Fuji Climb

What an experience we had climbing Mt. Fuji! I'll start by saying it was the most challenging hike I have ever done. It is more climbing than hiking. Unfortunately we went on a day that had zero visability, because we were in a rain cloud. (It just adds to the experience.) Our day started at 4:00am. We picked up Brendan and Pamela before making our way to Mt. Fuji.

A few hours later we had wooden hiking sticks and we found ourselves at the trailhead. The start of our Fuji experience was fairly easy. That didn't last long, because we soon found ourselves looking up to a lot of switchbacks.

The cloud coverage didn't ease up, but gradually got more and more wet. Our first stop was station #6. Each station up to the summit of Fuji has a stamp. Your hiking stick can be your token souvenir for the adventure.

Slow, but steady we made our way to the next stations. After a little over 5 hours from our start, we summited Mt. Fuji. It was pouring rain for the last couple of hours of the climb. We were soaked to the bone and cold at the top.

For a very inflated price you can purchase a hot bowl of ramen or curry rice at the summit. There are benches in a hut where you can rest and have a hot meal. (By no means is this the best meal, but it was warm.)

One of the families in our group climbed on her birthday. Her sweet husband, Ryan, packed a cake with a candle for her. After lunch he pulled out the cake with candle and we all sang "Happy Birthday."

The rain was still pouring as we started our descent of Fuji. The trail down was  different than the way up. There were no large rocks, but a lot of loose lava rock. In three hours we were back at station 5. I was elated to be off the mountain. I would have loved a juicy burger from Cascade Burgers, but didn't have that option.

After our arrival back at station 5 we looked back at a clear blue sky. For the first time I saw Mt. Fuji as a whole. I was very irritated (mixed with slight anger) that after 8+ hours on Mt. Fuji it finally cleared when were were off the mountain. We got a snapshot with Fuji and watched the sunset while we were above the clouds.