09 ~ 10 July 2012
#16
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida (5th Station)
[First climb 3 months after my second PE (pulmonary embolism) scare]
#16
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida (5th Station)
[First climb 3 months after my second PE (pulmonary embolism) scare]
This would be my first visit to Mt. Fuji 3 months after leaving hospital and recovering from acute pulmonary embolism, my second such incident in 7 years. Whilst I was in hospital there were 2 things I really wanted to do when I got out, one was to see the cherry blossoms and the other was to climb Mt. Fuji again. I left hospital just as the cherry blossoms came into full bloom towards the middle of April. Next on the list was Mt. Fuji but I would have to wait until July when the climbing season started and the snows that remained on the trails had been cleared away.
As I have often done in the past, I went alone. The official climbing season had started a week earlier but it isn't usually until the 3rd or 4th weekend that the crowds really start to build up. I left on the last Keio Highway bus from Shinjuku and arrived at the Yoshida 5th Station just before 22:00. There was just enough time to go into the large souvenir shop that is always the last to close to find a quiet corner to get changed.
A pulmonary embolism can be fatal and after several months of very little physical activity I was not really sure what my physical condition was like and a wiser person would probably test their physical well being in what I can only assume would be a more sensible way. Last year whilst training for the Mt. Fuji Race I had completed the Yoshida trail in 2 hours 10 minutes carrying only a small Camelbak. On this occasion I thought I could give myself 5 hours so I left the 5th Station at 23:00, probably the very last person to leave. I kept a slow steady pace, stopping at every single hut to rest for a short while. I was not exhausting myself but it definitely felt harder than it had ever felt. A few 100 meters from the summit I joined a single line of climbers and it took nearly an hour to finally reach the summit. I crossed under the final gate around 04:30 and then headed a small distance around the crater away from the main area where everyone usually views the sunrise.
I took a look inside the crater which was still full of snow and ice. It felt bitterly cold on the summit so I put on all my layers and just waited. After seeing the sunrise I headed further around the crater to take a look at the Fuji shadow. There I met a Japanese mother and son team. The mother was probably in her late 50's but wearing just a single long sleeve top, clearly a lot sturdier than me. I asked the young man to take my photograph with the shadow in the background and then headed back to the main viewing area and continued non-stop all the way back to the Yoshida 5th Station.
It had felt good to be back on Mt. Fuji again after the PE scare. Prior to being hospitalized and unaware of how serious my condition was I had planned to take a break near the base of Mt. Fuji. It could well have turned out to have been a one way journey.