Fuji?!?!? Who would climb that? It's above the clouds!!!

So the Fuji climb! This is a post I've been meaning to do for a week. I think I've needed this entire time to recover!!

Fuji is a very important mountain in Japan. Many artists have depicted it, and it's well known throughout the world. It's shape is absolutely beautiful. It extends beyond the clouds into the heavens.

I climbed at night, and didn't notice until daytime as I descended that the actual mountain is pretty ugly!

Now don't get me wrong, Fuji has a lot to offer. It has beautiful views, really incredible lava rock of all sorts of colors such as reds, purples, and browns, and many friendly posts on the way up and down offering a square of tatami to sip a bowl of soup on. But as mountains go, it's not like there were incredible trees or thngs to look at on the way, but just rock. It is a volcano, which I often forget. (Thankfully it is dormant).

We started climbing at night (all 40 JETS, mostly newbies) in order to reach the summit by sunrise. On the way up Paul and I met many people we already new, and one we hadn't met, Katie. A group of us ended up sticking together by the 6th or 7th station, which was nice. Ok, so Fuji has 10 stations. People start at the fifth, and the summit is the tenth. There are other mini stations along the way as well. You can rest, go to the bathroom, or buy food at them. You can't throw out any trash anywhere on the mountain though, so you are stuck carrying empty water bottles with you the entire route down.

The beginning part of the climb was very difficult, since we were just getting used to the lack of oxygen. We had to stop very frequently in order to catch our breath. I've never felt my heart beat so fast! Between the 7th and 8th station it got easier as our bodies adjusted, but it was time for some hard core climbing. The climbing was either up steep stone paths on on loose rocks/gravel so it was incredibly hard to climb up without sliding all over the place.

By the time we got to the eigth station we were stuck in a line! There seemed to be a million people on the mountain and we couldn't budge. It was a blessing in disguise at first, because we got to slow down and rest, but then it got really annoying since sunrise was nearing and we just wanted to get to the summit. Finally, we decided that a station between the eigth and the top would be good enough to see the sunrise. And check it out, it was beautiful:



So we chilled near the top of the mountain and ate some soup and warmed up as the sun rose. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was a sunrise above the clouds. It was so beautiful.

After we felt rested we continued to the top, to be met with yet more lines!



It took forever to get to the top because of this. Despite our fatigue, Paul, Katie, and I dodged around people to the top. Still, by the time we reached the top we only had 10 minutes to enjoy the summit!



But of course this is time enough to take pics! This one is one Paul took of me and Katie. Check out how the mountain is above the clouds!!

Then the descent came.

I thought the decsent would be easy, but I thought wrong! I had been climbing since 9pm the night before, and it was 7am, so I was tired to start out with. And you can't simply walk down the mountain. You sorta have to slide down, since you are walking on loose bits of lava rock. It was very hard on the knees, and there was no relief from the sun. I would have taken a picture, but I was too preoccupied with how I would ever reach the land beneath the clouds again, much less make the bus on time!

However I did make it down. I was one of the last people to make it and the bus left right after I got there. However, not everyone made it to the summit, so I am happy I made it all the way. I definitely understand the old Japanese proverb now: "He who climbs mount Fuji once is wise, he who climbs twice is a fool." This phrase, to me, basically says that it is worth it to do it once, but that there is no reason to put yourself through all that to see the same thing twice! I'm glad I did it but I don't plan on climbing it again... ever. Sorry if anyone wanted to do this with me during a visit here. Forget about it! :)

In total, my climb clocked in at 13.5 hours, with a few short breaks included. How I ever got up and down again I don't know. But such sweet victory... :)