Wherever You'll Go

I caught my first glimpse of the iconic snow capped Mt. Fuji on the Shinkansen to Kyoto almost 2 years ago. From that moment, I hoped one day to watch the sunrise from the top like thousands do every year. I didn’t expect to be back so soon, but when my work asked if I could go to Tokyo in August it was an easy yes. Everyone said it would be so hot and not a great time to go but I had an ulterior motive. Fuji can only be hiked in July and August, for non technical hikers like myself, when it isn’t snow covered. So, I packed my boots and headed to Japan. I read everything I could about Fuji but the weather was the determinant. I was staying in Tokyo for almost 3 weeks so I hoped there would be a good weather window. The weather was actually quite nice, so I planned to go on a Sunday to Monday, in hopes that there would be slightly less pilgrims than a Saturday. There were still thousands of people, but I was able to have a few moments to myself when traffic started to thin around the 7th station. Fujisan is broken into 10 stations, and most people start at the last bus stop at the 5th station.

    After all my research I almost did a night hike, but because I was by myself and not super functional when I don’t sleep, I opted for the overnight mountain hut version that most people take. The mountain huts are quite expensive for what they are, which is emergency shelters. I paid about $65 for a sleeping bag and no meals. But this sleeping bag was out of the wind, so probably worth it.

It only took me four hours to get to the hut via the popular Yoshida trail. I thought it would be 5-6 so I was surprised when I came up a switch back and there I was at Tomoekan, my hut at the 8th station. Since it was only 5pm I had some time to relax. I watched an amazing sunset and tried to sleep. At 10pm I still wasn’t asleep so I walked outside and watched a spectacular lightening storm in the clouds straight ahead. When I got back to Tokyo, I heard they had a wild thunderstorm. I think I finally slept a couple hours before my alarm went off at 2am. A lot of people were already geared up, but I lolly gagged because the trail sign said it was only 80 minutes to the top, and sunrise was at 5:15am.

Well that was almost a big mistake! As I stepped out of the hut, I joined the queue of hikers. We’d walk a few steps and stop, the traffic jam on the single track started to make me nervous. This was taking a very long time. Although it was probably good for the altitude acclimation. The terrain varied from smooth volcanic dirt to variable rocks and boulders that required scrambling on all fours. The path itself was well marked but required paying attention, we were all still just navigating by the light of our headlamps.

At 4:45am, I finally crossed the last torii gate that signaled the summit. That last 80 minutes actually took over two hours! The sky was just firing up and the excitement was palpable. I found a spot to sit and take pictures, and give thanks.
After a while I walked the trail along the summit which took me to the highest point on Fuji and I saw the full moon setting. It was exactly what I wanted it to be.

But I had a bus to catch so I headed down. Ok, so this was actually the hard part. The switchbacks are steep, and the volcanic dirt rocks are like a slip and slide, but not in a good way. The gravity pull is hard on your feet and people were falling all around me, including myself, even with trekking poles. While it was windy and cold at the top, maybe in the 40s, it quickly warmed up. Maybe also because I was doing a slight jog downhill. I stopped a couple times to remove layers but otherwise tried to keep moving. 30 seconds after I stopped to remove my jacket, I fell for the third time and cut up my arm and hand. I looked like I fought a cat, but with no first-aid to be found, I just kept going. Another note, water is quite precious on the mountain, so I was pretty dirty and now bleeding.

Finally close to the 6th station it started to flatten out a bit. I walked into the helmet rental hut and showed them my arm and said “Band-aid?”. They put some antiseptic on me (which is what I really wanted since I was covered in dust) and bandaged me up. I was happy again.

I cruised into the 5th station, the start of this trailhead, after 2.5 hours. There was just enough time to eat some well earned Mt. Fuji stamped pancakes, change into shorts (it was probably in the 70s) and head to the bus stop.
As I’m getting on the bus, it’s a 2.5hr trip back to Tokyo, a guy walks by wearing a Jack’s Generic shirt, a local Austin triathlon. And of course he’s from Austin but living in Tokyo now! Most of the people I’d seen in Fuji were Asians, but I wasn’t so surprised to see an Austinite, it’s a small world after all.