Mt. Fuji

Yesterday I finally was able to go do something exciting here in Japan! I went with a group from church to go hike Mt. Fuji. I know most of you are thinking, Whoa! Super Awesome!"  But let me say that it was very much a difficult and miserable experience and a day later I am still thinking about if getting to top was worth that difficulty and misery. I honestly don't know. I was not at all prepared for how physically difficult this trek would be. Once I broke down physically, I broke down emotionally too.

 

So the day began early by heading out to the mountain. The goal was to get on the trail by 6am.  The parking lots were already full of cars so we had to bus shuttle to the lodge and starting point.  We buddied up and bought our hiking sticks at the lodge before taking off. My partner was a woman named Lilia who had attempted to hike to the top twice before but was determined to make it this time.  I actually didn't have the goal to make it to the top. I just wanted to go as far as I could and then that would be fine. The rule was that at 1pm, we had to turn back no matter where we were on the trail. I was totally fine with that. We finally began walking at 7am.

 

 

Here is a view from the lodge located at the 5th Station.  This is about halfway up the mountain. You drive to this point and begin to hike. The clouds and other mountains in the surrounding area were so beautiful.

View of the mountain from the 5th station.  Looking at this now, I can't believe I actually hiked to the top.

 

Here I am about to start. I got my hiking stick which isn't required but kind of a cool traditional thing to do and you get to keep it as a suovenir. It cost $10 and I opted for the one that had the Japanese flag on it. Other options had bells dangling and flags with pictures of the mountain.  When you get to different checkpoints and stations you can pay $2 -$3 and they will burn an image onto your stick. It is kind of a fun way to track your journey. When you get to the top they stamp it with red ink.

Here I am above the 6th station. It took about a half hour to hike to 6th station and it was easy going. I had no idea how deceptive that would be. The next leg up to 7th station was much more steep. After 7th station it pretty much turned into rock climbing and was significantly more dangerous. I wore my U2 Elevation tour t-shirt for good luck. I was going to need it.

 

 

Lilia and I on our way to 7th Station. Check out those AWESOME clouds behind us!

 

On the trail walking to 7th station. The trail looked this way for a very short time. The rest of it was extremely rocky.

 

 

Beautiful clouds with the trail below. This is a view from the 7th station. The section between 6 and 7 wasn't too bad. It was definitely a workout though.

 

At each station, you can get a burned image on your hiking stick. This man is burning the first image onto my stick. The images can be a bit of a motivator. Each is different and you can try to collect them all as you walk to the top. I think I got all of them but two.

Pic of a "convenience store" at a station. They sell water, snacks, noodles, and oxygen bottles. I had water with me but you really need a lot so I bought probably 6 additional throughout the hike. You have to pay to use the bathrooms on the trails that are located at the stations. Some stations have huts where you can pay to stay the night and then continue your hike the next day.

 

Oops! My eyes are closed but there I am with my handy oxygen bottle which did come in handy. I started to get airsick at 8th station because I was getting a headache. Lilia gave me two Tylenol which solved the problem and I didn't have any breathing issues. Again, check out those awesome clouds in the background.

 

 Here I am on the way up to 8th station. Those rocks were a total pain to climb. There are lose stones all around and you have to be careful where you step. The rope that goes along the side is just to keep you on the path. You are not supposed to hold on for support but I found that I had to at times. There are some sections in this part that have stairs or more structured steps but they are very high so you continue to get a crazy workout.  About halfway up my legs were really starting to hurt.

 

View of the clouds from 8th station. The clouds were huge and poofy and so pretty. There were times when I was actually walking through clouds. It was really awesome to be at the same level as the clouds and even higher. Looking down onto them was really cool.

At Station 8.5 - I am so beat up at this point. The trail became much more steep and extremely difficult. We were actually in a cloud so we were getting wet. My legs were burning up and down and we had been hiking for 5 hours.  We made it to 9th station and I was absolutely miserable. I hurt so bad. It was 1pm and we were supposed to turn back. Lilia was determined to make it to the top no matter the time. One of the Scout leaders in our group told us we should be able to make it to the top by 2pm so to not worry about the time and it would be totally okay.  At this point I was totally okay with not going any further. I had only gotten to this point thanks to my ipod. One of the rules we had was to not leave your buddy. I really felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't leave my buddy but I didn't want to go on. Either way, it would be a problem.

