Mount Fuji Gallery can be found here:
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f349/Captain_Stu/Japan/Mount%20Fuji/
...or click on any Mt. Fuji picture.
Saturday morning I gave Irina a ring to confirm it was all going ahead. Half of me was thinking "she'll probably be too busy and call it off", the other Half was thinking "I'm not ready, shall I call it off". But neither of us called it off and after waiting inside Shinjuku Station (reportedly the busiest station in the world) for an hour I finally met Irina and her friend (a fellow Bulgian and a judge) we finally set off.
Two trains and a bus ride later we were at Fuji-san Go-gome. The fifth of ten stations placed at regular intervals up the side of the mountain. Only proper hardcore hikers and/or idiots start from the base. Most people just want to pop up and down and say they've done it.
We set of on the climb at about 9pm. The idea is to climb overnight and watch the famous Japanese sunrise from the summit. Torches in hand we marched off, the path actually going downhill for about half an hour which was quite confusing.
The distance from Go-gome to the 3776m high peak is about 1.5km in height, which sounds pretty much like taking the scenic route to the post office, but in terms of walking/climbing the distance is closer to 13km. The path zig-zags up the mountain which makes the climb take longer but also makes it possible. You couldn't go up in a straight line unless you were supposed to be saving the world instead.
The first few kilometers were just like walking up a steep, rocky slope and being unfit as I am I was already thinking of turning around and patting myself on he back for being a good sport. My mouth was constantly dry and I was drinking water every five minutes and this was just the beginning.
After the a while I started thinking to myself 'why do they call it "climbing" the mountain if all you do is walk? About ten minutes later my question was answered. Finally some real climbing. The rocks got bigger and path disappeared and it was looking more like being on a mountain. This was actually my favourite part. Being forced to use your hands as well means that you can share the exertion between four limbs and not just the legs. I was actually having fun here rather than gasping for more water and praying for another rest.
Around about the 3000ft point, the climbing phase came to an end and the walking resumed, but it wasn't so bad because the path was narrower and more people trying to funnel into it meant that it was impossimble to just march up the hill. It was like a giant queue for the great post-office in the sky.
At about 4-5ish (I forgot to make a note of the time) the sky to the East started to show signs of brightening, and we knew we wouldn't make it to the top before sunrise. After a little while we decided to get into a good position and wait for the spectacle to occur, then we would resume the last 100m or so to the top.
I took far too many pictures of the horizon getting slowly and slowly ever brighter. But eventually the sun popped into view over the black horizon and everybody cheered. It was a beautiful spectacle indeed and was definitely worth the climb. It wasn't long before it became just plain old sun-in-the-sky again and the rest of the view down the mountain was engulfed in clouds so we finished the climb and cracked open our beers at the top. It must have been about 6am when we reached the top (again, I forgot to make a note) so it took about nine hours to do. The websites and guide books normally say it takes six or seven hours, but maybe they don't include the time spent waiting in the giant queue.
We spent maybe two hours at the top. Had something to eat and admired the crater then we started the trek back down. Now, you'd think the downward journey would be easier than the climb, being like... downhill and all that. But it was horrible. Not fun at all. The path down wasn't so much a deathtrap, it was just fucking uncomfortable. Slightly too steep. Just enough to allow gravity the upper hand. You can't walk down normally, you have to stomp down and if you dared to start running, you'd never stop in time before being sent hurtling down the mountainside.
On top of this it was so dusty I was slipping and sliding and tripping (and triding?) for miles at a time. I'd do Mount Fuji again, but on the one condition that I have a helicopter waiting for me at the top to bring me back down again.
Less than halfway down all that water I'd been drinking suddenly decided it wanted out and I had to hold it in until the next station, but this was no easy task what with the constant stomping and falling over.
When I finally made it to the next station I found the WC and had to put 200 yen into a machine that would let me into the toilet. 200 yen? thats 80p. Even Charing Cross doesn't charge that much. Still, I coughed up and put the money in, but the gate wouldn't open. I must've done something wrong, but I don't know what could be so complicated about putting two coins in a machine and walking through. I wasn't about to cough up again, so I went and told Irina. She speaks Japanese and might've been able to get someone to help. But then I saw it. The gap under the turnstyle was just enough for one person, so I lunged under it.
"Excuuuuuse meeee!" Came a woman's voice. I explained to her that I'd just put 200 yen in the machine and the gate wouldn't open.
"No!" she said.
"Yeah!" I replied, perhaps a little too smugly.
"No!" She said again. How dare she just assume I was lying.
Now, I was tired, I was ratty, I'd just climbed up a mountain and was having a horrible return journey and I was this close to pissing myself. I and stormed out and swore at her, bruising my right bollock on the turnstyle as I went. I don't know if she understood my words, but I wasn't proud of them. This was the first time I've lost my cool in the three and a half months I've been in Japan and it was not my proudest moment.
I eventually spent a penny in a different WC which cost only 100 yen (40 pennies) and once the relief came flooding in I immediately felt like a complete idiot for losing my rag. The rest of the journey down was still horrible but it only took about 3 hours and by the time we reached Go-gome I was in good spirits again as we waited for the bus to take us home.
Mount Fuji Gallery can be found here:
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f349/Captain_Stu/Japan/Mount%20Fuji/
...or click on any Mt. Fuji picture.
Fuji Rock Festival Review is still in progess. I'll post it soon.
1 comments:
Good post.
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