blodeuedd

My account of the Conquest of Fujikins! Long and rambly, but... lots of pictures!

My biggest fear about the whole expedition was not so much that we'd get rained on, though I didn't relish that prospect, but that we'd be robbed of spectacular views by cloudy conditions. Since I really wanted to make the top for the sunrise, it would have been quite disappointing to not actually see the sun, eh?

I met Laura in Shinjuku on Saturday afternoon, and we shopped for last-minute supplies. Once again, Don Quixote proved to sell just about everything under the sun, and we met up with Emily for supper, our bags a bit heavier than they had been. I thought it would be nice to lounge around in a family restaurant until our departure time (hello, drink bar!), but though I knew I'd seen famiresu around Shinjuku station, I obviously was unable to spot one when I needed it. We ended up at Miami Garden, and when we left, guess what I spotted right around the corner. That's right, Saizeriya! A few more last minute supplies (Red Bull and chocolate covered almonds, in my case!) and we went off to find our bus. I didn't pay any attention to the road to the mountain, because Emily and I kept up a steady stream of conversation the whole way, but I was too excited to sleep, anyway.

We reached the 5th station and proceeded to get ready. I changed into my hiking boots, put on a long-sleeved t-shirt and got out jacket, headlamp, and rearranged my bag for maximum efficiency. I also bought postcards and a walking stick topped with a flag and a bell. Why the bell? Not sure... In Canada, I'd assume it was a way to ward off bears, but are there bears on Mt. Fuji? We were also confronted by the first of the pay toilets, these ones a bargain at Y50; the ones at the top are Y200 because, as you know, altitude inflates prices!

From the 5th to the 6th stations, the path was gentle and lined by trees. While it was cloudy at first, the sky gradually cleared and we could see more and more stars, more than I'd seen in a long, long time. The air was not really cold, though certainly chilly in comparison to Tokyo's, but the exercise kept me quite warm. In fact, as we made it further up, I took to putting my jacket on each time I stopped to rest, so that my sweat-drenched shirt would not chill me once I stopped moving. I tied the jacket back around my waist when we started off again.

At each station, and at some of the mountain huts, you can get your walking stick branded to prove that you did, in fact, make it that high.

Laura was having quite a bit of trouble, though the canned oxygen helped. Eventually, Emily and I forged on ahead, counting down the mountain huts between us and the summit.

Up!

For me, the hardest leg of the journey was between the 7th and 8th stations. Though the climbing itself wasn't too hard on my body, I did feel a little dizzy, especially if I stood up or leaned over too rapidly. Once we were past that, though, I was more or less fine, spurred on by the thought that if I wanted my summit sunrise, I had better get my ass in gear.

Since we were on the eastern side of the mountain, we could see the lights of Tokyo reflected on the sky, lightening the horizon long before the sun did. And above us and below, the string of bobbing headlamps was the only indication of all the other people on the mountain.

Some parts of the ascent were harder than others, though the parts that frustrated me the most were the ones where the narrow path created a bottleneck and we were forced to wait. Left to my own devices, I would certainly have made the top in plenty of time to watch the sunrise, but the glut of people prevented me from fulfilling my aim. Emily and I found a nice little spot by the side of the path, and I didn't feel too badly about it, considering that there was a large cloud hanging above the horizon that hid the sun from us anyway. Still... it was an incredible sight, clouds rolling in from the north like a foamy sea, and the smaller mountains to the east and south shrouded in misty clouds.

After a little while, we decided to get on with it and make the final push, passing under the torii near the top. Many people have wedged coins into the cracks in the wood, and this is one of my favourite pictures of the whole adventure.

And then, and then... we'd made it! Not to the highest point, but to the top of the trail.

I applied sunscreen to my face, because the sun was already quite hot, put my rain pants on so that my jeans wouldn't get dirty, and settled against the most uncomfortable stone wall in the world and had a glorious nap. I was probably only asleep for 45 minutes at most, but it felt like much longer. When I awoke, Laura had made it to the top, and I felt as though I could hike up another mountain.

I was on top of the world!

Since I really, really wanted to walk around the crater, and since Laura and Emily didn't want to miss our one o'clock bus, it was decided that they would start down right away and I would (hopefully) catch up with them later. After downing my second can of Red Bull, I set off at a merry pace, clockwise around the rim.

One of the most impressive things about the view was how high I was compared to everything else. I've been pretty high up in the Rockies and the Alps, but even if the air is clear, all you see around you are more Rockies or more Alps -- not that they aren't lovely, but you don't have the same feeling of looking down on the world.

