Mt. Fuji

Sitting here in my bed it is hard to believe that just 2 nights ago I was asleep (using that term lightly) in a hut on Mount Fuji.  That experience was definitely one for the books - or at least the blogs. :)  Here is the story of the Ostrer ascent and descent of Fuji.  I apologize ahead of time if this blog gets long - I think I am doing it more for my own memories than anything else.

Preparation

The truth is - we didn't really do all that much prep.  We read a little on the net - asked around - but we were mostly in that place of not knowing what we needed to know.  What little we did learn ahead of time had to do with supplies and just getting to the mountain.  I guess we just figured we'd learn the rest as we hiked up.  

There are 4 trails that hikers can use to get to the top of Fuji.  Each is unique in its' length, difficulty, exposure, etc.  An experienced climber recommended a trail to us - the longest but commonly thought of as the easiest.  While easy sounded good, the entrance to that trail was on the opposite side of the mountain from where we were.  Rather than drive, we chose the trail closest to us - The Subashiri Trail.  This length of this trail is 5.5 KM (3.4 miles) up and 6.1 KM (3.8 miles) down (accent and decent are on separate paths).  The hike time listed for this trail is about 5.5 hours up and 2.5 hours down.  8 hours of hiking, broken up by a sleepover in a hut?  Easy, right?  We thought so...

Day 1, 11:00 AM

The road that leads to the Subashiri trail head is closed during peak climbing season to protect the mountain, environment, etc.  So, we boarded a bus loaded with other Fuji candidates and rode for an hour.  Each of us carried a backpack filled with what we thought were the necessary items, plus a Subway (!OMG!) sandwich to eat just before we climbed.

Don't we look blissfully ignorant in these photos? We are!  

1:00 PM

We arrived at the 5th Station, which is the name of the base that all the trails begin from, only to be welcomed by rain.  We didn't plan for rain - even having read that no smart climber ever hikes without rain gear.  Our first mountain purchase - rain ponchos.  You'll see those in a moment.  We also purchased hiking sticks to use - those were our best friends - essential, and are being lovingly gripped in many of the photos to come.  Purchases in hand, we sat down to eat our sandwiches before we began.  Next we donned our fancy rain gear and headed up the trail.

Ponchos and hiking sticks.  We're ready to go!

A benefit of the trail that we selected is that the beginning of it is in the forest.  Because of the cover of the trees, and the rain letting up, we ditched the ponchos pretty quickly.  They were cumbersome and just made us all the more hot.  The start of the trail is paved, wide steps, a stairway straight to our next 24 agonizing and amazing hours.  The forest around us was beautiful - anyone reading this that has been to the Pacific Northwest - it was like being home for us. Greenery, tall trees, birds and bugs.  The one thing missing is that distinct pine smell that envelops much of Western Washington.

The stairs soon disappeared and we were hiking.  The trail twisted through the forest, up and over tree roots and giant rocks.  There were ruts and grooves as high as my waist to climb up.  At this point, just 30 minutes in, that was fun...

Notice the rock - it isn't smooth.  Fuji is a volcano, so all the rock is
lava rock.  It is rigid and rough.  

3:00 PM

Each of the four Fuji trails is lined with "stations".  These are basically refueling stops.  Each one sells drinks and food, some offer a place to sleep for the night.  Our trail began at the 5th station (as they all do) and ended at the 10th station - the peak.  To us that meant 5 stations.  No.  The original stations were pretty far apart so new stations were added to the trails.  Now the trail has the 5th station followed by "The Original 5th Station".  This pattern repeats for the 6th, 7th, and 8th stations as well.  Imagine our disappointment when we reached what we thought was the 6th station and it was only the original 5th...

Already tired.

