JULY 12
Our trip to Mt. Fuji begins early this Saturday
morning. Our bus wasn’t scheduled to leave until a quarter to seven, but I was
up well before six repacking my bag. I had finally decided which clothes would
be necessary for the excursion. If it was hot going up the mountain, light and
breathable clothing was best, but on the other hand, the peak of the mountain
would undoubtedly be cold.
I started off in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt,
lax enough for the bus ride, and also good for temperate weathers. In my bag I
had my under clothes, for when things got colder, a 2-liter bag of water, and a
couple snack bars. This was my white bag’s last journey, and it became very
full once I put in my wind breaker jacket, gloves and knit hat. I doubled
checked on my money and my ticket and I was out the door just after 6am to wait
for the others in front of the subway station. As I waited, I checked my
messages for any last minute notifications. It was good I did, because one of
the girls asked me to bring an extra roll of toilet paper, just in case. It was
almost time for us to meet, but I rushed back to my room and grabbed the toilet
paper anyway.
Then it was 6:15am, we started to walk towards the
station vigorously, but slightly hungry from not eating breakfast. In due
course, we stopped at a convenience store just outside the station to grab a
few last minute things. I figured a bag of granola would be a good compliment
to my supplies. However, at the time, I was fasting, and I still intended to
fast as long as I physically could. But if the climb became difficult, I had
supplies on hand to save me.
(Gateway Fujiyama, Kawaguchiko Station)
Four hours on the bus later, we arrived at Kawaguchiko,
but just the first stop on our trip. From there, we took another hour long bus
up to the 5th station. The 5th Station is more of a
tourist spot than anything. It’s the beginning or end for many people who chose
to visit Mt. Fuji. For us, it was just the beginning of our hike, though it was
halfway up the mountain. We stopped to go to the last free bathroom before
starting our climb. It seemed to be that any bathroom along the route would
cost a donation of 200 yen. That was the only option, however, as the trails
were clearly marked and there was no bushes for one to escape into. I took the
chance to throw on my long under pants, since I expected I would not have the
chance to before we reached the 8th station. The 8th station would be our
lodgings for the day, or rather for the end of
the day, and only for a few hours as we prepared to make the final climb.
(Our arrival at the 5th station and the view of Mt. Fuji from
the last free toilet.)
Refreshed and ready to take on Japan’s most famous
landmark, we approached the map at the trail head. The trail we were looking
for was marked in blue, and that trail was on the other side of the mountain.
We started off on the completely wrong side of the mountain. With no other
choice, we checked out the visitor center for information as to whether there
was a way to reach the other side of the mountain. We could go by bus, but that
would cost us a couple hours and almost twenty dollars. The only other option
we had was to change our lodging reservation. The clerks solved the matter for
us immediately, and THEN we were off to tackle the mountain.
The trail started off at a decline, which didn’t make
sense if we were climbing a mountain, but eventually it started to gradually
incline. Horses occasionally passed us on the trail as they escorted their
riders from the 5th to the 6th station. When we started our journey, we were
muddled amongst a large group of people. Several young men started to pass us
on the left, and I overheard one say to his friend, ‘Hey, do you speak
English?’
I couldn’t help but throw in my own comment to their
conversation, ‘Japanese is fine, too.’ That’s how we made our first
acquaintances of the day. We took a picture with them en route, but their pace
eventually put them farther ahead of us, into the woods.
The trail through the last bits of wood the trail was
nice solid Earth, put after that it became something more like gravel. The
trail began to wind in a gradually inclining zigzag. I tried to slow my pace
and stay with our little group, but as my legs warmed up, so did my pace. I
would end up walking ahead, and then waiting at the next turn, or the one after
that. I was in the zone, just me and the mountain. I would meet with the group
of young men, pass them and then they would in turn pass me by again as I
waited for the girl’s to come in sight. First it was ten minutes, then fifteen.
After we passed the 7th station together I told them that I would meet them at
our lodgings if I went too far ahead. That was when the trail became fun.
The gravel paths were a toll on my legs, but the other kind of path was
considerably more fun. Large rocks like a huge uneven staircase, roped off on
either side to bar against one’s wandering. I felt the strongest at those
points, strong and fast and free. It was on my way up one of these parts in the
trail that I passed a middle-aged woman who seemed to be having some troubles
breathing. I slowed my pace and watched her, and then I finally asked, ‘Are you
all right?’ She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and said she was. I
watched her a little longer as she rested, and once she finally pushed forward,
then I too continued on my path. After that, I ran into the group of young men
again as they had stopped to rest near one of the stations. We had a few
moments of ‘international relations’ and then I started on the next leg of the
trail.
(3.8 kilometers from the summit of
Mt. Fuji.)
At a quarter to 6, I reached our mountain hut. It
wasn’t as prehistoric as a hut sounds, but a nice suitable lodging. They even
sold snacks and ramen for three times the usual price. Now all I had to do was
wait for the others, so I sat on the bench across from the entrance. Time
passed, strangers passed, the young men from Kyoto University passed, and I
waited. Then, a woman sat next to me, and it was the same woman that I had
encountered on the trail. She seemed to be really tired, drained from the
climb. She told me it was her first time climbing Mt. Fuji, even though she had
lived in the nearby town all her life. When I asked her about her lodgings, she
told me that it was up near the 9th station. I was shocked. That would take at
least another hour, if not longer at her pace. I was worried whether or not she
could make it, but she insisted she was fine and soon got up to hit the trail
again.
