this past weekend, i climbed mt fuji. a friend of mine from this summer (who also worked at the top) is working at the last open mountain hut. it was exactly what i needed (fresh air, time to myself, amazing views, warm people) but it made coming back to "the real world" even harder on monday. mt fuji has this effect on me that i just can't explain. it's changing the way i think about everything these days, for better or for worse. i'm still struggling to pull my head and heart out of the clouds.
once i passed these people (who were collecting mushrooms near the 5th station) and the yellow sign up ahead (which actually said the mountain was closed) i only ran into about 10 people over the 2 and a half hours i climbed.
the first hour or so was like this. so beautiful.
every once in awhile the trees would open up to even more beautiful views
and glimpses of the summit.
soon, i was above the clouds.
this is one of the boarded up mountain huts, closed for the off season.
little torii along the trail.
shadow fuji (kage fuji) from the 7th station.
before the sunrise, around 5:30am.
and this is just a mediocre sunrise compared to the summer.
the 7th station in the morning sun.
the guys fixing the trail. i helped haul sand and rocks sunday morning.
where i slept.
one of the owner's three dogs, nana.
the trail down.
sooner or later i'll make a real post about my summer on mt fuji too.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
mt fuji weekend
posted by j. at 2:41 PM
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3 comments:
Wow. That looks amazing! and without all the crowds of the official climbing season, too. :) What a great way to get some thinking time. I've only ever seen the real thing from the Shinkansen but one day... Do you hike often? The mountains around here re really popular with hikers. It can get a little like tent city up there during the season.
How many hours does it take for you to reach the top Jo? Am really curious about that, but wow I have to tell you, it is just gorgeous and I enjoyed all the pics you shared. I have never been to Mt. Fuji, but we stopped off at the stop along the highway for it and had coffee once or twice. But I would love to go and see it in person like you. Also, that dog Nana looks so sweet! : ) I am a huge dog lover. : ) I grew up always owning a dog, since I was little. : )
thefukases,
it was my first time to be on mt fuji during the off season and it was so nice because it felt like i had the whole mountain to myself! :) but it was also kind of eery. and, i don't know that i hike "often" but i definitely enjoy it when i go.
gina,
this time i only climbed to the 7th station and it took me 2 and a half hours, including breaks, from the 5th station. the 7th station is more than halfway distance-wise, but it's half way time-wise, so it'd be reasonable to expect it to take 5 hours or so. also, there are several trails, each one a bit different. this time i took the subashiri trail. i took the kawaguchiko trail last year (the two actually merge for the last hour to the top). while kawaguchiko seems to be more popular, i think i actually enjoyed the subashiri route more and would definitely recommend it!
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