The relevant details of the huts are these:

• they offer you a place to rest, indoors and out
• they offer toilets - for a fee of 200 Yen per use (about $2.50 USD) (not real, flushing toilets with warm seats and the whole 9 years - more like fancy holes in the ground)
• they sell drinks and food - at a slightly elevated price...that elevates more the higher up the mountain you get (we're talking 500 Yen ($6) for a bottle of water and 400 Yen ($4.75) for a SoyJoy)
• they offer a stamp service - each hut is at a higher elevation and is therefore a milestone.  each hut has a unique iron brand that they heat and burn into your hiking stick, for a fee of course
• they are run by chain smoking, scraggly mountain men that you would normally not invite into your home, but are such a welcome sight on the hike that you would run to hug them, if you could just lift your feet

I don't need to cover the next four (or so) hours of the hike in detail.  Basically, we climbed.  Up, up, up.  At first we were a foursome, then, a twosome, with Jason "speedy" Ostrer in the lead with which ever child was feeling energetic (most often Jaxon) and me in the rear, keeping the slower child company, while silently thanking the mountain god that one of my kids wanted to go slow so that I had an excuse to drag a little.  I have never pretended to be an athlete, a climber, or even in any kind of decent shape...this was tough.  Here are some shots taken along the way:

So happy to be resting at a station!

Above the clouds!

The trail is very steep in parts - often there is a rudimentary
hand rail - rope and tire iron - to help you out.

Look closely at the middle of this picture - a rainbow!
We were above a rainbow.  Pretty amazing.

This is the view of the 7th station from above it.  Not a lot going on, but then and there, it's the Ritz.

Started to get cold by about 4 PM.  

Jason is standing on the trail, in the middle of the picture.  If you follow the ropes you'll see that the trail has many switchbacks to cut down on the slope in especially steep parts.

This little shrine is a place that hikers throw the ribbons and bells from
their hiking sticks and coins as well, as an offering to the gods in hopes of
safe climbing.  There are several of these just on the trail we hiked.

The last photo of Day 1.  The sun has mostly set and the air is chilly!

By the 7th station the kids were starting to hit their wall.  There was a lot of prodding to keep them moving.   Truth be told, there was a lot of internal prodding going on for me too.  I told the kids that if it weren't for them, I would have quit.  Somehow, them needing me to hold them up and keep them going kept me going.  Fortunately, they were never facing a meltdown simultaneously.  When one was crumbling, the other seemed to sense it and toughened up a bit.  Jaxon got the last leg of the hike to melt into a pool of misery.  The poor kid would fall on his face mid-step, into the volcanic ash, and beg to be be left there.  All he wanted was rest, sleep.  The promise of food and warmth were not strong enough motivators that night.  I don't know how he found the reserve that he needed to push on, but somehow he did.  Proud doesn't even scratch the surface.

Dark 'o clock

Sometime between 8 and 9 PM we made it to the original 8th station - the second of the 8th stations, where we were scheduled to sleep.  Like walking zombies, we sat at wooden plank tables and waited for the warm meal that came with our accommodation.  Beyond hungry, beyond tired, we robotically spooned curry, rice, and beef into our mouths.  Lily stuck with just the rice and Jaxon took maybe two bites before throwing in the towel and simply staring off into space until we went upstairs to our bunks. The disappointing news: wake-up call to hike the remainder of the mountain was 1:30 AM.  

9:20 PM

By 9:20 PM we were all in bed, clothes on, teeth unbrushed.  Bed is a relative term here.  These mountain huts were built for efficiency.  The beds are basically shelves lined with futon pads and sleeping bags.  They are not comfortable, but who really cares at that point?  The pillows provided are small - airplane pillow size - and have what I think is a clean cover placed on them for each guest.  I cannot say as much about the sleeping bags.  The sleeping bags provided were great - a heavy down blanket that is almost too hot.  But, clean, I would guess not.  Mine was covered with sand, inside and out.  Any other day I would have thought twice about it, but not that night. It didn't matter to me that my blanket was sandy, that my family was sleeping sandwiched between two other families, or that I could lay there and listen to strangers bodily functions, I was in heaven.  