(The trail was consistently packed with hikers.)
By now, I had been sitting in front of the lodging for
some time. The greeter took notice and approached me, asking about the
reservation. It was well past six, but the others had still not arrived. He
told me I could wait inside for them, but I chose to stay outside and wait. It
could have been any minute. In fact, it wasn’t until almost 6:30pm that they
arrived. You could see the wear in their faces as the crested the last of the
stairs to the station platform. I was only cold from sitting still.
We finally regrouped and entered the hut, paid our
lodging fee (about $100) and waited to be served dinner. I could understand why
many people would camp, or simply time their climb so that they wouldn’t have
to stop for a few hours. It was good that we had the chance to stop. The girls
were tired, and we were all hungry, and a bit cold. Though we weren’t the last
to arrive, we somehow ended up being the last to receive dinner, Japanese
curry. They also provided us with a bag of breakfast, also known as two rolls
and some jam. The sleeping arrangements were set in large rooms lined with
group bunks and sleeping bags. It wasn’t much for the price, but I suppose any
sort of shelter is a commodity up on top of a mountain. We lied down to sleep
sometime past seven, but I hardly slept a wink. I couldn’t sleep with the other
people in the room snoring, the lights outside blinking, and the voices of
various visitors as they passed the hut. I did the only sensible thing, and
that was to get out of bed.
First, I visited the bathroom, donated my 200 yen and
sat in the main room for a bit. There, one of the women who ran the hut, was
greeting people who came by for wood burnings. Each station provided its own
brand to mark one’s journey as they pursued the summit. Joy was carrying a
stick of her own. I understand it was a great souvenir, but I found it was an
obstacle when climbing. I talked with the woman briefly, and then sat in the
warm room with another guest who was having altitude sickness. I was surprised
that I felt perfectly fine at all. So I sat there, and waited, counting off the
time until it made sense to dress for the weather again and wake up the crew.
We planned to leave before all the other groups clogged up the trail, which
meant at 11:30pm it was time for round two.
(The great full moon watched over our last leg of the
journey.)
JULY 13
Our second round up the mountain started out in the
same fashion as the first, with a slow and gradual trail of gravel. I kept
catching myself ahead of the group, but I would wait. There was no question
that I could reach the summit, but I was here to do it with my best friends. I
paired myself up with Rachael, who trooped onward despite the then oxygen
levels. That’s why we had cans of oxygen with us. Joy also had something of a
cold, so she used the cans as well.
I sent Joy and Aurianne on ahead, as Rachael and I
brought up the rear. Maybe we had to rest at every turn of the trail, but we
never stopped. We gave light to the couple that decided to climb without
flashlights, and I met another couple from Australia. Then, as we were nearing
the peak, we passed a small crew of emergency men. They were surrounding a
woman who had collapsed on the trail from tiredness; it was the same woman who
I talked to only a few hours before. I hung back as Rachael went on,
eavesdropping on their conversation, she seemed all right, but I didn’t ask
until one of the men proceeded up the trail. He said she was all right, but
they were going to have someone help her to the nearest station and then
probably take her down to the 5th station. I felt empathy for her because she
tried so hard, but also there was a faint sense of disbelief that the one woman
I talked to would be that woman.
There had been many once in a lifetime encounters
during our climb. Now, all that lied before us was the final climb to the gates
of the mountain shrine. Joy and Aurianne would be waiting for us. We climbed in
the deepest dark of the night, guided only by our little lamps and a trail
occasionally lit with torches, two amongst many, from all over the world. We
met with the summit at half past three in the morning, a good hour before
sunrise. Joy and Aurianne were huddled together against the cold air, facing
the east horizon. Rachael quickly settled down with them. There was nothing to
do, but wait. I couldn’t sit still, so I went off in search for a bathroom to
no avail. After that I stayed standing so I could move around and stay warm in
some way. We should have brought some more aids against the wind.
Dawn started to peek over the horizon, causing
everyone to rise from their seats to take pictures. We took our pictures, too,
as daylight filled the air. There I was, July 13th, the dawn of my own
birthday, atop one of the world’s wonders. It was wonderful.
(We reached the summit! I couldn’t have done it without these amazing women. I can’t thank them enough for sharing this experience with me.)
Wonderful until the cold started to bite at us again.
We saw what was needed to be seen, and it was time to start our descent. Almost
the entire descent was more difficult than the ascent, in my opinion. Whether
that was because I had not gotten any sleep, and the very little rest that I
did receive over the past day hardly gave my legs a chance to recover, or if it
was just navigating down the loose gravel for hours… we also needed to go to
the bathroom. The entire way down that’s all we were thinking of.
Unfortunately, there was no place to go until we reached the 7th station. After
that, it was still hard on our legs, but we bore with it until we
returned to the 5th station.
(The view as we descended the mountain at first light was breathtaking.)
We had just enough energy to look at the souvenir stores
and grab some snacks before we boarded the bus back to Kawaguchiko. I had
successfully fasted on my way up and down the mountain, but once the trial
ended, I needed something to keep me awake and functioning. It was my birthday,
so until our bus back to Nagoya came back we loitered around the station, ate
lunch and a few sweets from the convenient store. For the first time, I was
knocked out on the bus, all the way back to Nagoya. The walk back to our
apartment was painful, and we were still half-asleep; it was the complete
opposite of our departure. We will sleep well tonight.
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