Mt. Fuji a.k.a Mt. I will never climb you again!

This past Saturday, Mike and I and two other friends hiked up Mt. Fuji. Am I glad I did it? Yes. Will I ever do it again? NO! To start our glorious trip, we woke up at 1 am and met our bus by 2 am. On the way there, Mike got pulled over by the MPs for having a burnt out tail light and I dropped my bottle of Perrier which shattered in front of everyone in the parking lot. We hadn't even boarded the bus at this point! I only slept about three hours the night before and couldn't really sleep on the two hour bus ride so I was quite tired when we finally made it our starting point, 5th Station. For those of you that don't know a lot about Mt. Fuji, here's a few interesting facts: 

Mt. Fuji is a volcano. What? You didn't know that I hiked up a volcano? Well yes I did, but I'm glad to report that Miss Fuji continued to stay dormant during my hike. She's a beautiful volcano standing at 12,388 ft. tall. If your not good with numbers, imagine 8 Empire State buildings stacked on top of each other and you'll get an idea of how tall that is. On the day we climbed the mountain, it averaged around 43 degrees F and we were WAY up above the clouds. Since Mt. Fuji is only open to climbers July and August, around 200,00 people will attempt to climb it in those two months! There were seriously some points during our climb where we were waiting to climb up but hundreds of people were lined up before us. At the base of the mountain lies a vast forest known as Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), which coincidentally is also known as the world's second most popular suicide location...after the Golden Gate Bridge. I tried to look for ghosts on our way back but I didn't see any. Mt. Fuji is really beautiful at the base, with lots of trees and five lakes surround it. However, towards the top all you see are various forms of volcanic rocks and dirt. 

It took us a total of 7 1/2 hours to get to the summit. On our hike up, there were various huts lined along the trail with scruffy little Japanese men and women. This is where we stopped to eat some of our snacks or get our walking stick stamped. It cost a lot of yen to get our sticks stamped but it was really cool because each hut had a unique stamp that was burned onto the stick. These sticks really came in handy, especially when going down the mountain. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the potty. YUCKY is all I have to stay. Nastiness. And top that off with most of the toilets being holes in the ground where you have so squat over in order to do your business. Hey, I was under the impression that the Japanese specialized in fancy toilets and let me tell you these were NOT fancy. I mean, yeah we were on the side of a volcano so I shouldn't expect to have an automatic flush or toilet paper but it was still yucky to experience. When you were done with your business, there was this little ladle in a bucket of water and you poured water down that hole of nastiness to wash away the evidence. Ok enough of that, I'm getting grossed out. Even though it took us about half the time to get down (3 hours), it was really tough on our knees because the trail was SO steep and you were constantly stomping on the ground to keep your balance and contracting your quads and butt at the same time. Every time we took a break, our legs were literally shaking...wait maybe quivering is a more appropriate word. Combine that with sliding down volcanic rock and bracing yourself with walking stick and you'll get the idea. 

By the time we got to the bus, we were beyond relieved. I don't think any of us were proud of what we had just accomplished. Poor Mike realized once we got down that he was really burnt and it only got worse by the time we got home. Being in the direct sun for so long was not a good thing and the sun definitely won the battle and hit Mike on every spot where he forgot to apply sunscreen. What made it worse was that he took of his pants half-way up the hike where his bare white legs were exposed. His legs are no longer white but more of a deep red. 

I am proud that we had this experience as there is a curse that says if you don't climb Mt. Fuji when you live here, you are doomed to return. I don't foresee us moving back here but I didn't want to risk it. There's also a saying that goes, "He who climbs Mount Fuji is a wise man, he who climbs twice is a fool" and that totally makes sense. Never again will I set foot on that mountain! 

Matt pointing at the view. Notice here there are still green trees and plants. And it's only 5 am! 

Both boys looked in pretty good spirits at this point. I don't think either of them knew what was coming! 

Starting to get above the clouds. 

Hiking through some clouds. 

Walking through a Tori gate.

The sun is starting to peak out above the clouds.

Taking one of many breaks.

View of some huts ahead.

This was pretty much Mike's expression for the rest of the day.

There were rocks strategically placed on top of the roof of various huts so that they didn't blow away with the strong gusts of wind.

This is how our walking sticks got stamps burned into them.

A picture of my walking stick. 

Mostly volcanic rocks at this point.

Oh gosh, we were so tired. It was hard to smile.

All you could see below were clouds.

This is the last Tori gate symbolizing our arrival to the top!

Mike and I in front of the crater. Man oh man were we tired!