took about 2.5 hours. Seating arrangement: Song-san = Kim-chan, Chuan-san = Liu-san, Shin-san = Raila-chan, Oo-san sat with a stranger. I was seated beside Alex-san and we talked a lot along the way.. However, as Raila-chan has motion sickness (which we only knew about at that moment), she took the seat at the front of the bus.. Most of the guys were asleep.. We reached Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）around 1:30pm.. We took lots of photos there... There are 4 big buildings, which are all selling souvenirs, food, drinks, walking sticks (called kongou-tue,金剛杖), oxygen cans, head-lights, etc. All their 2nd floor are restaurants.. The temperature at Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）is around 14 degree.
24 July, 2pm - 4:30pm
We decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants.. The prices are at least 50% more expensive but we don't have much of a choice.. I had a large bowl of beef bowl for 900yen. After eating, we went to look for a place to rest before making our way up.. We found some trees behind a shrine with stone tables and benches.. Oo-san went to take a short nap while the rest just chatted.. I went looking around the shrine, took some pictures and made some wishes.. :) I prayed for good weather and a smooth climb for everyone.. As everyone is feeling restless and ever-so-eager to start our conquest, we decided to start climbing at 4:30pm..
24 July, 4:30pm - 5pm
And so here we go!! The starting point for Kawaguchiko's 5th Station (河口湖の五合目）. There are horse rides available to take climbers up to the 7th Station, but it is quite expensive, at 12,000yen! The horses looked tired and weary.. and not to mention, fat! Maybe it's the climate that made them store more fats than the usual horses at the lower grounds.. I bought myself a walking stick (金剛杖) which cost 1,000yen. It has a blue ribbon and 2 bells. I took the bells and ribbon off cos the ringing of the bells was driving me nuts.. I planned to get a stamp at every hut/station that we pass-by.. although each stamp will cost me 200yen, I would still want to do it as a memento of my Mt Fuji trip.. :)
24 July, 5pm - 6pm
Maybe it was the adrenalin rush, everyone was walking fast.. We reached the 6th Station in about 30mins!! We were at least 20mins faster!! No one stopped at the 6th Station for a rest.. I kept asking everyone to slow down.. But the folks in front just kept walking.. Everyone seems to have forgotten that we wanted to enjoy the scenery and took more pictures than to just kept walking.. Everyone seems like to be racing, either against each other or against the time.. That's the feeling I have.. Between 5th and 6th Station, we can walk or hike.. From the 6th Station, the road up start to become steeper. As the air becomes thinner, each step become more difficult but still manageable..
24 July, 6pm - 9pm
Finally we reached the 7th Station slightly after 6pm.. By this time, the group has split into 2.. Oo-san, Chua-san, Kim-chan and Raila-chan was way in-front of us.. He 2nd group consists of Shin-san, Song-san, Liu-san, Alex-san and me. The 5 of us decided not to rush and take our time to ascend. We even had a bowl of Niku-Udon at one of the huts.. The sky is getting darker, but the scenery was still as beautiful.. Sometimes, we were among the clouds, sometimes we were above the clouds.. I was beginning to feel tired.. thus the constant resting between climbs was a good thing for me.. There are huts along the path, maybe every 50m or so.. The climb between huts has turned into a hand-and-leg affair. We can no longer walk.. We have to use our hands to pull ourselves up using the chains along the way. The 金剛杖 was really very helpful for me to push myself up.. Also, I had put a couple of stamps onto it..
24 July, 9pm - 12:30am
From 7th Station to 8th Station, we took about 3 hours. Normally people will take 2 hours to do that.. But all the constant resting and taking pictures really did help.. By the time we reached the 8th Station, the first group of 4 has already been there waiting for us for almost an hour.. According to Oo-san, Raila-chan almost gave up at the 7th Station, and he had to go back down to get her.. That's when he sprained his left ankle. It will take us about 3 hours to get to the submit from the 8th Station, thus everyone decided to take a longer rest at this Station. When I reached the 8th Station, the 2 shirts that I was wearing were soaked and I had to change out of them, else I will definitely get sick.. I changed into the only dry shirt left but I was still feeling very cold as the wind at the 8th Station was strong and very chilly. Luckily, Alex-san was kind enough to lent me his sweater.. (ありがとう Alex-san). There were lots of groups that passed us by at the 8th Station.. Many more were coming up.. Some of those groups who had reached earlier and had rested at the Huts are beginning to make their way up to the submit..
25 July, 12:30am - 2:30am
From the 8th Station, that's where the main torture starts.. I practically had to use my hands to pull myself up.. and with one hand holding the torchlight was not making things easier.. I should have bought a head-light which will free my hands to do more climbing.. but well, like the HK people like to say,"有早知，就没乞丐", which roughly can be translated to "If everyone has the benefit of hindsights, then there will not be any beggars left in the world".. But the one thing that I was glad that I did was to make the climb at my own pace.. I didn't really forced myself much. I just took my time making the ascend.. I let whomever that was behind me to pass in front of me so that I wouldn't felt pressured to quicken my pace. Step-by-step, I climbed... At around 1:20am, we made it up to the 3,250m.. We were getting nearer to the submit.. 在这时，队里其他两位女生已经快哭出来了。。 她们很想放弃。。而这时辛-san 也开始感到不舒服，头痛，气喘，胸口闷等疑是高山症的症状开始出现。所以大伙决定向下一站迈进，然后再决定如何。。毕竟每个人的体质不同，可承受的耐度有别，不可以拿来比较。
25 July, 2:30am - 4:05am
When we reached the 9th Station, we decided to stop Shin-san from continuing the climb up. He was having chest pain and headache.. We told him to wait for us at the 9th Station so we can come back for him on our way down. As the crowded is getting bigger, we decided to make the final march up the submit after a 10-min rest. The last segment of the climb was the most difficult and horrible. It was difficult because of the gradient and the length of the climb. Everyone had to hike/climb up for more than 1.5 hours for that 400m ascend.. It felt so near yet so far.. Add to that was the fact that the sunrise was only less than 2 hours away, everyone was eager to get to the submit to watch it.. Because of that, everyone start to cut into everyone's path.. imagine on a narrow path, where both sides are steep and rocky, any misstep will caused one to plunge hundreds if not thousands of meters down, people are cutting into each others' path.. All the politeness was nowhere to be seen there.. Everyone was pushing and jostling their way up.
