climbing fuji #2

(sorry for the picture spam, but it was just so gorgeous and my new phone camera really worked its magic that day)

after a couple of hours of sleep, i woke up before sunset when another group of japanese hikers came by, shining their head torches at me just as stunned to see me in the hut as i was to see them at that time of day. in just a couple of minutes, i was ready to go. i was taking more pictures than steps during the next hour, but still made some good progress. so good in fact, that i decided that i could probably summit the same day and make it back to fifth in time for the last bus down from the observation deck, essentially saving a full day. and that's precisely what i did.

the ascent wasn't technical, just switchbacks all the way, with seemlingly hundreds of mountain huts on both sides of the path to accomodate for all the tourists in high season. you can google how it crowded it usually gets up there. all of a sudden, i couldn't have been happier to hike the trail off season. still, as usual, i started feeling the altitude around the 3.5k mark. it didn't take away from the spectacular views though.

relieved that the weather hadn't flipped on me, i reached the summit around noon and enjoyed lunch to one of the best views of my trip. after a victory lap around the crater, it was time head back down. i was very thankful i brought my gaiters, which made sliding down the scree a lot easier, and in less than two hours, i was back at fifth.

after a little interview from a very intrigued older japanese gentleman, i hopped on the bus and was back at my forest camp spot by the trailhead in no time.

if you followed attentively to this point, you might've noted that i haven't showered for almost a week at this point. thankfully, i noticed this too, and in a stroke of genius, decided to go to an onsen. it's a type of hot spring bath house where japanese people traditionally go once a week to get a deep clean. butt ass naked. i got a couple of stares and almost passed out from overdoing the sauna, but all in all the perfect end to a 10/10 day.もっと詳しく