Conquering the Mountain

My day began with a duty day...I got on watch at 2200 and got off at midnight to go pack. I packed what I thought I would need...a little food, water, extra socks, MP3 player. I set out into the night to catch a 0130 bus to the highest point in Japan. I was joined by about 25 others, all of whom had one mission...the conquer Mt. Fuji and live to tell the tale. I managed a little sleep on the way there and was quite groggy when we arrived at the fifth station (2200 M). There we bought our walking stick...part souvenir part helper/lifesaver. This piece of wood would come in handy many times along the journey.

I begin my climb with the Chief Engineer. He is greatful for my slowness as we manage the mountain as at each rest stop he gets to rest a little longer as I come up behind him and I am thankful that I have someone to enjoy the climb with. Each station brings with it cooler air, thinner oxygen and more wood burnt stamps for our sticks that get more expensive as we climb. Each station also brings with it a need for a little more motivation and a realization that I feel my feet a little less. We are supposed to reach the original eighth station by 1100. We manage to reach the Fujisan hotel at 0930...we are ahead of schedule. This is encouraging...so I thought. We start the next portion of our climb and I think I see the top. I am motivated to keep going thinking I just had a little more to go. We finally reach the shrine at what I think is the top only to have the wind knocked out of me.

I look up just as the clouds are clearing and realize that I still have about 150 meters to go. Not only that but its almost straight up. I almost quit. I was very close to calling it a day and heading back down the mountain. If I hadn't already been climbing for 5 hours I might have. But we pressed on. It was the worst and almost most painful part of the whole climb. By this time all you think about is getting to the top so you can go down. When you are that close, its all that matters. Get up so you can sit down and then come down. It took another hour, but both me and the CHENG made it to the top, with no apparent injuries. We stopped and took it all in. We had made it. We ate some well needed lunch and took some pictures of the crater (Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano after all). Then we started the long and painful journey down the mountain.

As much as the climb up took all kinds of endurance and will, the trip down just took endurance of pain. There was no climbing down rocks, just back and forth down very steep and very loose gravel. This is where the walking stick became a lifesaver, mainly for my rear end and my face. It kept me from falling many times. It took only 4 hours to come down compared to 6 hours to climb up. We had to stop several times just to give my poor knees a rest, but we made it. At 1530...approximately 10 hours after we started, we made our way back to the bus. We had conquered THE MOUNTAIN. I had stood on the highest point in all Japan and lived to tell the tale...not that it was all that unusual.

An old wise man once said, "He who climbs Mt. Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool." That is very true, I have done it and will never do it a second time.