Because of the difference in speed and fitness level, the group was once again separated.. Oo-san was with Raila-chan and Kim-chan, Liu-san and Song-san was with 2 Chinese girls they met along the hike, Alex-san and Chua-san was on their own, and so was I. I made my way slowly up the mountain, stopping and resting whenever I felt tired.. I wasn't competing with anyone except myself.. It was a real test of endurance for me.. The air was thin, my body was aching, my right knee was hurting.. Slowly but surely, meters after meters, finally I made it to the submit 5 minutes after 4am, alone..
Immediately, I went into the Asama Shrine to get my final stamp on my walking stick.. Paid 300yen for it.. Didn't really mind the price now.. Then I made my way to the hill on top of the submit to get a place to view the sunrise.. The wind up there was freaking cold but I didn't really care anymore.. I just wanted to get some photos of the sunrise that I have very much earned it, with my blood and sweat.. Found a stone where I could sit down and sat there to wait for the sunrise.. According to one of the hut owners we met along the way, the sun was supposed to rise around 4:28am.. So everyone up at the submit are looking for a good location to capture the first sunlight..
25 July, 4:05am - 7am
Slowly the sun started to peep through the clouds.. People started to clap.. Think everyone was feeling happy that they finally made it in time to watch the sunrise.. Took more than 20 photos of the sunrise.. It was really very beautiful.. It was well-worth the effort/sweat/blood... Other than that, I was too numb to feel any other emotions.. I lost touch with the rest of the group.. I hoped, at that time, everyone in the group did manage to see the sunrise.. Everyone in the group earned it...
After watching the sunrise, I went around the shops/stalls to look for the group... I found Alex-san, then Song-san, Liu-san and finally Chua-san.. Seems like only 5 out of the 9 group members made it to the submit.. We bought a can of hot cocoa (400yen for 30ml) and went into one of the shops to escape from the hallowing wind.. There is a crater at the higher point of the submit. I wanted to go the post office at the other end of the crater.. Based on the (wrong) information I've gotten from the internet, the post office opens at 8am (but in actual fact, the post office is open from 6am). So we need to kill time.. Everyone was tired and cold.. we just 'hide' at one of the shops and tried to sleep to pass time.. Song-san and Liu-san wasn't very keen on the Post Office trip, so they decided to go back down to the 9th Station to look for Shin-san and descent down the mountain slowly..
25 July, 7am - 9am
In the end, there was 3 of us left at the submit.. Agonizingly, we managed to wait until 7am.. We then slowly made our way to the other side of the crater.. I lead the way.. Chua-san was having a bad headache.. so was Alex-san.. think maybe the air or altitude is beginning to get to them.. As for me, surprisingly, I felt okay, no headache or whatever, except for muscle-ache on both my calves and my right knee's bruises..
After walking for 30min, we finally reached the post office.. I posted a couple of letters and bought a postcard (200yen) with the postal stamp of the Mt Fuji's post office.. The postage for sending letters remains the same, which came as a surprise, as almost everything on Mt Fuji cost at least 50% more.. Well, I'm not complaining... We wanted to take the other way back to the stops/stalls, but upon seeing the steep gradient of it, we decided to make our way back the same way we came..
25 July, 9:20am - 12:30pm
Around 9:20am, we decided to start descending.. And boy, what a torture the descending paths were.. The descending paths were made up of gravel and sands.. It was a major torture to my knees and calves.. Every step that I made downwards, I was feeling sharp pain up my calves, especially my left calf. I have never felt so much pain before.. But what choice do I have? I can't stop now.. Whatever goes up must come down.. There is no other choice but to bite the bullet (the pain) and climb down that mountain.. Even if I need to crawl, I would have to crawl down that mountain.. Luckily, Alex-san and Chua-san was there to give me encouragement.. Alex-san even carried my bag for me the last few sections of the descend.. I was slowly limbing down.. meter-by-meter.. After more than 3 hours, we finally made it back to the 5th Station...
Met the rest of the group there... Seemed like Oo-san's sprain ankle had prevented him from reaching the submit.. Kim-chan too decided to give up, and Raila-chan accompanied the 2 of them.. Oo-san had to be carried down the mountain by stretchers, and had to pay 20,000yen for that... Liu-san and Song-san found Shin-san at the 9th Station and come down together.. Oo-san managed to get an earlier bus ticket and left first at 1pm.. then Kim-chan and Raila-chan left at 2pm with exchanged tickets while the rest of us took the original 3pm bus back to Shinjuku...
By the time the bus reached Shinjuku around 5:20pm, I could barely bend my left knee and my right knee felt sored beyond words.. I had to limp my way to the train station and all the way back to the dorm...
So that's the story behind my 1st (and most probably last) trip up Mt Fuji...
Click here for more Mt Fuji Photos taken by myself..
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