Fuji-San July 31st

Until 10 minutes ago I was covered in sweat and dust. To sum up the trip the wise words below are really applicable.

He who climbs Fuji-san but once is a wise man;
he who climbs it twice is a fool.

-Japanese proverb

The trip started out early we were to meet at the Outdoor Recreation Center at 130-145 Saturday morning. I managed to get around 5 hours of sleep Friday night before waking up. After signing an all encompassing waiver they let people of the bus. Through no planning there were 5 people from work on the same trip. It made sense to hike up Fuji together. MWR had chartered two buses to make the track to Fuji. The trip takes somewhere between 3 and 4 hours. After everyone was on the bus they briefed us and told us to get some sleep. We woke up at a truck stop just prior to where the bus begins to climb to take you to the fifth station. Fuji is broken down into stations, most people start at a 5th station the top is the 10th station. The truck stop is basically like a UK rest stop, where it is operated by a company for monetary gain. There is some logic to this as it was very well kept.

We arrived at the Kawaguchiko fifth station at 4:45 and started the hike at 5:10. It is an interesting progression as you start walking down for around a mile before heading up the Mountain. After half an hour we had reached the sixth station that currently is nothing more than a closed building. Clouds engulfed Fuji for the majority of the day. It was nice as they were not rain clouds and added a cool breeze at times. On the downside it did take away some stunning views. The trade-off of SPF protection from the clouds is easily accepted as at the summit you are over two miles above sea level.

We reached the seventh station an hour after starting. The elevation is 2700 Meters and the 5th station sits at 2305 meters. The oxygen content of this air still high enough to move quickly. The terrain was also decent. At the 7th station hut two guys started talking to me about WSU. One was a foreign exchange student at WSU and the other at OSU. In total I saw 4 Cougars today on the mountain. The stations of Fuji are elevations set on routes. On the routes as you travel up you pass mountain huts. That will see you a variety of things from the standard bananas to the puzzling oxygen and beer. All of these huts have brands that they put onto your hiking stick for 200-300 Yen ($3-4). I collected all on my journey as I only want to make the trek once.

After the seventh station the terrain became more difficult you would have to use your hands to pull yourself up. I bought trekking polls to make this journey, they are amazing. My knees which have been bothering me were not a problem during the entire trip. The up is a lot easier than the down as I will go through.

Another thing that you notice when you get about 10,000 feet is that your muscles start to ache. A good sign that they lack oxygen. So often breaks were taken on the way up. It was amazing how much difference a 2 minute break could make. Your muscles felt fine and you had your breath. That was the most difficult part of the ascent is dealing with the lack of oxygen.

Staying hydrated is always a battle, but I had purchased a 3 Liter camelback last week. By the time we started our descent it was gone. Which is why I also packed an additional liter of liquid. An average person burns around 7000 Calories to hike up and down Fuji. To stay ahead of the curve you are snacking a lot, even when you don't think you need to. Part of the lack of appetite is the lack of oxygen, but to make it an enjoyable trip you have to eat.

Traveling with a big group can slow one down, but that can be a good thing as it can make sure that someone who would burn themselves out is kept in check. Also that the person who might not make it is given motivation to continue once things become difficult.

We reached the Eight station (3020 Meters) at 750. Per the schedule provided we were 2-3 hours ahead of schedule. At this station is where the one foot in front of the other policy started. It is amazing how crippling not having enough oxygen can be. Things that were normally easy became very difficult. We all took pain medication at this point because headaches are known to set in when you get much higher than the elevation.

The terrain between the eight station and the Original eight station was difficult. The Fuji-San hotel sits at 3360 Meters. To gain 340 Meters it took another hour. Which is still better than the 80 minutes that they give you on your trip guide. The important thing was to reach the Fuji-San motel before 11 or they would not let you go to the summit.

The Ninth station sits at 3600 meters. It was another hour before we reach this point. The two guys in better shape took off up to the summit and I hung back to make sure the other folks were making it okay. There were some interesting moments when you come around a corner and see no guard rail and a 700 foot drop. It gets your heart racing even more.

The final push to the summit was interesting, there were around 200 people in line getting their picture taken at the Torri gate which sits as you summit. So you were moving 2 feet every 20 to 30 seconds. I bypassed a lot of traffic and was able to reach the summit at 10:23. Total travel time of 5 hours and 13 minutes. I could have done it faster, but it is always good to look out for others well being.

