The climb to the highest point in Japan was
not an easy one. I am the kind of person who likes to be prepared for trips and
so I had spent hours reading blogs and watching Youtube videos about climbing
Mount Fuji. Yet, I was totally unprepared for what lay ahead! Many people had
told me that Fuji has been made easy for its climbers and that there is a clearly
marked path throughout. I had the impression that climbing from the 5th station
to the 10th would be like a walk in the park; a very steep and long walk in the
park. It was however considerably more than that!
First and foremost, let me clear out a few
things about Fuji.
1. There are four 5th stations each of
which is the starting point of one of the trails.
2. Fuji station, Shin Fuji station,
Fujinomiya station and Mount Fuji (Fuji San) station are all completely
different train stations! Make sure you know which one you need to get to and
plan accordingly.
We started at Kawaguchiko 5th station and
followed the Yoshida trail which makes its way up the north-east slopes of the
mountain. This is supposed to be the easiest trail of the four and has a lot of
mountain huts on it. Here are the details of our itinerary:
1. We took the JR Fujikyu bus from Tokyo
station to Kawaguchiko station
2. At Kawaguchiko station, we got a Retro
bus pass for \1300 yen (sold on-board) which allowed us unlimited travel in the
Saiko Lake, Kawaguchiko Lake and Aokigahara forest are for two days.
3. We walked on some trails inside
Aokigahara, exploring the ancient forest where the maximum number of suicides
in Japan takes place. It was interesting to see the twisted roots, moss covered
tree trunks and many caves that exist here, but we did not come across any
hanging corpses, skeletons, nooses, ghosts or anything eerie at all. After we
had seen enough of the Aokigahara forest to realize that the ghosts were afraid
of us, we went back to Kawaguchiko Station and bought the bus ticket to travel
up to Kawaguchiko 5th station for \1500 (one way)
We had a hearty tempura Udon at the station
cafeteria and took the 6:30 pm bus to Kawaguchiko 5th station.
4. At the 5th station we enjoyed some
amazing views, and put on some layers as the weather was much cooler here. We
also bought our pilgrim staffs and some hokkairo (stickers that warm up can be
placed within clothes to keep warm).
5. We enjoyed the setting sun and set off
on our climb at around 7 pm. Our plan was to reach the 8th station at about
10:30 pm. Rest for a while at a mountain hut and then set off to see the
sun-rise at around 2 am. Then we would start from the summit at 6:30 am and
descend by the Fujinomiya trail that come down the southern face of the
mountain. We would reach the Fujinomiya 5th station by 9:30 am, catch the bus
to Fuji station and take the train from there to Kyoto to reach home in time to
rest and recuperate for the next day.
Our plan was peachy; however, nothing went
according to plan!
The walk from the 5th station to the 6th
was short and easy so we were overjoyed to have reached it so fast! However, we
were not prepared. Here are the things that we were not prepared for:
1. A station is not just one point. There
are two or three 7th stations, four or five 8th stations, and a couple of 9th
stations.
2. You will not always be walking; there
will be crawling on all fours involved especially between the 7th and 8th stations.
3. The stations are not equally
distributed. 5th to 6th is very close. 6th to 7th is very far! 7th to 8th is
probably the most difficult especially in the dark. 8th to 9th is long and the
air is very thin up here so although you will be walking, you will be panting.
9th to 10 is freezing cold, windy, and if you have our luck, you might have to
face rain and zero visibility!
4. While
coming down the Fujinomiya trail, we had been told that it is really easy. It
was raining when we were descending and trail which is very rocky and has a lot
of gravel, was quite slippery. I lost my footing and sprained my ankle which
made the descent quite painful and very long.
I realize I have painted a very grave picture
of our Fuji trip. It wasn't all bad though! In fact, I enjoyed it immensely! So
carrying on in the bullet-ed fashion in which this post has been written here
are the highlights of our trip for me:
1. During our night climb, we could see the
sky full of stars above us, a trail of lights all along the mountain made by
climbers’ torches that connected us to a river of lights reaching right to the
sky, and the city lights spread beneath us like another sky below. It was
unlike anything I have ever experienced before and it is something I will never
forget.
2. When we reached the summit, it was
raining too heavily and was too cloudy for us to see the sunrise or the crater.
This was of course disappointing. However, when we stood on the ridge with the
steep slope of Fuji descending below us on one side and the steep slope of the
crater on the other side, and since clouds had descended in both slopes, it was
as if I was standing on a little patch of land, a tiny island floating in the
clouds! I couldn't see the world below me and the clouds were so dense that I
could forget that this patch of land was connected to the world below. It was a
surreal moment and one which cannot be captured on camera, but one that I will
be sure to visit in many of my dreams.
