Mt. Fuji
The saga continues....
The Great Climb to the Top
of Japan - August 14th - 15th, 2000 |
That day we climbed for about
4 1/2 hours, until around 6:30 pm.
View between the 5th and
6th stations |
Of course, the beginning wasn't
too bad but the climb got very difficult.
View looking up the mountain
above the 6th station, above the tree line, around 2390 meters (7,841 feet) |
At times, we were using both
feet and both hands to climb the rocks.
View looking up the mountain
above the 7th station around 2700 meters (8,858 feet) |
We took a lot of breaks.
In some places where it was too steep to climb, there were some ropes to
use. And believe me, I used them!
View looking up the mountain
below the 8th station around 3020 meters (9,908 feet)
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Tom's Note: From here
we look like we were sitting on a mountain on the moon. The top of the
mountain really feels like another planet.
Tom's Note: Me feeling
the altitude.
We had planned to sleep for
a few hours that night at the 8th station before going to the top the next
morning. Our hut was called the Fuji-San Hotel, which is very deceiving.
We knew that all the places to rest on the mountain were huts and that
we would sleep on futons but we had no idea what they were really going
to be like. I think this was one of the most shocking things that
Tom and I have ever experienced. The Fuji-San Hotel was really a
wooden shack, just like all the other huts on the mountain. When
we got there, we ate our dinner (curry and rice) with some other climbers.
It was only about 7:30 pm but we were ready to rest. We soon realized
how the Fuji-San hut system works . . . no running water, only outhouses,
around 150 Japanese people crammed into the sleeping area and all sleeping
together!!! We climbed up stairs to rest on our futon and saw all
these people sleeping right next to each other! There was a row of
people on the floor and then about five feet above them, there was a bunk
with more futons on top. It was this way on 2 sides of the narrow
room. Luckily, we were on the end. I slept next to the wall.
Tom slept beside me and right next to him was a Japanese lady and so on
and so on. It was crazy. You're probably wondering just how
much an evening for two at the Fuji-San Hotel costs . . . $150.00!!!
We couldn't believe it.
Fuji-san Hotel at an altitude
of 3360 meters (11,024 feet)
The prices were even higher!
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Anyway, we woke up about 1:30 am to finish the climb.
The Fuji-San Hotel did provide our breakfast (rice, no curry this time)
but we wanted to get started so we saved our breakfast for later and got
ready to leave. It was raining and to our surprise, we walked out
of the hut and there were tons of people trying to make it to the top of
the mountain before the sunrise. So, we scooted into the line and
started again. Tom had our light and we followed the crowd.
This was probably the worst part of the climb. Not only was it freezing
cold, raining, windy, and dark, but we both started feeling the affects
of the thin air. We had to stop a lot because we were both feeling
very weak and uneasy (me, more so than Tom). But the climb was going
pretty slow so that did help us. People were all around us stopping
to catch their breath and also stopping to use the oxygen cans that are
sold on the mountain. Luckily, we didn't need those.
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Our goal was to make it to
the summit and to see the sun rise around 4:30 am. We kinda figured
by this time though that the weather was going to be too bad to see the
sunrise. We finally made it to the top around 4:15 am. We were
so happy. Exhausted but happy.
The summit at an altitude
of 3776 meters (12,395 feet)
There is also an hour long
trail around the crater at the top of the mountain but we were too tired
to make that trip. We waited outside to see if we could see the sunrise
but it was pouring rain and very cloudy so unfortunately we didn't get
to see it. But, we had made it safely to the top.
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This trip is special to us
for many reasons. We had carried pictures of our parents with us
as we climbed Mt. Fuji. Before we started back down, Tom and I said
a very special prayer for our marriage and our family. We thanked
God for our parents because we know that if it wasn't for our parents,
we would not be who we are. The day that we made it to the summit
of Mt. Fuji, August 15th, was also my daddy's birthday. And so for
me, I dedicated it to him.
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