Sometimes I Like to Climb Mountains (Notes from Fuji-san), Part I

From August 9-10 I climbed Mt. Fuji with 2 friends, Amber and Jim. We left the 5th Station (2305m altitude) at about 8:45pm and planned to climb to the top (3776m) to see the sunrise. The trail up the mountain is puncuated by stations, with a hut at each station and scattered between. As promised to my family and friends in an email, I promised to write about climbing Fuji-san when I took a rest at each station. Those notes are in italics.

6th Station, 2390m
Was supposed to be 45, we took 30 - although I tend to walk about 10 paces behind. We saw fireworks somewhere from the path.

On the rough map of the mountain that was passed out to climbers just outside of the 5th Station were estimates of how long it should take to clear each section of the trail; the approximation from 5 to 6 was 45 minutes. Oh, we were all so excited and in good spirits at the beginning! We were walking pretty briskly and passing up a number of clusters of people and I asked if we should maybe pace ourselves but Amber was confident that our pace was fine. Well, we quickly fell into our own speeds, which basically meant that I walked a few minutes behind. At one point going up we were able to see fireworks in a distant or not-too-distant prefecture; we could also hear them! That was the first of many incredible things I saw on the mountain.

We started out making conversation as we went up but it didn't take long for my voice to falter as I concentrated on breathing excercises as a distraction to my physical discomfort and monotony of the trail (it hadn't gotten interesting yet). Amber and Jim, however, were up ahead singing '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,' and they even had a little bit of a syncopated rhythm/comedy routine going on. At one point I called out - save a bottle for me! I think that they gave me bottle 32.

7th Station, 2700m
Took maybe 40 mins. I partook in some singing - "ants: hurrah" then bits of Grease. We got sticks stamped. Gotta eat something. Jim is carrying my water, how nice! Man, this is difficult though. I hope I make it to the top!

The suggested time between 6 and 7 was 60 minutes, we took 40. Even with my slower pace we were making really good time. At some point after a rest I was able to keep pace with Amber and Jim for longer than usual, and we started singing 'the ants go marching...' It also served as sort of a marco-polo type excercise where Amber would start singing 'the ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah...' and then from behind I would call out - 'hurrah!' So, for anyone climbing around us I guess it was like surround sound singing.

At the 5th station you can buy sticks that can really help you as you climb up (and on the way down); there are places at each station to get them stamped, and of course at the top. We all got ours stamped; in fact, we treated the stamps like rounds of beer. Each time we got a stick stamped one person paid for all three, a different person at the next station, and so on. We also shared snacks and water. You can buy food, water, batteries, oxygen and anything else you might need at huts on the way up the mountain but it's mad expensive. I decided that to avoid that I would bring a 2L bottle of water and a 1.5L bottle of some ion-replacing sports drink (Pocari Sweat). Unfortunately I hadn't thought about how they would weigh me down. Jim was super nice though and took on my water bottle for me! This is also around when the trail started getting difficult - more steep and more of a challenge to decide where to put my feet. It was also between 6 and 7 that I saw a shooting star!!

8th Station, 3020m
It took is the full 100 mins - but this was the longest segment of the trip that we'll have! A couple of British girls we've run into are looking for their friends Lucia and Jenny. I guess they fell behind? So now it's pretty much just climbing rocks, sometimes holding onto the chain, sometimes going along with hands on rocks. The 3 of us stopped at one point and admired the view - we could see the clouds above the mountains. They were different shades of gray and purple - it really felt like being on top of the world. PS - this climbing is hard work!

This was the longest segment and we took the full amount of time, but it was also the most interesting. Fuji-san is a volcano so the terrain isn't vegetation; it's rock. From 7-8 the trail was pure rock, and we had to scurry, lunge and climb up the rocks. There were chains and poles on the side and poles scattered up the middle to help us out. At one point there was a big rock right in front of me - too big to step over, too smooth to provide a foothold, and too vertical to step on. For a couple of seconds I hesitated thinking, I'd have to be Spiderman to be able to stand on this rock! But then I noticed that I was right next to the chain, so I grabbed on and gave it all my weight so I could clear the rock. I certainly felt like a superhero but the source of my powers was no secret and neither were they mine alone.

The view was absolutely beautiful. At some point the three of us took a break and just sat on the side of the mountain admiring the night sky. I've never seen anything like it - the clouds were beautifully deep and variant shades of gray and purple. It took my breath away. And I really felt like I was on top of the world.

I think the break after 7-8 is when we also started taking oxygen. Sometime around the 7th Station I started feeling a little naseous and getting mild headaches; oxygen is supposed to take care of that. And, I'm not going to lie, there were a few 'puff puff pass' jokes.

9th (original 8th) Station, 3360m
I'm cold and tired. I just put on a 2nd pair of pants, hopefully when we get moving I'll warm up. We just sat to have or have been sitting down for a good sized break out of the wind. I ate a pb&b sandwich, had one ion juice and took a number of hits of o2. It's 2:15, sunrise is around 4? We have a lot of time. Oooh, but frankly right now I'd just really like to be sleeping. 1 more station!

I don't remember how long 8-9 was supposed to take, but by this time we had all added to our layers and were getting a little tired. We were getting up there on the mountain and in addition to the thinner, colder air it was getting windy. I said "one more station" but really that was the last station and the next would be the top! I don't remember much about this section except that I saw a second shooting star (!) things things had started to slow down a little. The Fuji sunrise is an incredibly popular destination and the mountain was really crowded. It provided for cool visuals - you could see all the headlights snaking ahead up the mountain, and headlights below zig-zagging up behind you. I wasn't making a whole lot of mental notes though; I wouldn't say I was miserable, but it was certainly unpleasant.