Yes, its true I went back and did Fuji again. I just could not get over the fact that I was so close to the summit the first time and only due to illness did I not continue so yesterday I jumped on the Shinkansen and got off at Shin Fuji. 3000 yen return ticket to the Fujinomiya trail which is higher than the other side and an average climb of about 4 to 5 hours. When I left Nagoya it was a beautiful day and I planned a quick climb. I didn’t book a hut and carried the lightest pack I could. I only had two bottles of water, three pieces of bread, my warm weather gear, torch and a few other things as I wanted my pack light. I got shin fuji and it was bucketing down, but still 29 degrees. I thought it would clear but it didn’t. Got to the 5th station fujinomiya side and it was raining so hard I was soaked before I started. But I just took off as I had to be back down by 6 to catch the last bus back to shin fuji. Now the track up from the west is straight up, scoria rock and not too many dog legs. It was tough going. I had to stop at the 7th station and buy a rain coat as all I had was my puffer jacket and they don’t really work when wet. I paid 2000 yen for a plastic coat and then a couple of japanese heading down gave me the trousers, the back pack covers and the hood that attached to the jacket, so I set off really quickly again.
Fuji summit, nothing but crap…but I made it.
I got the heart beat thing happening about the 3 hours mark and I had to stop as it was causing me some issues. The weather was still singing and thunder and rain just kept coming down, not seen rain like this in NZ. I got to past the last 8th station and was only 500 metres from the summit and I was bloody cold. I had gloves but they were soaked through and I could hardly feel my hands. and then the gates shrine appeared through the cloud. It took me nearly a full 2 to 3 hours to go that 50 metres further. But getting to that ledge area where you take that final step up was fantastic. even though the area was still raining and I was bloody cold it was fantastic. The shrine area was around the other side and I had to hurry to get to it. To walk around full area takes about an hour, but I had to move it and I quickly touched and gone again. You could not see anything, the rain just did not stop and I was getting close to that cut off time of getting off the mountain. Now the way down on the west side is very steep, but with it being scoria it was easy to jump and run, jump and run. It took me just over two hours to get down to the 5th station I as buggared and had about 3 minutes to spare to catch the bus. I took over the full back seat, changed into dry clothers which I had stored at the 5th and then lay down and died. My feet were aching, my knees were buggared and I was buggared. Slept on the train back to Nagoya.
Now the west side is not really the side to climb Fuji from if it is your first time. It is sort of your lost cousin to the east side. They were not very organised, two of the stations would not let you inside even when it was pouring down, unless you had a reservation, and some would not let you in unless you brought something. I was fine as I planned to buy water, food on the way up even though it was expensive to keep my pack light, but some japanese people were not happy. but I’ve knocked off Fuji and I’m just over the moon. Slept very well last night all my stuff all over the room and I didn’t care. Needed an Onsen today and when I tried to find it, the maps was crap so settled for a frappa fom star bucks. Was it a good idea to go back,,,,SHIT YEAH…. end of story.
7th station.
- my homes, these guys were on the same bus and saw my tatt and wanted a photo, so what the hell.