I was looking for the post office (which apparently doesn't exist, or I completely missed it!), but I also wanted to stand on the actual highest piece of ground. Laura had read somewhere that it was supposed to take 90 minutes to walk around the crater, but seriously... it took me no more than an hour, and most of that was waiting in line to stand beside the pillar saying I was at the highest point in Japan!

Once back at the head of the trail, it was about 9:45. I had one last brand put on my walking stick, and started down.

When I was staying with A-L, I picked up one of the books she had lying around, Ni d'Ève ni d'Adam, a memoir of the author's time in Japan in the late 80s. She talked about climbing Mt. Fuji and how on the way down, she achieved a nearly mindless trance, half sliding, half bounding down the mountain, passing everyone and leaving dust in her wake. While I didn't manage to do it as fast as she did, I can understand exactly what she meant: if you try to stop your steps, it's much harder than just letting yourself slide on your heels, using your walking stick for balance. Everything was fine and dandy until I reached the 8th station and stopped to take a drink of water.

It's funny, you know. I cried looking up at the gorgeous starry sky during the night, and I cried looking out from the summit, but I didn't cry when I realised that during my swift descent, my wallet had fallen out of my bag. Perhaps it was the fatigue, after having been up and pushing myself up a mountain all night, perhaps it was the thought that it was sort of funny that of all the places to lose my wallet -- and I'd never lost anything half as important before this -- it happend on MOUNT FUJI. At any rate, I decided that the best thing to do would be to find the nearest hut or station and ask what I should do.

As luck would have it, the nearest building I could see was a bit further down, on the Subashiri trail, which was not the one I wanted to be on if I wanted to reach the same 5th station I'd started out from! I was told by the guy there that I had to hike back up to meet the proper trail, then go to the police station at the 6th station. I nearly succumbed to tears while trying to climb as fast as I could, but settled on resting for a minute to catch my breath and eat a Calorie Mate. Do you have any idea how hard those things are to swallow when your throat is parched?!

I made it back up to where the paths converged and set down along the correct one, falling back into my sliding-bounding rhythm. I wasn't too bothered by the dust coating me, but I could feel that I was doing serious damage to my toenails. Indeed, when I removed my hiking boots on the bus on the way home, I saw that I'd mostly killed one of them, and I remembered similar discomfort when descending Asahidake. Next time, I'll be sure to prepare little toe cushions like the ones I used to put in my pointe shoes!

I ended up overtaking Laura, who had hurt her foot and her hand, and we later caught up with Emily, who was waiting for us at... the 7th station? I can't remember. Anyway, I found some police officers at the Safety Centre at the 6th station, and filed a report about my missing wallet, which no one had turned in yet. None too surprising, as not a single person had passed me on the way down; I was also afraid that my wallet might have bounced off the path and would thus languish, unseen, until wind and rain and snow had completely destroyed it.

We were in the clouds by now and it was misting, not quite drizzling, but oh, how that mist felt cool on my overheated skin! I was sure my face had burned, but it turned out that it was my hands that had burned. I couldn't figure out why until I remembered that because I was wearing long sleeves, I hadn't put any sunscreen on my arms, and thus none on my hands. Also, holding onto the walking stick the whole way down, even though I alternated hands, left me with a burn on the back on my hand and on my forefingers and middle fingers. That only became apparent later, though, after we'd wiped the dust off ourselves as best we could with wet wipes and powder sheets.

I made it down in one piece! Streaked with dust, but generally intact.

We reached the 5th station in plenty of time for our bus, and I checked in at the koban there, to be told my wallet hadn't been turned in yet. I briefly considered taking a later bus, but what if no one brought back my wallet? I'd have wasted hours sitting around, grimy and sweaty and exhausted, and would have had to borrow even more money from my friends.

But, all's well that ends well, because halfway though our bus ride, I got a call from a nice policeman saying that someone had turned in my wallet, and that they would send it to me as soon as possible. I received it tonight, with everything in it, and the coins even taped together. Oh, Japan.

They say that if you climb Mt. Fuji twice, you're crazy... but I want to do it again. I didn't expect to feel the way I did when I reached the top, but that mix of exhilaration and awe was worth it. I felt as though I could do it all over again, right that instant! I am one quarter Austro-Bavarian, after all, so I guess that mountain blood has to count for something, right? So if anyone is interesting in going with me next year... ^.^