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A Quest To The Top . . .

Fuji Travel Blog › entry 2 of 3 › view all entries

Days in and around Japan from 1999 until 2002.

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A Quest To The Top . . .

August 15, 2001

Mt Fuji from a distance

We hit the road at 4:30am. It was a long drive and the majority slept for the early part of the bus ride

Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m or 12,388 ft.

Upon reaching our destination, we stopped off at the 5th station. It has a trading post/visitor center with a restaurant and gift shop that sells the usual provisions. There were also walking sticks available for purchase. You can get a seal burnt into your stick at each station you pass. It gets costly so bring plenty of ¥. Each station also sells snacks and water. Closer to the top, they sell compressed oxygen canisters.

Closer to Mt Fuji

I went up with 3 other people. When we started our climb, it was still a bit chilly. It got hot when the sun came out then cold again as we neared the clouds. The terrain was hard to walk on so shoes with good traction are recommended. As we, gaijins, struggled with every step to get our footing, we were occasionally passed by little Japanese boys and old Japanese women who hiked with ease. Slowly it became more difficult to breath.

We eventually reached the summit of Mt Fuji. There were make shift beds to rest on outside. We met up with a few others in our group. It was breathtaking. It was a sense of accomplishment to make it to the top. I wanted, more than once, to just turn around and head back to the bus. Glad I didn't.

After resting, we decided to go back down.

Hiking Mt Fuji

This time there were only 2 of us on our descent. It started to rain and there were very few people around. It was a steep and slippery path. Well, it wasn't really a path. It was just a clearing to the bottom. Apparently we took the wrong trail. We ended up at a bus stop on the other side of Mt Fuji far from the visitor's center. At that bus stop were also two others from our group. There was also a man and his daughter who also happened to be returned to the same camp as us. So there we were, 6 foreigners digging for cash to pay for a bus ticket to the closest train station. We managed to catch the bus just in time. The train station that we went to was near Camp Fuji marine base.

After an early start, an exhausting climb and a confusing descent, we finally made it back home. The rest of the group didn't get back until much later than us. Getting lost was actually not bad. I was able to discover some new parts of Japan and I found out where Camp Fuji is located. It was a wonderful experience. My advice, bring lots of cash for emergencies. And those happen too often in Japan.

Mt Everest next