I spent the last two days climbing Japan's most famous peak, Mt. Fuji. I don't consider myself special, lucky, or even wise, but I did enjoy the experience. At 3776 meters, it is a pretty high place to visit. However, about 200,000 people (30% foreigners?) climb the mountain each year, and this is during only about a two month window in the summer. Most of those people can not see a thing as they are walking or after they reach the top. The mount is famous for bad weather. Furthermore, it is not so pretty up there either. There are a lot of people which leads to a lot of garbage. There are no trees most of the way which makes the place seem rather barren and dry. Anyway, here is my story.
Once again I went with my loyal hiking club from Waseda. Zero Mt. Fuji is one of the annual events for the club (like the walk around Tokyo's Yamanote Line). Last year's expedition was rained out, so this year we had a couple returning for a second chance, as well as two new comers, and myself. Most people climb Mt. Fuji from the half-way point or Fifth Station. However, to make it more interesting our group climbs it from sea level (0 meters) to the top (3776 meters), hence the name, Zero Mt. Fuji.
To accomplish this great feat, we had to start at the Fuji City just south of Tokyo. After a little drinking party on Saturday night we all took the train out of the city around 11pm. We arrived at the station at about 2am. We walked down to the port, took a picture, and started our climb.
Luckily Mt. Fuji isn't terribly far from the sea. Just outside of town the road started to bend uphill. We stopped at a the last convenient mart for breakfast. After stocking up on snacks and Gatorade, we moved on. Compared to our usual hikes, we walked a lot of distance on the road. For this reason, they told me to wear good walking/running shoes instead of boots. Being the big Birkenstock fan that I am, I assumed that I could walk just as well in sandals as I could in sneakers.
My feet were killing me by the time we reached the camp ground about noon. We were carrying rather large backpacks with a tent, water, first aid kit, sleeping bag, etc for a full trip. Heavy. We were all exhausted, so we set up the tent, ate lunch, and took a nap.
We all woke up again around 11pm and began to prepare for the final push. We were only halfway there in terms of walking time. As far as altitude, we had only climbed about 1000 meters. This put us at about the 3rd Station, far below where most folks start. I put on my running shoes this time and we headed on up the road. There was a full moon and plenty of clouds. It was definitely good walking conditions. Many people walk at night so that they can arrive for the sunrise. I recommend this both for the calmness of the night and the satisfaction if it is clear enough to see the sun rise.
Personally, we arrived at the 5th Station in time for the sun. It was cool to see the shadow of Mt. Fuji on the ground below, but otherwise rather unimpressive. From the 5th Station on up, the land is rather barren and the trail rather crowded.
After coming to agreement that we would never climb the silly mountain again, we finally arrived at the peak. The bonus was that there is a lot to see. Mt. Fuji is a volcano, so there is a rather impressive crater in the middle. There is a trail that follows all the way around the lip. It is rather cold at the top, but there is lots of action. There is a ramen restaurant, hostel-type accommodations, souvenir shop, post office, shrine, and a weather station. It sounds like a waste to climb all the way up out of Tokyo just to find another crowded city, but somehow I managed to enjoy it. All of the buildings are made out of stone, which reminded me of Nepal. All of the people are in a good mood. We couldn't see anything below us but clouds, which created a sort of heaven-like atmosphere. I settled down and wrote a couple letters to old friends.
Climbing down is not so exciting. Where we had climbed about eighteen hours up, we went down in two. The trail was at just steep enough to make for a good jog. The thick lava sand was just enough cushion to keep the pace manageable. We bounded down to the 5th Station like a group of astronauts fleeing from some strange moon creature. We boarded the first shuttle back to Tokyo and arrived in time for the 9pm news: "Summer is here; Sixteen people died today on the mountains and beaches of Japan."
For other stories from the many people who have climbed Fuji, check out this search result from Infoseek. I highly recommend that you consider climbing Fuji from the bottom. The first 1500 meters through the town and forests is more beautiful tha n the last 1500 meters. Plus, you get a better appreciation for the size of the mountain if you actually climb it. Take lots of food, water, and some comfy shoes.