Dennis' Trip to Japan

Climbing Mt. Fuji.
August 25, 2000 

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Sure is dark on the bus at 3:30 AM, leaving Atsugi. First view of Mt. Fuji, still almost an hour away! Catching a glimps between the trees as we drive up to Station 5. "Station 5" is where we start. Station 1 is at the foot of the mountain, several hours worth of walking that we didn't have to do. We'll actually climb up the far side. Me with my climbing partner, Chris. We still have plenty of energy. That's about to change! Buying our walking staffs, about $15 each. The first 10 minutes have been easy. We're walking around to the far side of the mountain. At the top, center, is our first view of the actual trail up the mountain. Some of the walls built to keep the trail clear remind me of the Great Wall of China. The first waystation, getting the stamp burnt into my walking staff for $2. This is the second of 18 stations and 24 stamps. The first stamp is on the stick when purchased at Station 5. Wish I could use this horse. I can only see bits of the trail looking up through the clouds. I can finally see much of the trail, probably up to station 8. This will be some climb. We've been going for 30 minutes now. Looking down on some of the switchbacks... above the clods for now, around 8,500 ft. Chris is trying to stay upwind of me... a good idea, since the sushi we ate is making its presence known. I keep trying to remember that I should actually appear in some of the pictures. The easy trail ended for now. This is the first of many stretches of rock to climb accross. Interesting grafitti I found on the side of one of the waystations, from a visitor 10 years before me. It sure is nice to take short breaks at these stations! Many of the waystations offer sleeping arrangements - for a fee. Two people are sleeping there. The outhouses are an adventure! For 100 yen ($1) you can use them, and holding your breath is a good idea. Bring your own toilet paper. A few of the guys cheated... they hired the horses, they wouldn't say how much they paid, but it saved them 1-1/2 hours of walking. Looking back at one of the many rocky stretches, glad I wore good hiking boots! Just to get an idea, the mountain slope is about 45 degrees. Every once in awhile, I look back to check our progress. The first "gate" at Toriso.. These stairs were nice at times. Chris at the gate. Another welcome break. Back to rock climbing again! Way above the clouds now, can't even see where we started from anymore. This used to be a stream ov lava, where raining chunks of rock fell and stuck to the surface. Fascinating! Looks like this used to be a "lava tube" that was hollow for thousands of years. A close-up of the lava tube. Could be the surface of another planet... a rainbow of colors from ages past, when so may rocks and minerals used to be one molten explosion. A huge field of loose lava rock, walking across it could cause a landslide. Another view of the lava field with a wide-angle lens. The older couple we played tortoise-and-the-hare with. We pass them, they pass us. They made it to the top shortly after we did. No more stations from here to the summit. The summit is in sight at last! First, a side trip to the crater... It is huge!!! Even a wide-angle lens can't fit half of it in! More of the crater. Chris and I in front of the crater. Still can't believe how small I am compared to the crater. Without the wide-angle lens, it is still deep! Dennis at the summit. Chris at the summit. It's a long way down, it will end up taking 3 hours. So that's how they get supplies up and down the mountain, with tractors on the descent trail. The tractors go down backwards to keep from spilling their loads, but one wrong turn would be a disaster! This is a human "ox team" pulling a disabled girl in a "wheelchair" with huge tires. I wouldn't want their job! Finally made it down, 11-1/2 hours after we left. The main building at Station 5. Hundreds of people are just STARTING at 6:15 PM! They won't reach the top until after midnight, climbing in the dark with lights on their heads. Interesting thing I discovered... I drank these Gatorades on the mountain, then sealed them. The air at 12,000 ft is so thin that they collapsed in this lower elevation because of the difference in pressure! My walking staff. There were many flags to choose from, I liked this one with the map on it. You can also see some of the stamps burnt into it. A good souvineer.