Jeff Climbs Mt. Fuji, Japan (part 2 of 2 with Videos)
Here is more about the adventures of climbing Mout Fuji in Japan with Tim from Neenah, WI in August 2005:
Tim used a headlamp and I had a large 2-D cell flashlight with a swivel head on it clipped to my outer waterproof garment. It may seem silly at first to be wearing cheap sunglasses while using a large flashlight at the same time. Tim's headlamp had an actual bulb, not an LED. I think the LED headlamps I've seen at stores recently would not be enough light to climb Mt. Fuji with sunglasses on to protect your eyes from the blowing volcanic dust.
You really need a waterproof outer garment/thick but lightweight jacket and a waterproof backpack. I used a regular school-type backpack from Royal Bag in Korea made of canvas-type material. This was insufficient so i put everything inside ziplock plastic baggies.
When you mix volcanic rock with water and blowing dust, it gets VERY SLIPPERY on the side of Mt. Fuji. My Timberland suede leather boots worked fine but came back all staind red with volcanic ash.
Definitely get a walking stick before your ascent. Just remember to remove the stupid jingle bells--the Japanese climbers in large groups would keep thier jingle bells on and it was very annoying to listen to bells for hours on end!
Definitely make reservations at one of the mountainside shack "hotels" if you plan to rest or at least get out of the cold/rain. (Part 2 of 2)
I guess since YouTube would not let me post the 13 minute 105 MB total video in one shot I had to break it up into two pieces.
NOTE: Video 2 of 2 at the bottom of this page. Video 1 of 2 at the bottom of the previous page.
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