The summit was interesting because it is littered with buildings. Lots and lots of stores selling you overpriced Fuji trinkets that you can buy for half the price at the airport. We walked over to the Post Office and left the summit around 12:00. It was at that point that everyone in our party save me was having horrendous headaches.

The nice thing about descending is that you have more pore with each succeeding step. The downside is the manner is which they make you travel. This was easily the most difficult portion of the trip. They are effectively slide fields. Everyone in the party save me fell at least once. The trekking polls made a huge difference. I would have fallen several times if not for the extra balance from the polls. That was 11,000 Yen well spent. I didn't get many pictures because there was a lot of fog and I was trying not to fall. It took the first group two hours and fifty minutes to get to the bottom with a good 15 minute rest to allow the stragglers to catch up. The second group arrived 10 minutes afterward.

The amazing thing was to see all the tour groups heading up, it was a solid line of people. Now the fun started we got dinner at an overpriced but decent restaurant. One person said the buses had moved to somewhere else. I decided to find where that was, turned out it was 10 spots down. Buses are the way to get to the fifth station as they make cars park between 1-5 miles away. We got changed and got on the buses. The instructions were very clear as to be at the buses at 5Pm. One women in the group was taken to the hospital with an ankle injury (later we found out that she had twisted it and was dehydrated). They other bus waited until they had taken her away and then left at 5:45. Two people on our bus decided it was a great time to not show up. Eventually they found them at 6:45. We stopped at another rest stop on the way back. This is to comply with the consecutive hours rule for bus drivers. We arrived back in Yokosuka around 10 PM. It was a very long day. I would suggest hiking Fuji to anyone who is interested, but know this, it is difficult and the way down is harder.

Fuji-San July 31st

Fuji Prep - July 30th

I finished packing and am getting some sleep before getting up at midnight to get to the pickup by 130. A very long day is starting very shortly. I have plenty of snacks and water. I will pick up a lunch tomorrow at 7-11 before heading out.

Fuji Prep July 30th

Rain commith - July 29th

Total and complete down pore walking into work today. Rain coat is great, but not so great when not coupled with rain pants. It continued the cycle of rain to calm several times during the day. Fortunately that ended before I went back to the hotel.

For dinner I tried a Yakitori place that I had seen on my last trip. It has more room to sit and is a little cheaper. It does not hurt that the Yakitori is also very good. Which is the key to any great restaurant, having good food. Afterwords I went to the Sakiya Food court to get the pancakes which are filled with custard. Still awesome. There was a little confusion as the entrance I normally would enter from has been locked down since my return. I found another one tonight though, order has been reestablished.

Rain July 29th

Angry Whopper - July 28th

The temperature and humidity dropped off today. Combined with the wind it was actually comfortable at times. For dinner I decided to take the plung and have an Angry Whopper. I went with the hottest version they would sell and it was pretty hot. I counted around 15 Jalapenos on the burger. Coupled with the hot sauce it turned my mouth into a sauna for a couple of minutes. The Coke Zero did nothing to help on that count, but what could one expect.

angry whopper july 28th

Tuesday - July 27th

The big excitement of the evening was going to the Mount Fuji safety brief. The room was packed out. Everyone going through MWR on base needs to attend one of the briefing sessions. There are currently 37 spots left for Saturday's trip. After you complete the brief you are handed a slip to allow you to sign up for the trip. MWR is closed on Wednesday's so a special trip will be made Thursday morning to sign up. I think I have everything that I will need to get up and back down. The mental aspect is one that I will find if I have it only during execution.

Tuesday July 27th

Back to Yokohama - July 26th

I met with a coworker and headed up to Yokohama after work. The first stop was back to Mont Bell. I found a shirt that is specific to that store that I just couldn't see not having in my collection. After that we walked to the Worldporter's mall on the other side of Minotomirai.

I wanted to get some night shots of Landmark and the surrounding buildings so I went to the roof to check the line. It was good so I decided after dinner I would head back. We ate at a Mexican restaurant named Salsa. Instead of tortilla chips they bring out tortillas and you go get your own salsa. They had them ranging from mild to burn your sinuses out. I sample the variety. The combo platter was much smaller than in the US but it turned out to be the right amount of food. During dinner there was a lighting storm that looked very impressive.

