Here’s a somewhat late accounting of my trip last weekend to Mt. Fuji (I’ve been too busy working, catching up on email and just being lazy to post until now).

Executive summary: don’t do it during a typhoon (or otherwise raining), only do it at night if its a full moon.

[This one’s a long one, so click on the “read more” or whatnot below to read it.]

Last weekend I went with the Hiroshima chapter of Association for Japan Exchange & Teaching (AJET), a kinda social & activity group for regional JETs. The journey started with a local bus ride over to the neighboring town of Yoshida to catch a car ride from Melissa along with Geraldine & Jack to stay overnight at Hilary’s apartment in the city so we could make the 7am departure time. I hadn’t taken that bus route before and was more than a little shocked at how expensive it was. At (if I remember) �640, its more than taking the train all the way to Miyoshi (�480) and almost as expensive as Hiroshima (�820). In fact its �200 cheaper if I take the train part of the way?!? Supposedly there’s a cheaper and more direct bus, but I’ve yet to find it on the schedule.

Anyways, I tormented the rest with my snoring that night and we took a taxi over to the station the next morning. While we were on time, the bus wasn’t from its Kure pickup and we ended up departing about 30 minutes late. Along the way we made a stop to pick up another bunch from Fukuyama. All together there were a at-capacity 45 people onboard.

The bus was just a regular tour bus, not one designed for extended trips, so we were making stops every couple hours for restroom breaks and to unfold our legs. Well, that and apparently Japanese law requires drivers to take a break every two hours. It already was going to be a long ride, the stops made it a bit longer (even though they were quite welcome). Think the ride was in the neighborhood of 10 hours… I think that was the worst part of the trip for me in some ways, the ride over & back with my legs a bit cramped.

Finally we reached the Yoshida-guchi 5th station. The trip up the mountain has 10 stations along this route, the most common thing is to start at the 5th one. It is at 2100 meters (about 6900 feet). However you could only see around 10 meters when we arrived, the place was seriously socked in with fog. We went into one of the restaurant/gift shops to change into our gear and get something warm to eat. It wasn’t all that cold, but the dampness of the air certainly gave that impression. I also bought a few more supplies: a can of oxygen (just in case of altitude sickness), el cheap-o plastic rain-pants (since I’d forgotten to buy some before) and traditional hiking staff. Along the way as you reach each station you can have a brand put on your staff for �200.

I departed with a group lead by one of the JETs that had organized the trip and had been up the mountain before (making him a fool I guess by the old proverb “A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once, a fool does it twice”). We set out in a moderate rain and a little high lightning at around 7pm. The basic plan was to hike up the mountain at night and make it to the top in time to see what is said to be a beautiful sunrise. Well, that is if you can see it and there was some doubt whether we would with all the clouds.

I had brought a LED headlamp and I think this one of the most important items to bring if you’re doing the night trip. The trail is very rocky and has many depressions (small lakes if its raining) that can trip you up. If it is raining, like it was, you still might not see very far but that’s better than nothing. I expect that the best time to night hike would be on a clear night with a full moon. Probably be pretty cool, actually.

The other “gear” that I had brought were my new pair of hiking boots with a couple pairs of socks (which I wore most of the time at the language school a couple weeks ago to break in), a windbreaker with polartec & other layers underneath, jeans & long-johns, an insulated cap with fold-down ear covers and a pair of polartec gloves. I also wore my auto-tint glasses for the sun on the way back. In my backpack were a couple liters of water and a couple liters of sports drink, some Coke, far too many snacks, sunscreen & stuff, and a fairly complete change of clothes in a plastic bag.

It was the last of these, the change of clothes in a plastic bag, that I think that proved most useful. By time we had made it to the 7th station, we all were soaked to the bone, tired and starting to feel a little cold. During the day, the hut at the station charges �1000 (about $9) for an hours rest. But later in the evening, when we arrived, it charges the full night rate, �5000 (around $45). I’d at least know and planned for this possibility, so it wasn’t a problem. Most of us stumbled inside as the crew at the hut fired up their propane heaters so we could dry out our clothes and ourselves. Pretty soon everyone was standing around the heater in their long-johns, watching the steam come off their clothes as they dried out. Probably the greatest density of gaijin in Japan outside a dance club.

