But barely...
One thing (the only remaining item) that I wanted to do before leaving Japan was to climb Mount Fuji (Fuji-san). Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet). Due to the weather, it is only open for climbing during July and August (it is snow capped the other 10 months). The most popular time to be at or near the top is at sunrise due to the spectacular views. This is when we planned to be at the top.
Since we are leaving soon, my schedule is getting increasingly busy. This weekend was basically the only weekend I had available. It just so happened that this weekend was also forecast to be rainy and stormy at Fuji. Wonderful... Since time is a bit short, I pushed for this weekend anyway. I went with two co-workers. David and Izawa-san (Izawa-san drove).
Fuji-san is about 2 hours away and it takes 4 to 8 hours to reach the top. Because Japan does not participate in Daylight Savings Time, the sun rises at 4:30 or so over here. SO, in order to be in position to see the sunrise, we had to leave our house at 10:00pm Friday night. We arrived at Fuji at about 12:15 and were ready to roll at about 12:45 am. It was pouring down rain and we were all suited up in our rain gear with all our food, water, and other needed stuff in our packs.
As we continued up the mountain, we noticed suddenly that the rain had stopped. We looked up and saw a sky full of stars. COOL! We were above the majority of the rain clouds and the upper level clouds had cleared out. We made the next possible stop and stripped off our rain gear. No comments are needed about my rolled up pants legs. I know how good it looks, but it was 2:00 in the morning and I was hot!
We only made it to the 7th level (there are 10 total) by sunrise, but we were still able to capture some great photos. I took about 60 or so shots but can only share a few. We were truly blessed to have a break in the weather long enough for us to see what an awesome God we have.
We finally made it to the top by 9:00am or so. According to my GPS, we walked 5 miles to the top. Along the way, the temperature continued to drop and the wind continued to increase and the weather went back to nasty again. The wind was blowing about 3 million miles per hour and by the time we reached the top it was pouring rain again. The temperature was in the mid 30's (Fahrenheit). Fortunately for us, we were prepared for that and after we suited back up into our gear, we were comfortable (all things considered).
We got back down to the parking lot by 12:30 (much faster down than up). Now that it's over, I'm thoroughly glad that I did it, but I can safely say that I will likely NEVER do it again. It was MUCH more difficult than I ever thought it would be - it was a straight up hike (no flat areas or reprieves at all unless you stopped to rest) for 8 hours. The hike down was through a very soft volcano ash and was like walking down hill through very loosely packed sand. The wind made the hike much more dangerous than I thought it would be also. Sudden strong gusts knocked me off balance a few times. Also (Unlike the U.S.), there were little safeguards in place if a person were to trip or fall.
(The camera is being held level here by the way - this is the slope of the mountain)
Overall, I took 135 photos and had a great time. I am THOROUGHLY exhausted and I am looking forward to some 1 on 1 time with my pillow tonight... If I could do it over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Izawa-san told me that the Japanese say if you come to Japan and don't hike Fuji, you are foolish. If you hike twice, you are equally foolish...
I am glad I had the opportunity - It was much more challenging than I ever thought it would be. I'd love to post more photos or funny stories (amazing what happens when you go hiking in the middle of night...), but I'm really tired and I don't want to overly clutter the blog - I'm long winded enough as it is.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Curtis
Curtis and Amy went to Curtis's favorite sushi shop to eat FRESH sushi while the girls and I ate good old McDonald's after Kamakura. I later taught Amy how to make sushi rolls after our day of shopping. On this night we ate sushi rolls, yakisoba, and gyoza.....YUMMY!!!! What better way to end a trip than some good food shared with friends.
