At the end of July, my friend Angela met Jake and I on
mainland Japan to hike Mount Fuji. We
arrived at the 5th station of the mountain around sunset with our
packs full of supplies and water, we purchased our hiking sticks and started to
hike around 7pm. It was a neat
experience to hike by moonlight and headlamps!
Along the trail are huts that sell food, water and supplies, stamps for hiking
sticks and a place to rest. The higher
you go on the mountain, the more expensive the items become. You also had to pay 200 Yen every time you needed to use the bathroom. Around 11pm we decided to rest for a while in
one of the many huts that line the mountain.
For about $65 per person, we were given a mat, pillow and blanket,
knowing that at 4am everyone would be woken up to see the sunrise. What a beautiful and amazing sight! Seeing the sunrise was my favorite part of
the hike. After a quick breakfast, we
gathered up our gear and started day two of hiking at 5am. Shortly after starting day two, I felt like
it was a struggle to hike for more than 10-15 minutes without stopping for a
break. Please note: Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan,
almost 13,000 feet and many people experience altitude sickness while hiking it
and I was three months pregnant!
So to the determent of group, we progressed at a slow
pace. Many times, we would glance to the
summit and think how close it looked, knowing how far away it really was. Six long hours later, the altitude sickness
that we experienced and the struggle to get to the top vanished as we arrived
at the summit. We were surprised at all
of the activity and little “shops” at the summit. We stopped for photos, the last stamp on our
hiking sticks and lunch. After eating
most of the snacks we had packed a hot lunch seemed in order. I had seen staff eating fresh corn on the cob
so when I saw corn soup on the menu, I thought what a treat it would be! I could not have been more wrong! When my
mini can of “corn soup” arrived, I learned not only was it not fresh, but it
was basically corn in some kind of broth that you had to drink from a can!
The descent of the mountain consists of switchback after
switchback of loose volcanic ash gravel.
With every step, your foot would slide and dust would be kicked up into
the air. After about an hour into our
trek down, we realize that there is no way we are going to make our pre-arranged
bus off the mountain. Jake was scheduled
to fly out at 6am the next morning and we feared that if he didn’t make the bus
that he would subsequently miss his flight back as well. On the back of a receipt, with a borrowed pen
we quickly scribbled notes to tell him which train lines to take to which stops
for the several trains he would need to take to the hotel after getting off the
bus. With a quick kiss, he was off,
hoping to catch the 3pm bus. It would
take Angela and me four long hours to make the descent. I honestly wanted to sit down on the trail
and not move. We were getting sunburned,
without food and water and were beyond exhausted.
We arrived at 3:40 to find that we had missed the last
chattered bus. We were able to find a
local bus to take us to a small town train station. From there, we boarded four different trains hoping
each time that we were one step closer to finding our way back to our hotel in
Tokyo. Sometime after 9pm, tired, dirty
and very hungry we arrived at our hotel.
Jake was super excited to see us and while we were excited to see he had
made it back okay too, our only thoughts were on food and showers! We devoured a pizza together, telling our
tales of our return adventures and then fell fast asleep.
Jake left the hotel before 4am the next morning, while
Angela and I didn’t wake up until after 10am!
Instead of touring Tokyo, we spent the day in our hotel - sleeping,
eating, relaxing in the pool and watching the Olympics! The two of us would then travel by bullet
train to Kyoto for five days before returning to the United States.
Until next
time,
Natasha and
Jake
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