Journey to Mt. Fuji

We did it!

3776 m above sea level, highest peak in Japan.
Monday: Left Tokyo by train at 8.30am and started the ascension at 12pm.
Tuesday: Finished the hike back at Fifth Station at 9am and arrived back to Tokyo by 3pm

Took us 3 hours on the Yoshida Trail from the 5th station to our hut where we stayed overnight at the 8th station. Challenging climb as we got higher ...it is a summit after all! For supper, the hut provided a warm meal which consisted of a bento box with curry and rice with grilled fish and pickled vegetables. Sleeping bags was provided at the hut we stayed at. Very clean place. Woke up at 1am in the dark with headlamps to continue the ascension and beat the crowd to the summit for the sunrise at 4.45am. Got a nice view of the stars while climbing up. Thankful that it didn’t rain during the climb and that we were prepared for the drop in temperatures (started from 30 degrees C at the base to 5 degrees closer to the summit). As expected, it was crowded with people trying to catch the sunrise and we luckily had 10 minutes to spare.

We found descending the mountain was so much harder as it was steep covered with loose pebbles and small rocks taking chances on falling forward.

However, we were in awe and learned that the glittering stars was indeed best viewed at high elevation.

The moment have finally arrive when the sun appeared from above the clouds as we watched the sky become awash with golden orange hues. So amazing just to share this experience with my two daughters.

‘ A wise man climb Mt. Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice’.

Glad we did it though.