After dinner we headed up to the roof and got some pictures. Fortunately the lightning was done for the most part. This is good because I have no desire to ground that much energy and I am not yet ready to take nice pictures of lightning in action. It eventually stopped raining on the roof and we headed back to the train station. I got more pictures in the place where I have had good returns in the past. I played around with the rear flash feature. You get two successive flashes. The concept is that the light from the first flash is returning around the time that the second flash goes off. It turns into a light painting situation.

The train ride back was packed and I was able to make myself as small as possible to allow as many people on the train. A tripod is never your friend on a crowded train but I made it work.

Back to Yokohama - July 26th

Another Hot Sunday - July 25th

I have never slept better in a hotel than I did last night. I am mainly focusing on the insane amount of stress my body went through yesterday. Walking that many miles is tough under normal conditions. When the added bonus of oppressive heat comes in it sets a new standard. The navy uses different temperatures as gauges for the amount of activity one should do. Anything over 92 is suspended activity. From 10 to 6 it was over 92 yesterday, so lesson learned the hard way.

As a result I decided to scrap the plans for today and take it easy. I only made it 8 miles today. I started out breakfast at Starbucks with a Blueberry and Cream Scone. I then walked over to the JR station and caught the first train to Kita-Kamakura. This is one stop past Kamakura and it has several Temples right outside the station. I checked out Engaku-Ji which is one of Five main Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura. The grounds were very well kept. At times you can continue walking up to the top of the hill, but service was being held so all the monks were occupied. After I finished I started to head for Jochi-Ji, but waived off after realizing that it would not be a good thing to keep hiking around trails when the temperature is over 88. I decided to ride the train into Yokohama.

I spent more time exploring the Minato Mirai area. I was in search of a Mont Bell close to the station. After exploring for a while I found it. The shop did not open until 1030 so I decided to walk over to a park that I had not seen yet. Rinko park grounds were decently kept, but the fountain area was shut down. I headed back and got fitted for a pack and picked up trekking poles. Imagine skiing poles, except for hiking. I headed back to Yokosuka by taking the JR from Sakuragicho to Yokohama and switching to the KeiKu line. I was heading the right direction.

Once back I decided to take a nap that turned into another night of sleep. I had been hearing about an Indian restaurant called Delicious since I have been back. I decided tonight was the night to check it out. I had the garlic nan and spinach mutton. It was larger portion sizes than Nirvana, but I prefer the nan and curry. The one thing decidedly in Delicious's favor is that it is on the street level. No matter what Americans will not expect to look up or down to find an eating establishment. It takes some time for calibration.

Sunday July 25th

Super Tokyo Tour July 24th

A very long day started out very early. I met up with Bryan at the Yokosuka Chuo station at 550. The plan was simple, go do as much stuff as you can in one day in Tokyo. Several key places were put on the itinerary, but it would be a free flowing trip. The first thing on the list was the Tokyo Sky Tree.

Tokyo Sky Tree is now the largest structure in Japan. The current height is 398 Meters, the next closest structure is Tokyo Tower at 333 Meters. It is an interesting trip to get out to the location. From Yokosuka you just stay on the train after it turns into the Asakusa Line. It is the Seventh stop. From the station it is around a 10 minute walk to the base. It is all cordoned off currently to prevent any falling debris from hurting passers by. The aspect of the structure changes as it goes up, it is pretty interesting to see. The official open date will be sometime in 2012, so still a while before one can get some good shots out of one of the two observation levels it has.

The next stop was Asakusa for a quick trip. They have removed some of the covering over the shrine. I found out that they are installing Titanium shingles to save weight. From Asakusa we walked over to Kappabashi to see some kitchen shops. From Kappabashi we headed to Ueno and walked from the station to the lakes. The lakes are currently full of lily pads, which are sticking around 8 feet above the water. Impressive to see this lake full of them. From Ueno we went to Akihabara and had a Doughnut Plant Pineapple doughnut, very good.

We then headed back to Ueno and on towards Kashiwa. Kashiwa is around 30 minutes outside of Tokyo by train. The only reason for this end point is the fact that a Gyoza restaurant is hidden in one of the back ally's. There are around 50 different types of Gyoza. It was an interesting experience, I had my first Curry and Dessert Gyoza. The table next to us ordered the spicy gyoza, they bring it out and light it on fire. Interesting. After lunch it was time to start walking.

We arrived back at Tokyo station around 1500, the plan was to head to the Imperial Palace East Gardens and then to the War Museum. It took a little longer than expected we walked around the outskirts of the palace. Although this did lead to a guy coming up and telling us that he went to WSU in 2007. It was around 94 by the time we got into the gardens. We found the rest house in the grounds and sat there for a while. Then it was off to the War Museum. They have streamlined some of the exhibits, but some of the facts are not fully developed.

