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