[TRAVELS] Fuji 2007
As a matter of physical exertion, I've found that the Mt. Fuji climb gets easier every time. It's not necessarily because I really know my way around; although I've used the same route to the summit on each occasion, that being the Yoshida-guchi trail from Kawaguchiko-guchi 5-gome, that didn't stop me from almost taking the wrong turn with about a kilometer or two left to go. On my first chance to lead a group of my own, that would have been a disastrous embarrassment.
Rather, I just seem to be in better shape every time I take the trip. Let's hope that trend continues, even after I enter the resolutely unhealthy hellhole of my next job. The trip in rushed commentary and pictures:
First trip ever made in the Ham-mobile with the usual captain at the helm on three hours' sleep and a full day of lawyerly work. The hike started at 9:15 PM. Summer Associate #1 took an impressively aggressive pace for the first hour, but the group lost gas quickly. 11:47 PM put us at one of these Station 7 huts:
For the uninitiated, the fact that the stations at certain stages are drawn out across several, sometimes far apart shacks can be frustrating. We crossed this regal and important-looking torii at the strike of midnight. But it was still Station 7.
The first sign of Station 8 would not come until almost exactly an hour later.
The temperature started to fall rather quickly at this point, and the wind picked up as usual. The UFC60 T-shirt would not cut it anymore, and I quickly went from long-sleeved rashguard + UFC60 T-shirt, to long-sleeved rashguard + long-sleeved T-shirt, to long-sleeved rashguard + long-sleeved T-shirt + sauna suit top. On the bottom, the surf shorts + Uniqlo cargo pants combo worked well for the most part. I estimated that we would summit with an hour to spare at this rate, so I convinced the group to take shelter for a quick meal at the old Fuji-san "Hotel." The nourished boss ready to move the crew along again at just before 3:00 AM (check the racing stripes!):
At this point that things started to suck. The rain was now in a regular pour. The single-file train of people up to the summit slowed to a crawl which meant no time to sit down and rest, but rather standing in place for minutes at a time to get pelted by cold rain and colder wind. There is no such thing as waterproof, but my gear was less waterproof than most, and for the first time ever on a mountain, I started to get worried. My temperature was dropping quickly, even after I quickly removed my shell to get a fleece, hat and neckwarmer on. I know nothing about hypothermia except how to spell it, but I was nearly convinced I was going to get it. I have no pictures of this miserable part.
Despite the weather and slow trail of zombies, I think we summitted just in time for the sunrise that never appeared behind the thick mist. Instead, this is what you would have found at the time of sunrise:
Trust me, no one looked better in that rest hut. Our group reassembled and finally started to recover after ingesting some hot liquids.
Admittedly, for at least one of us the hot liquid was some bad sake. And a cold beer chaser.
Finally, the sun began to peek out from the clouds on our way down. 7:29 AM:
Two minutes later:
Crushingly handsome mountain man:
The sun still had its work cut out for it in ridding the mist from the Subashiri.
I then decided to use my cheap Arnette sunglasses as a filter. Clouds,
Clouds,
and Sun.
Some ice left on the mountain, which I'd never seen before,
where I risked a little frostbite to leave my signature.
Unexpectedly, my two favorite shots came from my cell phone which, come to think of it, does have a 5 megapixel camera in it.
The other money shot.
8:41 AM. The back that supports a demanding family. Green always goes well with another hue of green.
Total hike time: about 13 hours, 45 minutes. The majority of us had only spent about 27 hours awake in a row. No ceremonial beer at the bottom for me, but instead a grape-flavored soft-serve ice cream cone. The group reboarded the car after submitting to my ironclad anti-skankiness procedures, which involved liberal use of wet sani-wipes and plastic bags.
Needless to say, I tried to convince the rest of the team to go to Fujikyu Highland (click here for the April trip report) on the way home. I even did an up-close drive-by of Eejanaika by the park's rear entrance to convince them, but no dice. They were all tired or something. Pansies. But I didn't complain much, knowing that a massive meal of steak frites and a ham-and-egg omelette awaited me at a nice brasserie back home.
Rather, I just seem to be in better shape every time I take the trip. Let's hope that trend continues, even after I enter the resolutely unhealthy hellhole of my next job. The trip in rushed commentary and pictures:
First trip ever made in the Ham-mobile with the usual captain at the helm on three hours' sleep and a full day of lawyerly work. The hike started at 9:15 PM. Summer Associate #1 took an impressively aggressive pace for the first hour, but the group lost gas quickly. 11:47 PM put us at one of these Station 7 huts:
For the uninitiated, the fact that the stations at certain stages are drawn out across several, sometimes far apart shacks can be frustrating. We crossed this regal and important-looking torii at the strike of midnight. But it was still Station 7.
The first sign of Station 8 would not come until almost exactly an hour later.
The temperature started to fall rather quickly at this point, and the wind picked up as usual. The UFC60 T-shirt would not cut it anymore, and I quickly went from long-sleeved rashguard + UFC60 T-shirt, to long-sleeved rashguard + long-sleeved T-shirt, to long-sleeved rashguard + long-sleeved T-shirt + sauna suit top. On the bottom, the surf shorts + Uniqlo cargo pants combo worked well for the most part. I estimated that we would summit with an hour to spare at this rate, so I convinced the group to take shelter for a quick meal at the old Fuji-san "Hotel." The nourished boss ready to move the crew along again at just before 3:00 AM (check the racing stripes!):
At this point that things started to suck. The rain was now in a regular pour. The single-file train of people up to the summit slowed to a crawl which meant no time to sit down and rest, but rather standing in place for minutes at a time to get pelted by cold rain and colder wind. There is no such thing as waterproof, but my gear was less waterproof than most, and for the first time ever on a mountain, I started to get worried. My temperature was dropping quickly, even after I quickly removed my shell to get a fleece, hat and neckwarmer on. I know nothing about hypothermia except how to spell it, but I was nearly convinced I was going to get it. I have no pictures of this miserable part.
Despite the weather and slow trail of zombies, I think we summitted just in time for the sunrise that never appeared behind the thick mist. Instead, this is what you would have found at the time of sunrise:
Trust me, no one looked better in that rest hut. Our group reassembled and finally started to recover after ingesting some hot liquids.
Admittedly, for at least one of us the hot liquid was some bad sake. And a cold beer chaser.
Finally, the sun began to peek out from the clouds on our way down. 7:29 AM:
Two minutes later:
Crushingly handsome mountain man:
The sun still had its work cut out for it in ridding the mist from the Subashiri.
I then decided to use my cheap Arnette sunglasses as a filter. Clouds,
Clouds,
and Sun.
Some ice left on the mountain, which I'd never seen before,
where I risked a little frostbite to leave my signature.
Unexpectedly, my two favorite shots came from my cell phone which, come to think of it, does have a 5 megapixel camera in it.
The other money shot.
8:41 AM. The back that supports a demanding family. Green always goes well with another hue of green.
Total hike time: about 13 hours, 45 minutes. The majority of us had only spent about 27 hours awake in a row. No ceremonial beer at the bottom for me, but instead a grape-flavored soft-serve ice cream cone. The group reboarded the car after submitting to my ironclad anti-skankiness procedures, which involved liberal use of wet sani-wipes and plastic bags.
Needless to say, I tried to convince the rest of the team to go to Fujikyu Highland (click here for the April trip report) on the way home. I even did an up-close drive-by of Eejanaika by the park's rear entrance to convince them, but no dice. They were all tired or something. Pansies. But I didn't complain much, knowing that a massive meal of steak frites and a ham-and-egg omelette awaited me at a nice brasserie back home.
posted by hamu86 at 12:29 AM
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