Climbing Fuji-san!

About two weekends ago now we climbed Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan. We only really decided the week before that we were going to do it, so we spent the few evenings before getting everything we needed. We received lots of advice on what we needed to take, things like a headtorch (because we were climbing at night), gloves (in case we wanted to grab onto the rocks on the way up) and lots of layers of clothing! We also got a rain mac just in case the our fears were realised and it started raining...

So on Saturday afternoon, 5 of us got on the train and made our way to Fujinomiya, the town where we would catch the bus up to the mountain. We were pretty eager at this point, we had plenty of snacks packed (a bar of dairy milk was the highlight, it tasted GREAT halfway up the mountain). We got to Fujinomiya to get the bus and that's when the nerves started to kick in!! We spotted a poster which showed the route to the top...it looked long. But the bus soon arrived and it was no going back!!

The map

The bus took us to the 5th station (2,400 metres above sea level) and the journey up was beautiful, we drove through forests and as we got higher the roads got narrower but the views also got more spectacular. As soon as we stepped off the bus we noticed, in our shorts and t-shirts, that it was already colder. We made our way to the station where there was a shop, a restaurant and a couple of vending machines (of course- this is Japan) selling hot and cold drinks. So we had a quick drink, put on a few more layers, the head torch as it was already dark and bought a walking stick! One consultation of a map later and we were ready to go.

The first leg to the 6th station was only 20 minutes and it was a relatively gentle incline so when we got there we were like, yeah, we can do this, easy, while I was secretly worried about when it was going to get really hard. It got progressively worse. The terrain got a bit more challenging and by the time we got to the new 7th station (there are two 7th stations, which is irritating because you walk for an hour but feel like you haven't made any progress), there was a strong, bitterly cold wind that just made you want to curl up and find a bed! Unfortunately there was no shelter so we huddled for warmth as a group to have a rest (at that point we were ahead of ourselves in terms of time so decided to stay put for a while). One of our group was also feeling the effects of the altitude and had been feeling nauseous for nearly the whole climb, amazingly she struggled on. 

The glittering lights of the city below us.

Although it was still so cold for the last couple of stages, the summit was getting closer and closer so there was a clear goal. I was very lucky in that I didn't suffer with any altitude sickness but I could definitely feel the difference in the air. It was so much thinner and I became out of breath so much quicker than normal, it was bizarre! It had been fairly busy the whole way up but when it came to the last stage it got very congested on the path. We were queuing to reach the top. So it felt a bit longer than it probably actually was but finally we had made it!! And we were just in time to find a good spot to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful and I don't think anymore words would do it justice, i've tried with pictures! Turns out we were incredibly lucky because we went to get a hot drink, came out and clouds had descended. Couldn't see a thing! There was only one option now- down!! 

All the way up I kept thinking, oh geez this is bad but on the way down it is going to be so slippy, we're going to have to take it so slow. I had really psyched myself up for a difficult hike down, but luckily it wasn't too bad. It certainly took a little while and it did get boring but the end was in sight. All in all we worked out that we had spent 22 hours travelling to and climbing the mountain! Madness!! I'm so glad I did it but it was difficult, not so much the climb itself but the weather. It was just so cold and impossible to warm up. But something definitely ticked off the 'To do in Japan' list. I also appreciated my futon so much more that Sunday night.   

Definitely worth it.