Don't be a Foo', G Part I

Back entry for July 11 2008

About a week before the 11th, Eee-chan (dubbed this by my host mother because of his propensity to do the "eeeEEE?" sound that Japanese girls make when expressing surprise...shudder) approached myself and TBA chan about a trip to Fuji-san. Fuji being a rather popular site with a supposed amazing view, we accepted. I also asked the Valley chan to come along for the climb. We had planned the trip so that we would make it to the summit of the mountain at 1 am, which would give us a good 3 hours of sleep before the beautiful Fuji sunrise. We arrived at the 5th station, which is where most hikers start the journey, at around 5-6 pm. After putting our non essentials into a lockers and buying some last minute supplies like walking sticks, we began our journey up Mount Moon...erm I mean Fuji-san (cue dramatic Pokemon music).

We walked for several hours alternating who used the walking sticks, until they were being exclusively used by the girls. Eee-chan and I kept a good pace and we would later find out that we made it hours ahead of schedule. But something that must be noted is the severity of the cold. Once we hit the 8th station or so, the temperature dropped dramatically. It wasn't even so much the temperature itself as the wind chill.

At each station we progressively donned more and more clothing. At the 8th station, I was determined to put on all my remaining spare clothes, and threw on every last shirt I had in my bag. However there was a bit of a problem I hadn't foreseen. I brought a pair of sweats to wear under my jeans, but realized that in order to put them on, I would have to be in my boxers for a few moments. I wasn't overcome by shame or any other such nonsense, but the fear of the cold. But I realized that temporary pain in the now would probably be offset by comfort later on. So I bit my tongue, found a dark place, and striped out of my pants faster than the Hot Cops (if you don't get it you need to watch Arrested Development immediately). There was a momentary black out, or my mind won't let me remember, but it was cold. But I returned to my colleagues successful and now mildly warmer. Eee-chan and I also, for lack of gloves, decided to each wear a pair of socks on their hands. Scoff if you will, but you try making it up Fuji without gloves or a heavy jacket! Circumstances led to the group splitting into two pairs. But I was able to observe some interesting things while sitting at one of the stations. At roughly 1 in the morning a mass exodus not seen since...well Exodus could be seen from my bench. It snaked all along the path up the mountain. Literally hundreds, if not more people were making the late night hike up the mountain, although fortunately our group left before these massive groups and thus were able to enjoy the scenery with relative peace. Most people on making the hike that late wore a flashlight on their forehead of various colors. So as I looked down the side of the mountain, all the hikers made a somewhat beautiful stream of light from close to the 5th station, to where I was. I was also passed by a platoon of Japanese Self Defense Forces soldiers no doubt making the hump up the mountain on some training exercise. This, combined with the bitter cold of sitting outside, and the frequent need to run to the nearby bathroom for warmth, allowed for only a few minutes of sleep here and there. Then the sun rose, and it was an amazing sight. The entire area was lit up and clearly visible. I'm not going to be cliche (this time), and say that the amazing view of the sunrise washed away all the pain. The truth is, that the hike up Fuji-san is exhausting, cold, and painful at times. But the hike a good way to test yourself and your limits and although the sunrise won't strip away the fact that you border on hypothermia, it is still a nice reward and truly a beautiful sight. Besides, looking back on all of it, it was a hell of an adventure. Stay tuned for Part II of my Fuji adventure

Ganbatte,
-DPN

My smile is blinding ne?