FUJI-SAN 2007

Michelle and Stacey decided to bid their farewell to Nihon with one last bang :) On August 26th (the last official weekend of climbing season) we decided to take on Mount Fuji. Since we had already climbed Mt. Tateyama together, and Michelle and I did that trekking tour in Thailand, we felt that we were pretty prepared for this hike. Kim (my coworker) had just climbed it the week before, and she gave us fair warning, but we were all thinking, "How bad could this be? Thousands of people climb it every season...We can take it!" Also, I was lucky because one of my best friends, Kim Miyashiro was visiting me, so she came along with us. We took the bus up to Gogome (5th station) which is about half way up the mountain. There are a total of 10 stations. We began our hike at 10p.m., so that we could take our time, and get up to the top by sunrise (around 4a.m.)

We were making really good time up the mountain. We were freezing, but I thought the hike would be a little harder than it was. We hit the 9th station, and we had a couple hours until sunrise, and we thought we had plenty of time. The stretch from the last station to the top seemed like it went on forever!!!! The altitude started to really affect me, and we didn't bring any oxygen with us. We would feel fine, and then take five steps and feel dizzy. When the sun started to rise, I just felt like I wanted to die hahaha...and I didn't care about taking pictures anymore because I just wanted to sleep and be in some place hot. I think Kim wanted to kill me for making her do this...



7th station

stacey, michelle, sakura, andrea, and kim

you can get your walking stick branded at each station :)

the sun is peaking!






kim at the top!

hikers sleeping at the top eating ramen!

above the clouds


oh so happy to be going back down


back at gogome!! owarimashita! otsukaresamadeshita!!!!

At the top they were selling udon and ramen for about 900 yen a bowl, but it was well worth it! It was the cheap kine ramen, but probably the most satisfying meal EVER! I wanted two just so I could hold the hot bowl, haha! The journey back down was probably harder than going up. The entire journey took about 12 hours, we got back to gogome about 10:15a.m. Once we were back down, we were warm, and already felt good about actually completing the hike. Fuji is really one of those once in a lifetime things...If I ever meet anyone who has actually climbed Fuji twice, I'm going to have to hit them in the head. It was a great last journey for Michelle, Stacey, and I...I miss them already, but we have done so many things together in the past year, and I know I will definitely see them again.