9:30 PM

10 minutes, that was my heaven.  A new man arrived to bunk next to us.  He was wearing the loudest possible clothing he could, and it took him 15 minutes to get himself and his noisy clothing situated.  I could have beat him on the head with my hiking stick if I weren't so tired.  Mr. Loudbritches finally settled in when a large (maybe 20 people) tour group arrived to bunk below us (we got the top bunk-shelf).  GRRRR!  There were one or two very talkative hikers in that bunch.  (Next time, ear plugs.)

***Note:  At this point in the hike there has been some pretty stuff, it's had a few good moments, but I am definitely in the WhyTF mode - why did we do this?  Why does anyone?  Who cares?  I don't...

Day 2 12:00 AM

I must've finally fallen asleep because at midnight Jaxon woke me up for bathroom money and help getting there.  I wanted to ask him to just let loose in the bed, that's how tired I was.  But of course, up I got.  

1:30 AM

Time to get up.  I don't want to.  Lily and Jason don't want to.  Jaxon doesn't.  He decided that he'd rather sleep than get up and hike the rest of the way up to see the sunrise.  I couldn't blame him.  I was hoping Jason would say the same thing, but he didn't.   We all got up, got pumped, and made our way outside to hike the rest of Fuji in time to watch to world wake up.  (Jason, Lily and I are looking like a bunch of hotties at this point - but we don't care.  Others did care - 1:30 AM and they are putting on makeup.  I will be forever proud to say that was not me.)

One of the things that we did not prepare for was altitude sickness.  We spent the night at over 11.000 feet (3,400 meters).  Day 1 I began to experience some pretty intense headaches and nausea, day 2 was a killer for Jason.  He was feeling pretty bad.  Fortunately, the mountain huts sell pressurized oxygen cans for the novice hikers like us.  1500 Yen ($20) and a few minutes inhaling and Jason improved from warm death to just miserable.  Lily started out okay but didn't finish that way - more on that later.

Outside the hut we join the throngs of crazies hiking up the mountain in the middle of the night.  The hike to the top from our hut should only take an hour, but because of lack of light and the volume of people, it takes 2.5 hours.  Please pardon my photos - I was tired and I am not so great at night photography.

Headlamps and flashlights needed.

2:00 AM

Night hiking was fun.  The short nap we all got, plus the puffs on the oxygen can, were enough to get us into the groove again.  We hiked, navigating the large groups that kept having to stop and regroup.  Jason took the lead, with Lily next and me in the rear.  We stayed together this time - necessary in the blackness.  Even with all the lights on around us from other hikers, and our own flashlights and headlamps, we couldn't see a thing.  We hiked, onward and upward.  What we didn't know at the time was that the hike from the 9th station to the top is the steepest part of the trail we chose.  It was very difficult - with some of the inclines feeling practically vertical.  

Here, this point in the hike, is when it all starts to mean something to me.  See, people of all ages are hiking Fuji with us.  There are children as young as maybe 6 and older people as much as 75, with everything in between.  There were true hikers, with all the best gear, and people in converse and sweatshirts (I definitely do not recommend that).  People were huffing and puffing, shivering, leaning on one another, and even throwing up.  But, there was this man, and his granddaughter (I suppose it could have been his daughter if he waited to late in life to have her).  This man, he had a humble face. He seemed kind and patient, I could literally feel that this quest meant something to him.  He wasn't jovial and and cheering on the crowd like so many others, but instead, silently guiding this child up the mountain.  Each time the line of hikers came to a momentary stop, the girl would sit, lean on the man and rest.  When it came time to move forward, he would gently lift her to her feet and guide her along, sometimes with her eyes closed.  There were times he would stop and rock her, in an effort to warm her I would guess.  I did not see them exchange a single word on the hike.  She did not whine or complain, not even a grimace.  The two of them were just peaceful.  Seeing them, it was like witnessing some private coming of age or passing of the sacred rights.  They were the true starting point for what would be an amazing morning.

