Climbing Mount Fuji

Have you ever wanted to climb Mount Fuji? I did. In my head, I had this notion that climbing it was going to be awe-inspiring. I knew that it would be tough, but I was going to make it up to the summit and stand tall with a sense of accomplishment, snap awesome photos of the breathtaking sunrise, and then go on my merry way.

Right? Not quite. lol Let me explain.

Mount Fuji is Japan's highest mountain, standing at about 12,390 ft. That's above clouds and fairly high. When I went skydiving last year, I had jumped out of the plane at 10,000 ft, so I knew that if I conquered Fuji, I would be even higher than when I had skydived, and not only that, but I would've climbed up there myself rather than riding on a plane to reach those heights. In short, it was going to be great!

My husband and I were vacationing in Japan and left the Mount Fuji climb for the end of our trip. We had read many articles, blogs, and pamphlets on climbing Fuji, so we felt ready. We set off for the Fuji area on June 30th in order to climb it on the night of July 1st, which is opening day of climbing season.

The recommended way to climb Fuji is to start off in the afternoon around 1 or 2pm and climb until night time. Then pay to sleep and rest in one of the huts along the way and wake up around 2 in the morning to climb the rest of the way to the summit in time for the sunrise. Our plan, however, was to climb Mount Fuji all in one night and make it to the summit by dawn. I dare say, that may not have been the wisest decision, but we were short on time and didn't feel like spending a lot of money to sleep in a hut. So we took a bus to the 5th station around 9pm and set off on the trail at 9:30pm.

We chose to tackle the most often traveled route, which is the Kawaguchi-Yoshida trail. Being that we were climbing at night, it was nice to have other climbers around. It wasn't crowded at all until we got to the top, but having some climbers around meant less darkness and more of a camaraderie experience. This trail (as I'm sure is the same with the others) has stations with little shops along the way where you can buy food, supplies, and use the restroom, albeit for a fee.

How hard was the climb? Well, I consider my husband and I fairly fit. The physical act of climbing itself is not very strenuous. But when you're above clouds, the air is thin with a lack of oxygen. I found breathing to be the most difficult part. Despite going at a slow to moderate pace, we still experienced mountain sickness and were breathing hard with heart thumping away as if we were running a race. Soon we both developed headaches from the altitude and lack of oxygen. Luckily for my husband that was all he had to endure, but for me, I also experienced nausea. We had to buy oxygen in a can when we stopped at one of the stations. As soon as I breathed in the oxygen, I could feel the headache and nausea dissipate, and we were able to push on up the mountain with breaks every now and then to breath in more oxygen from the can.

As for proper clothing and footwear, we were pretty well-prepared. From the readings we had done on Fuji prior to the climb, we knew that there would be a huge temperature difference to deal with. At the 5th station where we started off, it was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. By the time we reached the summit, it had dropped to 30 degrees. There was snow, wind, and rain up there as well. We dressed in layers. At the bottom, I wore just my workout tights and a t-shirt. As we ascended and temperatures dropped, I layered on more clothes, so that by the time I got to the top, I was wearing 3 shirts, a rain-proof jacket, 3 pants, hat, gloves, and hand and foot warmers.

I saw lots of people wearing tennis shoes and that works too, but we rented hiking boots, which was great for ankle support for the climb down. It was about a 45 degree slope the whole way down on loose lava gravel and bigger rocks. Easy to turn an ankle. The bad thing about the rental boots was that they weren't broken into very well yet. I got huge, deep blisters on the back of my foot. I had to deal with that for much of the entire climb. I took a picture of my bursted, raw blisters and posted it on Facebook. It grossed out a lot of people, so I won't share the photo on here.

We also each wore a head lamp, which I would highly suggest. There are many steep parts, and you need your hands free to grab onto rocks and hoist yourself up. Plus, when you're so tired and worn out, the last thing you want is to have to hold a flashlight in your hands. Additionally, we each carried a backpack with water, food, and clothes.

To reach the top, it took us 8 hours. We got there, saw the orange streaks of light beginning to appear, positioned ourselves and our cameras, and snapped some photos of the sunrise. We rested up there for about 30 minutes. Since it was very early in the climbing season, many of the shops at the summit were still closed. There's a post office up there too for sending post cards out with the special Mount Fuji postmark, but that was still closed as well. I went in search of a toilet but found none to be open, so we began our descent down the mountain.

To reach the bottom was another 4 hours on a different path. Let me tell you that this was probably worse than the climb up. Why? Because it was the same monotonous slip and slide motion the whole way down. It was also daytime, and at a high altitude, the sun beats down on you more intensely.

Another thing... remember when I said I couldn't find a toilet up on the summit? Yes, well, on the way down, there were also absolutely no restrooms whatsoever for hours. I'm not kidding when I say my bladder was about to explode. After 2 hours, I was finally at my wits' end. As we were on a dry, barren, and steep mountain top with nothing around but lava gravel, there was literally nowhere for me to go hide behind to do my business either. So finally I had my husband block me with our backpacks and his body, and I just squatted right there on the path and peed. I've never in my life done something like that before, and I hope to never do it again. lol But hey, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Perhaps another reason why going down seemed so much worse was because we had been physically climbing the mountain for what seemed like forever. We were operating on very little sleep and were exhausted, dirty, hungry, and sweaty. It is not a far stretch to say that we were beginning to hate the world and everybody in it, including ourselves. Many times, I questioned myself, "Why the hell am I doing this?!" At other times, I would kick a rock and hate it for being there to trip me up and make me slip. How dare that rock! lol

All in all, the total time it took to conquer Mount Fuji: 12 hours straight. That's the most difficult and longest stretch of physical activity I've ever done.

If you were to ask me about my Fuji experience then or even a week afterwards, I would've described it as akin to torture, and that I would never wish it on my worst enemy. lol  Ask me now and I'm much more appreciative of it.

So was it worth it? I guess I'll give it a resounding yes. Below are photos. :)

The line of climbers in the dark of night, each making their way up Mt Fuji.

The first indication of the dawn breaking: an orange glow stretching far and wide across the horizon.

Dawn on Mt Fuji

My husband gazing at the sunrise.

Lone huts amidst a sea of clouds on Mt Fuji.

This photo gives an idea of the terrain on the way down the mountain: loose lava rocks.

After 2 hours of descent, we were finally almost level with the clouds. We also began to see vegetation. Signs of life! I was so happy.

On the way down, there was really nowhere to rest, no shops, benches, restrooms, or anything for the longest time. People just rested anywhere they could find a spot that wasn't too slanted. Here we are resting on the side of the path like homeless people.

Although the sunrise was a beautiful sight, I found the sweeping expanse of clouds below to be more captivating. Just the idea that I was walking around higher than clouds...it's pretty amazing.

So yes, I can now say that I've climbed Mount Fuji, but will I ever do it again? Heck no! lol But that is now another item I can cross off my bucket list. :)