25 ~ 26 August 2012
#19
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Subashiri (5th Station)
[JF, Rumi & Yuka]
#19
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Subashiri (5th Station)
[JF, Rumi & Yuka]
I was climbing with 3 friends JF, Rumi and Yuka all of who were on their first climb. We set out from the Subashiri 5th Station at 19:40 and the plan was to maintain a steady gentle pace all the way to the top with frequent rest breaks along the way. The Subashiri trail was a little more crowded than usual because it was the final weekend of the official climbing season but nothing like the more popular Yoshida trail which gets so crowded that you have to literally queue up and just shuffle along, especially on the approach to the summit.
Yuka seemed to be a little too exuberant and headed of at the front but 30 minutes in she soon realised it was not going to be as easy as the only other mountain she had hiked, Yellow Mountain in China. If you are hiking to the summit without a stopover at one of the huts then it is always advisable to acclimatise to the higher altitude for a couple of hours and set out at a very gentle pace. The high altitude doesn't affect everyone but for some it can cause serious problems.
The views stretching all the way to the horizon as we headed up to the 8th Station were amazingly clear. We could see the lights of cities as far away as Tokyo and the sounds and sights of firework displays of in the distance. Best of all was that there was virtually no wind and the night sky was almost perfectly clear. It was only when we got to the 8th Station that it started to feel cold and windy. The Subashiri trail is fairly sheltered by trees and other shrubs until you get close to the 8th Station.
We had made good progress to 8th Station, probably a little faster than had been necessary but with the time just after 01:00 we had plenty of time to get to the summit. Rumi was feeling the cold so we asked the staff at the final hut if we could spend an hour in the hut. Most huts closer to the summit allow climbers to rest in the huts for a charge of 1000 yen for 1 hour. We only wanted to stay about 30 minutes so Rumi could get out of the cold and we were happy to pay the 1000 yen each but another member of staff demanded we pay the equivalent of a full stay. The huts are always trying to maximize their revenue since they only open for the 2 months but we were not going to pay the 5000 yen each for a full stay so we decided to head on up. The 5 minutes or so inside the hut haggling had proved enough to warm up anyway.
Once past the 8th Station the Subashiri trail continues up what is also the descending trail for the Yoshida trail. About 100 meters to our right we could see climbers heading up on the Yoshida trail. You don't notice the climbers so much as their head lights. All you see is a long line of lights snaking it's way up the mountain and it's only when you get nearer the summit and you look back down that you become aware of the huge numbers of climbers on the mountain. This seems to be the usual pattern at the end of the official 2 month climbing season every year so if you fancy a quieter climb, climb early in the season or midweek.
JF and Rumi headed on up and I kept my pace with Yuka who despite repeated exhortations of wanting to give up also made it to the top where we found JF and Rumi settling themselves down to see the sunrise. Most people gather on the Kawaguchi side but with a constant stream of climbers coming up onto the summit the place we were was going to get more and more crowded. There is a larger more open space to the right of the main buildings at the top but few people venture there to see the sunrise but I thought it would be a better place to see the sunrise. So, we literally pushed and fought our way through the throng of climbers and found a good spot and waited for the sunrise.
There was heavy cloud way out on the distant horizon but everything between Mt. Fuji and the cloud seemed to be amazingly clear. It was probably the clearest I had ever seen it and also the "warmest". Usually on reaching the summit I put on every last scrap of clothing I have just to keep warm. On this occasion I was actually removing several layers even before the sun came up.
Just before the sun makes an appearance the sky puts on an amazing colour show and this happens almost every time. Like the previous weekend the colours were spectacular. The sun appeared from behind cloud and cast the whole summit in sunshine. With it being so clear I expected to see a very sharp shadow on the west side so we headed anti-clockwise around the crater for about 10-15 minutes and found a vantage point to see the shadow. After seeing the shadow we headed back to the main area besides the shops at the summit where most people gather. A continuous stream of climbers was still arriving at the summit even though we had already been on the summit for an hour. We rested for about 45 minutes before heading back down.
The descending trail is a zigzagging trail that often seems never ending. With the large numbers of climbers and the dry conditions there was a lot of dust being thrown up underfoot. At the 8th Station the descending trail splits, left for the Yoshida trail and right for the Subashiri trail. These days there is a clear sign indicating the split but I did once make a mistake and head down the Subashiri trail when I in fact should have been heading down the Yoshida trail. It was also after that that I discovered there was not one but four 5th Stations on Mt. Fuji. Today there was no mistaking and after taking another break we continued on down.
The Subashiri trail continues down connecting with a few of the huts which you pass on the way up before diverging away from the ascending trail and heading straight down to the tree line near to the 5th Station. There is non of the endless zigzagging you have on the descending Yoshida trail instead it seems like an endless straight line all the way down. The sunshine was already quite strong and would remain all the way back to the 5th Station. I continued on without any more breaks and arrived back at the 5th just before 12:00 with the others arriving over an hour later having survived their first climbs up and down Mt. Fuji. The weather conditions had been great and the views on the way up and just before sunrise had been absolutely fantastic.
We took a local bus back down to Gotemba Station and made the long journey back home.