Once we were finished with the Museum it was on to Harajuku. We walked to Yoyogi and then caught the train to Harajuku. It was around 1700 by the time we arrived at the Meiji Shrine. It closed at 1820 so we moved with a purpose. Which worked out great until we came out another entrance and had to walk about 3/4 of the way from Yoyogi station to Harajuku. Once in Harajuku we walked around for about an hour looking for the UniQlo T-shirt store. Turns out we took a wrong turn. The store is interesting they have all of the current selection of T-Shirts in bottles on the wall. You pick out which one you want and you are off.

We stopped an ate dinner at TGI Friday's in Shibuya and then it was off to Tokyo Tower for some night shots. There were quiet a few people around the tower. The wait time to get to the second observation deck was 65 minutes. The way back was pretty easy we caught the train from near the tower to Daimon and got on the Asakusa line and found a seat. It was a long ride back the trained pulled into Yokosuka Chuo around 2252. A very long and hot day. Hard to say how many miles were walked but more than 14. Time to catch some sleep.

Super Tokyo Tour July 24th

Hot and Humid - July 23rd

Amazingly enough I managed to sleep until 5 am. That is pretty awesome, so I will have to try and repeat this same routine the next time I travel westward.

I had forgotten about the oppressive heat until I opened my door in the morning. It was like stepping into a heated room. The entire day it was extremely hot. The temperature at 1600 was 92 degrees F as we were walking out.

I decided to head back to Kamakura to see if the tree that had fallen in March was put back in place. Sadly the tree is no more, but just as Rock beats scissors so does wind beat tree. The city was fairly empty as we walked from the Shrine to the beach. The vacation season is upon Japan so the beach restaurants and bars were setup. It was interesting to see the makeshift city that has camped out for the month. On the way back to the train station I noticed that the same Hawaiian burger joint that I had gone to in Tokyo had a location in Kamakura. I had a Turkey Avocado Sandwich, that was pretty tasty. The next priority is to rest for the Tokyo Tour tomorrow.

July 23rd

Travel Fun - July 22nd

Another long travel day. I am currently entering hour number 24. The flight was uneventful save the fact that it was less than half full. I suppose that can be chalked up to the midweek travel. For about half of the way it looked like I might be able to catch the first bus to Yokosuka. We hit some turbulence and the arrival time got pushed back just outside the window where I could make it.

Faced with the decision of whither to wait for the bus or ride a train and switch. With the additional information that it was like an oven outside I decided to wait. The piece of information that I did not have was that all of the major roads were locked down to transport the North Korean spy to the airport. It took an extra half hour to get to Yokosuka. If I had taken the train I would have arrived an hour and a half earlier. Information for future travel.

It did lead to seeing the roads less traveled, so all was not lost. At the end of the ride I have never seen people escape the bus as quickly as they did. I met up with a coworker for dinner at Nirvana. Still very good and the three is just the right amount of spice to make you appreciate a nice warm day. A little unpacking and then the attempt to sleep.

Travel Day 7 22

Once More - July 21st

Japan in late July and early August can be described as many things. The one that I will focus on in this post is hot soup. Being from the Northwest makes one not like hot and humid weather. Currently the weather in Japan resides in both categories. Staying cool is not something to aspire too, staying hydrated is. At least I know that it will be shorts weather, so all is not lost.

One of the events which will occur over the weekend in Japan is that Gundam will turn 30. That is to say that it has barely hit its stride. This image below is from a wedding at the base of the 1:1 scale Gundam, crazy.



The lounge at the airport is always a nice way to start out a trip. As it is nice and quiet. Plus free WiFi that is decently fast is also appreciated. The flight is scheduled to take just under 10 hours to arrive at Narita, so another long day is already underway. I have been awake for five and a half hours thus far, hopefully I will be able to get some sleep on the plane. That really isn't the best expectation based on previous performance, but one can try.

It is the official season to climb Fuji-San right now so that will be one of my goals during this trip. Also there is a number of places in Tokyo which I have not visited. I should be able to pick up some of those in the evenings. It is impossible to prepare for the severe temperature and humidity difference, so one must drink as much water as possible. In addition to air travel not being conducive to staying hydrated, and it will be during the hottest portion of the day when I land. Will be an experience to remember, onward...