Mount Fuji or Bust

Since arriving in Japan in August of 2019, I have wanted to hike Mt. Fuji.  After moving from Okinawa to Yokota in June of 2020, I figured it would definitely happen ... and then, due to Covid, Mt. Fuji was closed during the short summer climbing season of 2020.  So when it was opened this summer, I told Jim that it was "now or never" since we are slated to move in June of 2022.  We targeted Labor Day weekend, not knowing what our actual schedule would be but hoping for a long weekend to recover if needed.  Originally we were planning on climbing Fuji-san with our friend Willie and his daughter Olivia, but due to travel restrictions and the current Covid policies, it was impossible for them to travel from Okinawa to join us. The kids thought that fact (and the unfavorable weather forecast) would deter us from actually going through with the climb, but of course, they should have known better.  

The weekend got off to a rough start, due to the girls having a long-haul trip to Misawa on Thursday and not arriving home until 1:00am on Sunday.  We decided to let them sleep until 9:30 and had hoped to be on the road by 11:00am. We did not make that 11:00am goal, but did find ourselves heading toward Fuji around noon ...  we weren't starting the trip on great footing.  The girls were exhausted from riding 10 hours on a bus, we left late, we had difficulty in navigating to the proper parking lot, and Jim was doing his best to try and crash by driving too fast on the tiny mountain roads.  We finally parked and began our ascent at ~ 1:30pm.  The only thing going for us at that moment was we were only hiking up to station 8 from station 5 to spend the night at the Taishikan Lodge.  We were under a time limit to arrive at the lodge before 5:00pm, so we really needed to get going.  The weather on the way up started out hazy and we encountered brief periods of rain but nothing that totally soaked us.  

All smiles at the bottom with our sticks

The kids wanted to see if they could ride these horses to the summit

We stopped at every station on the way up for a few minutes to drink some water and marvel at how the price of water/food/bathroom increased as did our elevation!  We also got our hiking sticks "stamped" at every opportunity.  Since the end of the climbing season was only a week away, some of the relief huts had already closed and therefore we missed some stamps - which were really more of a branding of our sticks then an actual ink stamp.  Kids were still in pretty good spirits and there wasn't much complaining.

When we arrived at our destination for the evening, Station 8, the kids were extremely ready to stop for the night.  As for me, I was ready to eat something warm and rest for a bit. 

The Sleeping Huts are built into the side of the mountain and are divided up into different sleeping sections.  I had been told stories of how some huts are really just big rooms where you can find yourself sleeping shoulder to shoulder with the other climbers.  I am not sure if we just lucked out and got individual sectioned-off sleeping mats or if this is how they handled COVID by adding the canvas in-between the individual sleeping areas.  But our sleeping accommodations were a welcome sight.  

To say that we slept would probably be an overstatement.  There were too many people moving around at all hours and different alarms and headlamps glaring in your face to get actual sleep, but it was nice to relax and catch your breath.  We got the kids up around 2:00am and were on the trail by 2:30 in order to try and make it to the summit before the sun rose. Everyone was fairly eager to get going.  It could have been just to escape the hut or maybe they figured the sooner we summit the sooner we descend and they could get back home.  Not sure it really matters.

Of course, everyone else wanted to get to the summit to see the sunrise too, so this last part of the trail was the most crowded by a long shot.  Not sure if you can really tell in this photo, but basically on certain parts of the trail you were in lock step with the people in front and back of you.  There was space to get off to the side to allow people to pass, but it was pretty crowded.  All in all this was my least favorite part of the hike.  Although, to be fair, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that it was dark, the terrain was more scrambling over rocks than "hiking" and oh yeah, did i mention it started out as sleet and then switched over to snow.  And the wind was blowing about 30 mph and temp was below freezing.  I can't speak for anyone else, but I never had the "I can't do this" moment.  I had several "Why am I still doing this" moments but those were mostly fleeting.  At one point Lilly observed, "this must be what hell feels like."

Thankfully, the sleet and snow didn't last very long and after it started getting lighter that made the rock scramble at least easier to deal with.  Also the "trail" widened up a bit so it was less a straight line and more of organized chaos to the top.

Here comes the sun!

Made it to the Shisas and the Tori Gate!

After we got to the top and caught our breath, we checked out the crater that was left the last time Fuji erupted way back in 1707.  We briefly considered hiking down into the bowl or even around the edge, but the kids were firmly against it and so we started our descent after hanging out at the top of Japan for about an hour.  

If the trip up the mountain could be described as scrambling over rocks, the trip down would be sinking through an ash (really smallish gravel) field.  I would not want to have to trek through this on the way up!  I think you could almost slide down the mountain if you had some type of sled!  We stopped several times to empty the rocks out of our shoes.  

We made it back to Station 5 in three hours.  The kids were ready to have some ramen and get home so they could collapse into their beds.  Jim was asked at work the next day if we had gotten a picture in front of some sign noting the absolute highest point of the summit.  Of course, that was probably the only sign that we didn't get a picture in front of.  Seems like that information would have been nice to know BEFORE we climbed.  He jokingly said we would have to do it again - or at least I am hoping he was joking. 

The rest of the month has been spent basically watching the girls play volleyball usually on the computer or phone since they haven't had a home game yet.  Finally we had two opportunities to watch them play in person.  These photos are not in any particular order of games, but just some shots of them in action.  Lilly is an outside hitter and Lucy plays on the back line.  She has expressed some interest in being a "libero" so we shall see what the rest of the season holds.   

When you are living on an Air Force Base and there is an Air Force Birthday Ball, you go!  Or at least that is what Jim says.  It was a great event, the room was spectacular, the food was good and best of all we were sitting with wonderful fun friends!  I even dusted off an Air Force blue gown for the occasion.  Seriously, the ball bar has risen.  Let's see if the Marines can top it.

The next weekend Jim and I decided to head over to Hakone to do a little exploring.  Sadly, we started our excursion later than we wanted to and by the time we got on the road the traffic was so bad on the expressway that we had to change our plans. So instead we decided to hike Mt Takao.  Once there we had the option to take the chair lift or the cable car up to the trailhead.   The line was shorter for the chair lift so we choose that. 

We stopped off and saw the monkeys at the monkey park.  Not sure if it was actually worth the price of admission, but how often do you get to have a pitstop that involves monkeys.  

The hike was mostly paved but there were some dirt paths and some steps leading to shrines along the way to the summit.  The weather was perfect.  The Japanese love to be outdoors and they generally seem to try to have a good time while being there.  I am not sure what these two guys were doing, but they sure seemed to be having fun.  

Once we reached the top we had stellar views of the surrounding area.  

Great shot of Fuji in the background

We opted for a different route down and we glad we did, otherwise we would have missed a suspension bridge and a waterfall!  We will definitely be back with the kids and perhaps Wesley later in the fall when the leaves are changing.