Fujisan Acsent

If you're friends with me on facebook you already know that last weekend Yurika and I climbed Fujisan. It was a very difficult hike, much harder than I thought it would be, but we did it. I've climbed two mountains in my life now: Fujisan and Monadnock. Fujisan became a world heritage site in 2013 and about 300,000 people climb at least part of it every year. It is an active volcano that stands at 12, 388 feet. There are a couple trails up the mountain. I took the Yoshida Trail as it was the only one left open. The 13th was the last day ascending trail was open so we just made it. After that day visitors can only come up to the 5th station of the trails, which are generally accessed by car and have shops and restaurants. The 5th station of the Subaru Line is at 7,545 feet, and is where we started.

The trail a little way past the 5th station.

Up until the 6th Station (7,841 feet), it is a very foggy dirt path through evergreens. The mist was super cool and a tad creepy, it would roll in and out periodically. We were lead by a hiking guide, and our group consisted of mostly Japanese people between 25-40 or so. I was the only gaijin, and I saw very few gaijin on the trail. All of them were equipped in full hiking/climbing gear, which was a bit overkill in my opinion. You can't camp or cook on Fujisan, only stay in the mountain huts and eat the food they sell there, or bring your own. There's also no drinking water unless you pay for bottled water at a hut, so you have to carry all of your water with you too. Right before the 6th station we had a lecture on altitude sickness, which I didn't think would be too much of a problem. After the 6th station the terrain became very rocky and very very steep. 

Somewhere past the 6th Station.

The trees also started to disappear as well. I'm fairly certain it is because there's not enough oxygen to support their growth. As far as the weather goes, we were very lucky. At the 5th Station it was probably about 50, by the 6th Station it was easily in the low 40s, and I remember reading a thermometer somewhere near or after the 7th station saying it was below freezing. This wasn't a problem as you're plenty warm as you hike. However when you stopped you became cold very quickly. I don't think I put gloves and a scarf on till after 9,000 feet because I was roasty toasty. Some people were really bundled up but it didn't seem so bad to me, maybe because of 17 years of New England winters. The air was very crisp and fresh--and thin.

The terrain started to look like this after the 6th Station

And this after the 7th Station

Right before the 7th Station is when altitude sickness started to set in. The higher you get in the atmosphere, the less oxygen there is in the air. Unless your body is accustomed to this reduction in oxygen it is common to get what is known as altitude sickness. This can set in after 8,000 feet even if you are fit and healthy. To try and combat this, it is very important to ascend very slowly, keep hydrated, and take deep breaths. Some climbers had canned oxygen, which I bought at the hut we slept in before our climb to the summit. I wish I had it for the first leg of the trip. Our guide kept us at an extraordinarily slow pace: step, breathe, stop, repeat, with frequent short rests. I couldn't have gone any faster. I wasn't working awfully hard but my heart was pounding out of my chest, I had pins and needles in my feet, and I was a sort of tired and exhausted. It felt like every step took way more energy than it should have. I can't remember it clearly because my mind was foggy. When I was resting I felt fine, and the short rests helped me keep going, but it didn't take long for the grossness to settle in once we started climbing again. It probably didn't help we were climbing an  amazing steep rock face. I think Yurika and I couldn't have gone much farther when we dragged ourselves into camp at 10,800 feet.