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It was pitch black outside when we woke up at 12:30. We got dressed, covered up in waterproof gear, and left 6th Station at 1 AM after eating some buns we bought from the station keepers earlier in the day.
Some hikers were leaving around the same time, so we followed them for about 5 minutes before realizing that they were going down the mountain. DOH! Actually, we were kind of nervous about doing the climb by ourselves because 1) it was raining pretty hard, 2) visibility was really bad (with a headlamp on I could barely see the ground, and 3) some of the trails had no barricades from the edge of the mountain. There were some points were the side of the mountain was just ash and loose rocks for huge distances. Yikes!
We turned around, hopped over a barricade (the mark of closure during off-season), and made it to 7th station by 2 AM, right on schedule. It was funny because we had the same 30 lbs of gear on us as going from 5th to 6th station, but it didn't seem as bad anymore. I think my body went into survival mode because I was so focused on finishing the climb.
At around 3 AM crossed the next station, which is confusingly named new 7th station (or 7 1/2 station). On the way up we passed several groups of local climbers who were coming back DOWN because they said it was too dangerous. Ghyrn and I felt good enough to keep going on, but decided that we'd turn back if it got a lot windier/wetter. By this time, our rain gear was soaked through, and every time we stopped for too long, we started getting cold. Numb hands/feet = bad.
When we got to the 8th station, which is over 3000 meters up, I started feeling nauseated. It might have been due to eating/sleeping too little or altitude thickness, but I seriously wasn't sure if I'd be good enough to finish the climb. We kept going, though, and came upon a hut.
All of the huts on the way up were supposed to be closed, but we were so wet that we checked the doors of each building we passed on the way up. Looking through the windows here we were pleasantly surprised by the moving flashlights and voices inside!
We slid the doors open quickly, and joined three climbers inside for a chance to dry off and have a snack break.
There were two older guys and one younger guy, and it was nice to see that other climbers were in the same boat as us. We wrenched the water out of our clothes (everything in my bag was soaked because of a hole in my rain cover), and shared our rice cracker/nut mix with the other climbers. I balled up to stay warm, and looked at all the messages left on the walls:
It was 4 AM at this point, and in order to see the sunrise at 5:30 AM, we'd have to leave now to finish the climb. It was mutually decided that we should warm up and wait for the weather to calm down a bit because we were still pretty wet and probably wouldn't see the sunrise through the clouds anyway :)
For the next half hour I sat in a stretcher (I forgot to mention that this was a first aid station at 8th station), and listened to the pounding rain and howling wind outside.
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The other climbers took off around 4:30, but we waited it out for another hour and saw the sunrise. From the hut:
That's what it looked like :D
Ghyrn's feet were still wet because his hiking boots were vented, so we started running in place to keep warm. At 6:10 we headed out to finish the climb.
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We made it past 9th and 9 1/2 station in 30 minute intervals, took a protein bar break, and reached the summit by 8 AM. WOOOOO. It was just above freezing at the top, so we took a few quick pictures in the clouds.
I had to pee really bad and all the restrooms were closed, so I peed near the shrine. I think the mountain will understand.
There wasn't really much to see aside from a postcard from a Turkish climber wedged into the closed post office at the summit, so we hiked around the crater at the top (Fuji is volcanic) and reached the Yoshida trail on the other side of the mountain in about 30 minutes. The 60 mph gales were nuts at the top! Ghyrn and I had to grip each other's wrists to not get blown off the mountain (or into the crater).
The Yoshida trail was much easier - Rather than a rock trail, it was mostly ash and dirt all the way down. The weather started getting slightly nicer after we passed 8th station on the way down, with pockets of sunshine intermixed with the rain. That meant that rainbows kept following us down!
I think our bodies started to leave survival mode at this point, and it was pretty nice chatting and snacking all the way down. The scenery was almost extraterrestrial, with shimmering green rocks intermixed with the red gravel and black ash. This prompted a nerdy discussion on copper and iron alloy nucleation that I'll leave out :)
Reaching the treeline, we pulled out cameras and started to take pictures with the blue skies we hadn't seen for a while.
Continuing the climb down, we reached the Yoshida 5th Station at around 12:30. We thought a bus would pick us up here to bring us to Shinjuku station near Tokyo, but found out from the keepers that it was another 30 minute uphill hike to the bus station! We were so beat at this point that we convinced them to take us into town. They were hesitant and one of them was a little gruff as we climbed into the back of the truck, but they drove us to the nearby mountain village where the bus stop actually is.
Our drivers brought us to a translator after they parked the truck, and we told them we had climbed over Fuji. It's normally not a bad climb, but the weather conditions were really bad and they were impressed that we made it. One of them cracked a big smile, and came over to share the rest of our snacks. Then we parted ways.
Sort of. I saw that they were waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant, so Ghyrn and I ran to a shop and got beers for them to celebrate. Climb completed!
After finishing the beers, we changed in a handicapped bathroom, and I tossed some sweats, a thermal, a scarf, and a beanie that I wouldn't need for the rest of the trip. Making room for souvenirs :D. I'm looking forward to the hot weather in Korea and Hong Kong!
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We had a bus to catch at 3 PM, so we stopped for a quick bite of udon and Fuji cakes.
As soon as we got on the bus, I fell right asleep, feeling the rumble of the tires on the road, and staring out at the peaceful mountainside :)
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