Watashi wa Fuji-san o ikimasu

The purple marks our prospective route up, around, and down Mount Fuji
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This weekend I am going to endeavour to climb Mount Fuji.  It is about a month and a half past the official climbing season and apparently it is really dangerous this time of year but I am confident in my hiking abilities.  All the other teachers have warned us strongly against going saying that we will die.  But these people are not experienced hikers and are just going off what they have heard and the tourist propaganda designed to dissuade the children and old ladies, who easily climb this mountain in the summer, from venturing up in inclimate weather.  Until last weekend most of the huts and shops on the mountain were open and it was considered completely safe to climb.  I don't think that as soon as October 1st hits, mother nature decides it is hiker hunting season or something.

Fuji's crater
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Myself and another teacher from my branch, Adam, are going up to Fujiyoshida (about 1 hour an 45 minutes and 1800 yen by train) to meet up with two teachers, Kelly and Lily, from that Unitas branch on Sunday morning.  (At least I think Adam is going.  I think the warnings put a scare into him and I won't be at all surprised if he backs out at the last minute).  We will be climbing on the Yoshida-guchi (Yoshida trail) from a shrine at the base called Sengen-jinja.  Most people climb from the 5th station (about 3/4 of the way up).  But I have heard from an experienced hiker who is in my adult class that the best part is the bottom half (he also assured me that as long as we are prepared and are not idiots, we will fine).  At the 5th station Lily will be taking the bus back down (She has been here for several months now and has summited Mount Fuji before) while the remaining three continue to the 6th station where we will stop for the night at one of the only two mountain huts that are still open.  The cost is 5000 yen and we can use toilets, buy food, etc. there as well.  We expect it will take us 6-7 hours to get from Sengen-jinja to the 6th station hut.

On Tuesday I will update this blog with some pictures. Either of a horrific, snowy near-death experience or a gorgeous view of the sunrise from the highest and most famous mountain in Japan.

Sunrise from Mount Fuji
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It is from the 5th station that the weather on the mountain can change quickly and become dangerous.  We are bringing lots of supplies with us and are preparing for the worst.  The last few days there has been a typhoon passing by so it has been really rainy, cold, and miserable.  But today is a beautiful day in Kofu and the weather forecast for the 5th station is good for this weekend, although it can be as much as 20 degrees colder on the summit and could be blizzarding this time of year (hence all the warnings that we are going to die).  A forecast of the summit is available only during the climbing season.  To see the weather forecast in Kawaguchi-ko (one of the 5th stations) go here: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/weather/city/kawaguchiko.htm.

Mount Fuji as seen from Fuji-Yoshida
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The next morning we will rise at around midnight in order to get to the summit for sunrise.  The first day will be a walk in the park compared to the steep ascent we will have to make in the pitch dark Monday morning.  Once we reach the top  (around 4 1/2 hours from the 6th station) we will do most of a one-hour loop around the crater of the volcano terminating at another shrine which doubles as a post office!!  There are lots more shops and huts on the summit so you can fill up on ramen, postcards, and tacky souvenirs.  This is all a bit kitch for me and I hope that the sense of having achieving something amazing is not diminished when I reach the top only to find an old lady selling noodle soup!  But such is life in Japan.  (By the way, apparently, there is some sort of track used for service purposes only that brings the old ladies and all of their wares to the top and back again and I am not even sure if these stores will be open at this time of year.  Here's hoping their not, although it would be kind of cool to send some postcards).

For the return trip we will hike down the Gotemba-guchi to the Gotemba 5th station.  On the way there is a sand slide that you can run down to make the descent a bit faster and a lot more fun.  The guidebook says that you only have to take a step every 3 or 4 meters.  It reports that the descent from the summit to the 5th station can time as little as 45 to 75 minutes!!

I am not so dilusional as to think that we will definitely make it to the summit and I will have no problem turning around if the weather is too bad, no matter how close we are to reaching the top.  But we will try and at the very least we will have a good hike to the 5th station and a story to tell when we get down.  We are well prepared and experienced hikers who are going into this with our eyes open and our senses sharp!

So, on Tuesday I will update this blog with some pictures.  Either of ahorrific, snowy near-death experience or a gorgeous view of the sunrise from the highest and most famous mountain in Japan.  Stay tuned!!