I decided to take the plunge and attempt to summit Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) along with about thirty other fellow sailors from the Sasebo Naval Base. We left via bus on a very rainy cool friday afternoon and arrived at 6:00am the next morning. We left from one of the 5th Stage Trail heads at 7:00am promptly. I did buy one of the touristy walking sticks and was glad I did as it came in handy along nearer the top as the rains and sleet picked up. This proud pic of me here was about the last time you would have seen me smiling as the rest of the day I was sucking wind. At about stage 8.5 the winds picked up and blew volcanic ash onto us as if we were being sand blasted. The rains and sleet picked up too at around stage 9 and this dormant volcano since 1707 seemed to come alive. We summitted at 2:00pm and looked forward to the descent but not before downing a welcoming warm bowl of noodles. Oh, it was the best bowl of Ramon Noodles I have ever had in my life. If only the bowl were bigger I would have taken a dip. We rested for about an hour but would have paid anything to take a nap but there was no time to rest too long as we needed to leave for the descent no later than 3:00pm. It was to take at least three hours. The descent was another story in itself. The tail of two mountains. Whatever other muscles and ligaments that weren't used in the ascent, the descent made up for it, three-fold! The rains were more prevelent and by this time I was completely soaked. Thank God I had wrapped my camera in a large plastic garbage bag before leaving the bus because it was the only dry thing on my body. The descent was so steep that my toes were being forced down into my NEW hiking shoes along with all the water that had accumulated into them with every step. The shoes I had bought at the NEX (Navy Exchange) a few days before. Amanda would be happy to know that I got 'em for 25% off. I remembered back to when I talked to the guide about going on this trip and that if my running shoes would be okay. He said to me that I should be fine. But then something in the back of my head said, go to the NEX and get a pair of hiking shoes. That was Murphy. There would have been no way I would have made that descent in my running shoes as the trail was made of volcanic ash. Very thick volcanic ash. Anway, the rain continued to pour and my legs were so numb that I couldn't stop. I was on a mission. At times it felt like mission impossible but there was no one to help me down and no rest areas like there were on ascent. You were basically on your own with the exception of the hundreds of people that were passing me. Damn those Japanese are in good shape! I was even passed twice by two ladies that had to be in their 60's. I couldn't figure out how they passed me twice on the descent and then I wondered if they ascended again and then were on their second descent. Humm. The mind plays tricks when one is this exhausted!
At one of the many stage stations along the ascent you can have your walking stick branded for 200 yen (about 2.00USD) each. I chose to only have the major stage brands.
This photo was taken in the warming hut after we had summitted at about 2:00pm. There were photos of Mt. Fuji on the walls and thought that since the weather was so bad outside that I had at least get this. There were several other warming huts on the summit but most of our group respited here. Again, we had only stayed long enough to get a bowl of hot soup, use the restroom and make preperations to descend. What I found amazing was the diverse age groups, from around 10 to 65. Actually, because the Japanese age so well, they could have been in their 80's or 90's. Who knows. Overall it was an incredible trip. One that I will not soon forget.
I decided to take the plunge and attempt to summit Mt. Fuji (Fuji-san) along with about thirty other fellow sailors from the Sasebo Naval Base. We left via bus on a very rainy cool friday afternoon and arrived at 6:00am the next morning. We left from one of the 5th Stage Trail heads at 7:00am promptly. I did buy one of the touristy walking sticks and was glad I did as it came in handy along nearer the top as the rains and sleet picked up. This proud pic of me here was about the last time you would have seen me smiling as the rest of the day I was sucking wind. At about stage 8.5 the winds picked up and blew volcanic ash onto us as if we were being sand blasted. The rains and sleet picked up too at around stage 9 and this dormant volcano since 1707 seemed to come alive. We summitted at 2:00pm and looked forward to the descent but not before downing a welcoming warm bowl of noodles. Oh, it was the best bowl of Ramon Noodles I have ever had in my life. If only the bowl were bigger I would have taken a dip. We rested for about an hour but would have paid anything to take a nap but there was no time to rest too long as we needed to leave for the descent no later than 3:00pm. It was to take at least three hours. The descent was another story in itself. The tail of two mountains. Whatever other muscles and ligaments that weren't used in the ascent, the descent made up for it, three-fold! The rains were more prevelent and by this time I was completely soaked. Thank God I had wrapped my camera in a large plastic garbage bag before leaving the bus because it was the only dry thing on my body. The descent was so steep that my toes were being forced down into my NEW hiking shoes along with all the water that had accumulated into them with every step. The shoes I had bought at the NEX (Navy Exchange) a few days before. Amanda would be happy to know that I got 'em for 25% off. I remembered back to when I talked to the guide about going on this trip and that if my running shoes would be okay. He said to me that I should be fine. But then something in the back of my head said, go to the NEX and get a pair of hiking shoes. That was Murphy. There would have been no way I would have made that descent in my running shoes as the trail was made of volcanic ash. Very thick volcanic ash. Anway, the rain continued to pour and my legs were so numb that I couldn't stop. I was on a mission. At times it felt like mission impossible but there was no one to help me down and no rest areas like there were on ascent. You were basically on your own with the exception of the hundreds of people that were passing me. Damn those Japanese are in good shape! I was even passed twice by two ladies that had to be in their 60's. I couldn't figure out how they passed me twice on the descent and then I wondered if they ascended again and then were on their second descent. Humm. The mind plays tricks when one is this exhausted! 
1 comment:
What the crap! Way to go!
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