Climbing Mt. Fuji 富士山に登る
I Just got back from climbing Mt. Fuji and wow what an experience!This is something you should definitely do if you ever have the chance. I’ve never seen views like that before. We were literally walking through the clouds.
You can only climb Fuji during the months of July and August. Since July is still rainy season, most people opt for August. Needless to say it was (like most of Japan) very crowded, even though it was a weekday.First we got on a bus in Tokyo, 3 hours later we were about 75% of the way up Mt. Fuji. From there we climbed on foot to the top.We started the trek at around noon. Hiked up the mountain for about 6 hours. We were in a group with a guide, so she made sure we took our time and rested often. That was key to not wearing ourselves out. We finished the day’s hike a few hundred meters from the peak. There we ate some (extremely overpriced) instant food and slept in a really crowded hut with about 30 other people. The night air that high is absolutely was freezing cold. We slept wearing all of our clothes and jackets.
We woke up around 1:00am to start the ascent to the peak. At that time it was pitch dark so using a flashlight was a must. One great thing about the climb was the unobstructed view of the stars. The night sky from Fuji was beautiful.It was amazing how crowded it had become. Everyone was rushing to the top so they wouldn’t miss out on the sunrise. I felt like I was in a huge line at an amusement park. Finally we arrived at the top, saw the sunrise, and it was all worth it. It was really cool to look down to watch the sunrise. Words can’t describe how beautiful it was.
From there we walked around the crater (Fuji is a volcano) which took about 90 minutes. It felt like we were on top of the world. It was like we were looking out of the window of an airplane.
Overall the climb wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. There were lots of older people and a few kids climbing it and most of them seemed ok. But now that it’s the day after my body is definitely feeling it.Click here to link to all of my photos