4:10 AM

We were just 10 minutes shy of the peak when the sky began to turn pink.  The sun wasn't due to rise until about 4:40.  The herd of hikers was moving slowly enough that we decided to watch the sun rise from there, just below the peak.  Being that we were facing the correct side we didn't miss anything.  It was beautiful - I can't describe it.  I will post pictures of course, but, there are no words.

There were two things that enhanced that beautiful sunrise: our fellow hikers and a text message. Yes, we had cell phone service all the way up the mountain.  We were sitting, waiting for the sun to make its' appearance, when Jason got a text, "Are you at the top yet?"  The text was from Tyler, technically our boss, and John, a fellow teacher, but in reality two true friends and the closest things we have to family here.  We had teased them, asked them to join us, but they couldn't come.  We were so touched that they made it a point to wake up and text their support while we hiked.  As it turns out, they didn't just text their support, but hiked through the night to surprise us at the top.  Amazing.  Just knowing they could, would, and did do that made the whole cruel, wonderful trip up worth it.

Alex, John, Jason, and Tyler. (This pic is early in the timeline...but it fits the story now...)

The second wonderful occurrance at 12,XXX feet?  At sunrise, literally on point, there was a huge choral greeting chanted from the people at the peak.  We were sitting, watching the sun slowly emerge and the sky brighten when we hear, "Ohayou gozaimasu!" (O-hi-o go-zi-mas).  It was perfectly timed and really kind of breath taking.

The hikers greeting the sun.

5:00 AM

We made our way to the top.  On top of the mountain were a handful of small sleeping huts, a couple places to buy food and souvenirs, some tables, and many exhausted people.  We found a place to sit inside a small hut and ordered some ramen noodle soup and hot chocolate.  That hot chocolate was a gift.  Nothing in the world could have tasted or felt better at that moment.

Jason and I were tired, but riding the high of reaching the summit, seeing the sunrise, and being joined by our friends.  Lily was not feeling it.  She closed her eyes for a moment and was asleep.  Later, as we were saying our good byes to Tyler and John, Lily threw up.  All that wonderful hot chocolate, recycled.  From that point on Lily was pretty miserable.  I felt terrible for her - there was nothing to be done but hike down the mountain, so she did.  It was "a trail of tears" as a friend of mine used to say.  Literally, Lily crying and exhausted, walking for five minutes and resting for two.  She was a trooper though.  Despite feeling miserable, she made it to the hut we'd slept in the night before, made sure Jaxon was alright (he waited there for us), and went to lie down on her sleeping bag for a much needed nap.  Naturally I joined her...couldn't have her up there all alone!

Sleeping Lily

10:00 AM

With all four Ostrers together again, it was time to climb down the mountain.  What had taken us about 10 hours to climb up ended up taking us about 5 hours to get down.  The trail the takes hikers down the mountain runs adjacent to the climbing trail for the most part.  However, there is one section of the down trail called a "sand slide" which is basically a steep downward decline that is covered in very loose volcanic sand and rock.  Fun at first, the seemingly endless sand slide quickly became my foe as my shoes filled with earth and my legs turned to Jell-o.  I had read that many people underestimate the decent, that it is quite difficult.  Understatement!  I refuse to even write what I would have been willing to do for a ride down.  It was my turn to be miserable.  My feet bore the brunt of my abuse, the sand slide leaving me with less skin on my feet than I began with.

Needless to say, we made it.

2:45  PM

We boarded the bus headed for the train station that we began from.  I took of my shoes, snuggled up next to my girl, and slept.


That's it - in a nutshell.  I'm sure I forgot something here or there - Jason will have to remind me.  Today we are sore.  So sore.  Places we shouldn't be sore, we're sore.  We keep joking about what we'll do differently next time - the joke being that of course there is no next time.  Here is a nice little Japanese proverb we stumbled across that sums it all up quite nicely:

富士山に一度も登らぬバカ、二度登るバカ 

Roughly translated:

A idiot who has not climbed up Mt.Fuji. Also, a idiot who has climbed up Mt.Fuji twice. 

Once is enough thanks.  No idiots here.