After a few hours most of the group decided that they had dried out enough and set back off. I was still feeling tired (actually inclined just to stay the night) and Dan-Dan was a little ill. So about four of us stayed a bit longer, then decided to give it a go. As soon as I saw the rock scramble that lay right after station 7, I bowed out, leaving my headlamp to the group to carry on. I’d been OK with it during the day & if it wasn’t wet, but the conditions then just weren’t something I felt comfortable with. Fortunately the lady at the hut let me back in (heck, I’d barely been gone long enough to go to the outhouse really). So I bedded down with the big room of the hut to myself, listening to the rain hit harder & harder on the roof, doing a little messaging on my cell phone (yes, there’s Docomo all they way up the mountain) and worrying about whether everyone else was OK while I was all warm & dry.

Next morning I woke up around 5:30, a bit after sunrise apparently. I gathered my stuff together and headed back down the ascending trail, meeting the occasional Japanese person. Somewhere around 6th station I found the descending trail and spent a bit of time chatting with a guy from Afghanistan who was here working for some British agency. We parted ways when I again met up with Dan-Dan’s group. We had a little confusion over direction, since at this point you can end up in entirely different prefectures depending on which trail you take! After a few phone calls & pointers from Japanese hikers, we had it sorted out. In fact, as the clouds moved the 5th station was visible a short distance away… ^_^;;

Upon returning, I caught up on how everyone else had faired. Most of the group that I had set out with reached 9th station before deciding it wasn’t worth going further (it gets much steeper for the final accent). They hung out there recovering from slight frostbite, drinking hot chocolate and caught a pretty sunrise above the clouds. A handful apparently made it to the top, amazingly enough. The group that left later than us apparently was turned back by the people at 6th station — they got a heavy “you’ll die” type warning. So they returned to 5th station and were given free crash space at the restaurant. Instead of freezing their soggy butts off, they played drinking games to the wee hours. Dunno, maybe they had the best time of all…

After recuperating, eating a bit more ramen, & buying some gift candy for the folks at my JHS (they were having the annual sports day as I was on the mountain, wish I could have been there instead in some ways) got back on the bus. We managed to depart just about on time after a brief panic about two missing people.

Next stop was an onsen (hot spring) & lunch in a neighboring town. The onsen was, well, underwhelming. With only one bath on the men’s side, it was much smaller than the sento (bathhouse) I had visited in Kyoto. Really it was a small sento on like the 5th floor of a building, just an onsen in name because of the natural water source. It had a little bit of a view of the lake through a window, but had to get up to see that even. The somewhat lukewarm bath itself was just large enough for maybe a dozen at a time, fortunately half the people decided to eat first. It was a bit like the onsen/sento in anime in that there was a tall wall with a gap at the top between the men’s & women’s areas. From the sound all the giggling & such, the ladies were having a good ole time.

Lunch afterwards was pretty decent, but nothing special. But since it was all included in the �15000 (about $136) for the trip, I guess I can’t complain too much. It felt good to soak & eat, even after the relatively limited ordeal I had.

After yet more gift shop window shopping, we started the 10 hour trip back. Went pretty well I guess after being so tired. Most people slept & I may have drowsed a little too (don’t sleep well on buses). Both ways we watched a few movies, many that I had never gotten around to watching before (listed at the moment in my recently watched list). Said goodbye to the Fukuyama folks along the way & finally made it into Hiroshima an hour ahead of schedule at 10pm. This was quite fortunate since it gave me enough time to catch my last train home instead of imposing on Melissa again (who I think had another person or two to take home too). Managed to stay awake on the train ride, crash at home & yet wake up on time to make it to work the next morning not too worse for wear. Amazing.

In retrospect, this was a bit of a learning experience for me. I hope to try again next summer, but there are a few things to improve upon. For one thing, I’m not nearly in the shape I used to be when I hiked in Arizona. I was huffing and puffing for more reasons than just the rain & altitude. Really need to get into better condition before doing this again.

Secondly, I think I’m getting a bit better gear, especially Gortex rain coat & pants. The cheapo pants I bought had ripped by time I got to 7th station. Boots did pretty well, but they need more breaking in. Waterproof gloves are good idea too. If it is raining, just wear the rain gear on the lower levels, the layers of polartec and such will just get wet or sweaty. Change into them when it does get cold and you’re probably above the rain.

Thirdly, I think I’ll go about it differently than this trip was planned. It would be nice if I can splurge and take the train instead of the bus. All those hours really wear on one. I figure on doing it in the mid-July to mid-August timeframe. This is during the offical climbing season, which had ended a week before our outing. Its more crowded then, but the weather is better. Instead of a night ascent, I think I’d prefer to head up during the late afternoon when I can actually see the trail, then stay overnight at a hut near the summit. Then, a few hours or so before sunrise, I can make the final ascent to see the sunrise. Day hiking this that time of year is supposedly rather hot, but I can deal with that more easily than the cold. Hmm, that and find a REAL onsen for afterwards…

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