Mt. Fuji

Yessss! I have conquered the highest peak in Japan!! And at 3776 metres, the highest I have ever climbed.
Mt Fuji looks like such a beautiful mountain in all the famous pictures of it - gently sloping, perfectly symmetrical, mystical and colourful. I can assure anyone that it is a whole different picture up close!!
We set off from Tokyo on Sunday morning at 6 after having had very little sleep. Arrived in the area soon after 8 but had to queue at what is known as the fifth station (where most people set off to climb from - at about 2200 metres) to find a parking place. We eventually opted for a spot 2.5 kilometres away - a mere hop skip and jump on fresh legs, which ours were most certainly not by the end!
After faffing around for a while, we were on our way by 11am. Later than hoped and we were not sure we'd have time to make the summit in time to come down before it got dark. However, we did make quite a good pace. It is bloody hard work though. The weather stayed dry for us but there was a terrific wind blowing near the top which would occasionally blow you off your feet and you'd have to redo valuable paces. Its not a pretty mountain - the rock is volcanic of course and either dusty rubble (hard to climb or get a good grip) or dangerously spiky, hard and potentially dangerous rock. Its a real scramble and with the wind so strong, there were times when all you could do was cling to the mountainside for fear it would blow you away. Also past 3000 metres, you really start to notice the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere and towards the summit, it was a real struggle for me to move each foot a small distance. Knackered does not do justice to how we felt!
I had one moment near the top, where we were all on our own (I went with another English woman and two Japanese men) plodding along at our own pace, where I started cursing violently for putting myself through this! One of the guys I was with was doing it for the third time! It was really really tough and I'm not sure what was keeping me going at times!
We reached the summit by 4.20pm - faster than the average 6 hours - which was great. There is a restaurant at the top - and we were lucky to catch it just before it closed (I feel for the poor souls who were battling their way up after us). It is a very welcome shelter and they served us with hot soups, or noodles. Its very Japanese, but it caters for the tourists - apparently during peak season (and Fuji is only open to climbers for 2 months of the year) around 2000 people climb it everyday. So its clearly good for business. It is certainly not a quiet maountin - with people all around you, but we were wise enough to avoid the main masses who try to climb it in the evening and to reach the summit for sunrise. It sounds very beautiful watching the hundreds of headlamps trudge up in a line and to watch sunrise from the top, but I have also heard that you then have to queue a long time just to get to the top - and the way we were feeling when we got there - it doesn't bear thinking about.
It was an immensely rewarding feeling reaching the top though. We were in the clouds but occasionally the wind was so strong it would blow the clouds away and we got a spectacular view accross the valley and mountains below.
We opted out of the extra hours hike around the circle of the crater and set off at a very brisk pace down the more boring route. Its all scree and loose stones - very hard work to climb up but easy to come down. It was endless zigzags on paths that were always the same. It seemed to go on forever and it wasnt long before we slowed right down owing to tired legs. Again it became a battle of wills and it was a case of heads down grin and bear it. My legs were shattered and wobbly, I had a stinking headache brought on by the altitude (luckily I had no sickness) and it was getting late! At one point we took a wrong turn and had to scramble up only about 20 metres height - but at the late stage in the day, it nearly killed me!
It did get dark before we got back to the car and we had to use torches to see our way. Towards the end we were met by hoardes of happy, laughing fresh-legged climbers ready to do it for sunrise - and were able to breathe a sigh of relief that it wasnt us! Plus we reckoned that celebrating with a beer when you get down at 9 in the morning is perhaps a little strange!
We got back to the car just before 9, absolutely exhausted. What reserves of energy we were using for the last couple of hours I have no idea, but somehow you just know that you have to get back to the car. It took us 3.5 hours to get down - a little over the average 3 hours. All in all though it was a full 10 hours out. One of my students had given me a pedometre a while back and I decided to take it with me. We did about 66000 paces that day!
We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel - with our own private onsen (hot spring), massive plasma TV, and most importantly comfortable beds! The beer, warmth, comfort, good food and shelter were very very welcome!

I am really pleased to have done this. I was born into a walking family and climbed Mt. Snowdon when I was three, yet this was really a great challenge for me and feel very proud to have done it!

Spent a short while the next day visiting the surrounding lakes (very beautiful) and gift shopping before heading back to Tokyo. Yattaaaa!