 

More pretty clouds. :)

 

Right after station 9.5, I had a complete emotional break down. I was hurting so bad. I didn't want to keep going at all. I could totally see the summit and it wasn't far but still a good hour minimum away. It was 2pm and I had expected to be at the top by then. Everyone said it took 4-5 hours to climb to the top and 2-3 hours to go down.  Liars. Anyway, I was not in a good place. I was shaking and hurting and that was making me very emotional.  I cried for about five minutes and Lilia was awesome and sang some calming songs for me to help me get a grip. We kept going.  When we reached the shrine, I was happy and when I got to the summit just a few steps above, I broke down again and cried for about a minute.  I was pretty proud that I did make it to the top and I kept telling myself in my head how awesome it was that I could do hard things but I could not wait to get down. I was feeling miserable. I got my stick stamped and took a few pics and then headed back down with Lilia.

 

Summit of Mt. Fuji

 

Celebratory jumping shot. I am seriously amazed I was even able to jump.

 

Here is the volcano. Those are clouds, not steam, so no worries. I stole a red lava rock to keep as a souvenir. Because there were clouds and fog up at the summit there was no view for us. I really wanted to see how far we had come but we couldn't see anything.

 

 More pretty clouds on the way down.

 

 The trail going down was HORRIBLE!  One of the tips I got from a friend before the hike was to make sure my toe nails were trimmed. It was great advice. The trail was several miles of switchbacks on loose gravel and lava rock and it was so steep. My legs and feet were in total pain. I had a couple more breakdowns along the way. If I wasn't suffering so badly physically, then I would have been okay. The trail down was all loose gravel and very slippery. It wouldn't had been so bad if it was paved or the rocks were cleared away.

 

Water break. I did a great job staying hydrated. Remembering to eat was a bit harder. I know that sounds weird but you are literally so focused on climbing, hiking, walking and just getting to your destination you just don't think to eat too much. At least I didn't.

 

Not long after this, the sun began to go down. It was getting cloudy and foggy as well and we still had a long way to go before getting back to 5th station. I was freaking out pretty much the last two hours. I was in a horrible mood, I had pain shooting through my legs and feet and the only way down was to keep walking. The rain and dark made me feel even worse and more anxious about getting back. I had raingear but was still getting wet.

 

Near the end I was so physically and emotionally frustrated. The pain was significant through my legs, feet, and lower back (even though my pack was really light). I seriously was shedding tears the last two hours and all I wanted was to get off that damn mountain, get in the car, and get home. As we were heading down, there were many people just starting to hike up to the top. Honestly I think they are crazy to hike that terrain in the dark and in the rain.  

 

The trail down was worse than the trail up - completely taxing on your entire body because it was so steep and you are walking on loose lava rock the entire time.  Seriously, Mt. Fuji is not the safest place. Lilia was super awesome about trying to talk to me about things and help me stay calm to keep my mind off the pain and trail. She really was super sweet. I told her we were bonded as sisters for life because of experiencing this together.

 

I got back home at 10pm and I was so happy to be back. I popped some advil pm, took a super hot shower, soaked my legs, threw on a bit of icy hot and went to sleep. Surprisingly, I was not as sore the next day as I though I might be.

 

Below is a pic of my hiking stick with the burned stamps I got at all the stations.

 

I will NEVER hike Fuji again.  If I go back I will hike to 7th station and then be done with it. It took 12 1/2 hours to complete. People told me it was difficult in places but really the entire trail is extremely difficult from 7th Station and up and back down. Even people who were in far better shape than me, struggled up the mountain. Unfortunately the feelings of pain and misery seem to be stronger than the feeling of accomplishment of having reached the top. Maybe I will feel differently about it in a few days. I can't even really say that I am glad that I did it. I know I should be glad and happy and feel very proud. I did learn that I can still do hard and difficult things and that I am stronger than I think I am. I think those lessons were good for me.