富士山のご来光 －Goraiko: Watching the Sunrise from the Top of Japan

Yesterday, Brian and I spent some quality time with our cars in the morning, then headed to the hills for some R&R in the P.M. We had tentatively planned to summit Mt. Fuji that Sunday night with some friends (first timers!) whose plan it was to ascend.

By 1:30 p.m., as we savoured some quietude in the mountains of Susono, we'd pretty much figured that there was no way we'd be able to follow through on the Fuji plan. Turns out, we could!

We hurried home, threw a few necessities in our backpacks (headlamps, many warm layers of clothing, water and snacks), and met our friends at Susono station for the 4:03 p.m. train. The plan was to ascend via the Fujinomiya route, and descend via the Gotemba route.

Routes to the summit. We went up Fujinomiya and came down Gotemba. Click image for a larger view.



Getting to Fujinomiya City's Shin-Go-Gome* by public transport was a royal pain in the ass. We're used to driving in general, and we occasionally drive to the Shin-Go-Gome just to take pictures, etc... so spending 3 hours just to get there was dispiriting. So why, then, didn't we drive? Because we wanted to climb and descend by different routes, and it would not have done us a lot of good to have our car parked at one trail head, just to come down from another.

We began our climb from the new fifth station at 8:40 p.m. We climbed in good spirits, taking our time and chatting with the many other climbers on their way to the summit.

Less than half way up the mountain, my mostly-new (old but unworn) hiking boots balked at the climb and one (ironically the right one) decided to lose its sole in the process...some ingenuity on Brian's part and preparedness on a companion's part resulted in a quick fix that got me to the top and bottom of Mt. Fuji!


At about 2:45 a.m., we stopped at the Ninth Station, where we had some instant ramen (cup noodle) for a rather reasonable 600 yen, and a can of Kirin Lager Beer for a very unreasonable 800 yen. However - it was warming and much enjoyed!

Brian at the 9th station - the last before the summit - with a cold beer and cold snow/frost falling.



Mid to late August is the peak season for climbing Mt. Fuji, and as we got nearer the summit we found we were following a slow-moving line to the top, and for a moment or two, I feared we'd miss the actual sunrise from the summit - ご来光 -, but we made it!!




Me, with limp-linguine hair, at the summit:


We were so lucky - not only did we get clear skies, stars, meteors, topped by a great sunrise - we also got magical views on the descent.

Brian and friend going down the mountain, but still well above the cloud line:




I have to say, that though this is my second time climbing and Brian's third, this was our best. The weather was fantastic, and as an extra bonus on the way up, not only did we get to see bright, shining stars, but we were also treated to a meteor shower. How fabulous is that?? A meteor shower from the slopes of the tallest mountain in Japan...The only thing is, we climbed overnight, all night long, and descended for most of the morning. None of us had had any sleep - we'd chosen not to stay at one of the mountain accommodations, and though we could have slept comfortably under the stars, we'd not really left time for that; so, we got home this afternoon dusty, sweaty, hungry and exhausted. After a couple of hot showers, a 2-hour nap, and pizza and wine for dinner we're about ready to call it a day:-)

*Shin-Go-Gome= the New Fifth Station. On Mt. Fuji, there are "way stations", which sell food, have bathrooms, and sometimes offer accommodation.