28 ~ 29 September, 2013
#23
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida(5th Station)
[A cold peaceful night]
#23
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida(5th Station)
[A cold peaceful night]
I had not really expected to go to Mt. Fuji again so soon after my last visit but after checking the weather forecast a few days earlier I decided it would be a good opportunity to visit one more time in 2013.
I constructed a new bivi bag to give myself extra movement. I got my things together the evening before and left home at 06:40 with the intention of making the earlier 11:10 bus from Fujisan Station. I got to Fujisan Station with plenty of time to spare. From the train between Otsuki and Fujisan I caught glimpses of Mt. Fuji and it was perfectly clear all round. At Fujisan I got myself a burger and fries from Mos Burger - something I hope won't become a habit but I have to say, the staff there are very nice - and then headed to the bus station and got my ticket.
As I waited at the bus stop for the bus to arrive I had a clear view of Mt. Fuji and since seeing a completely cloud free Mt. Fuji from the train a matter of 30 minutes or so earlier, cloud had now started to accumulate from near the middle and was working it's way to the summit. The summit was partially blocked by cloud as the bus set out for the 5th Station. The bus was again full of day visitors and after stopping in Kawaguchiko we headed up to the 5th Station. As we continued further up, the weather changed from clear sunshine to misty cloud. When we arrived at the 5th Station it felt really cold and it was impossible to see the summit at all.
I went into the large souneviour shop and got a hot canned coffee and started wondering if I had made the right decision after all. It crossed my mind a few times that maybe I should just catch the next bus back down and return home. Thankfully that feeling didn't last long and at 12:55 I slowly set out from the 5th Station. Looking up towards the summit which was not visible at all, it looked like it would start to rain. As I continued a little further on I could see Kawaguchiko and the towns around there bathed in sunshine, just like it had been when I was there not too long ago. The weather forecast is rarely wrong so I just continued on hoping things would get better as I got higher.
Although it didn't rain, darker thicker cloud seemed to keep rolling in. There were not many climbers climbing at all and like last weekend there was little activity at the huts. Unlike last week all the huts this week were closed and shuttered. Things however, started to look better when I got up to around 2800m because above me was a lot of blue sky. All the cloud was now below me and it stretched all the way to the horizon. The forecast seemed to be right after all, the summit forecast was predicting clear skies and little or no wind. There was wispish cloud in the sky but as forecasted there was basically no wind.
Last weekend I had failed to make it to the summit in time to see the sunset. This time I felt much more confident I could make it to the summit and make it around to see the sunset. As I got up to the 8th station I passed the last of the few people I had seen climbing up. There were a few people returning from the summit back down the ascending trail and I wondered if anyone would be at the summit like last week as I continued to walk past the 8th Station huts. It was here that I stopped to have my only quick drink break and it was here that I met a Japanese climber who was carrying a really large heavy pack. I asked him if he was going to sleep on the summit. He told me he was planning to sleep outside one of the huts because of the wind. I told him the forecast was for very little wind. He didn't seem too convinced by what I said but as I continued on up, I told him it was just another 1 hour to the summit. I then continued all the way to the summit.
When I arrived at the summit I found one person in his sleeping bag lying on one of the benches. There were no tents like last weekend to be seen anywhere. Thoughts of continuing around the summit were quickly banished though because I was absolutely freezing cold. I had not put on any extra layers as I got higher but the temperature despite the sun being out was extremely cold. I quickly changed out of my slightly sweat soaked tops into dry tops and then put on all my extra layers. I got my bivi bag, sleeping mat and sleeping bag all arranged as quickly as possible. My fingers in particular were absolutely frozen. After taking a short video from the summit I got into my sleeping bag and pressed my cold hands against my body to try and warm them up. Thankfully about an hour later my hands and feet seemed to return to normal. Other than this initial cold, the weather conditions looked really great. The sky was slowly clearing up of the last thin cloud and best of all was that there was basically no wind at all.
I just stayed put in my sleeping bag and watched the horizon changing colour as the sun slowly set. About 60 minutes later I made out the shape of the the man I had passed around the 8th station. It had started to get dark so I waved my head light at him and he came over to chat briefly before heading closer to the summit edge and setting up his tent on one of the benches. Had the wind been like it was last weekend it would not have been a good place to pitch a tent. As it was, it was amazingly calm. I watched him set up up his tent but I didn't chat to him again until sometime the next morning.
I had some sweet snacks some of which I ate and I drank a tiny bottle of sweet sake. That seemed to keep me going for the next 12 hours. Like last weekend I just lay there and looked up at the sky. I had to wait another 12 hours at least before it started to get light. So in between listening to some sleep meditation tracks and looking up at the sky I managed to probably get an hour or two of sleep at most.
The best thing of all was that it was just amazingly peaceful and quiet. I had never known it to be so calm on the summit before. It wasn't until around 3 o'clock in the morning that a few more climbers made their way onto the summit and it was only then that the silent calm was broken. From around 4 o'clock onwards I could make out a faint blue tinge on the horizon and by 5 o'clock I was out of my sleeping bag, in my windproofs and all packed and ready.
I didn't plan to stay on the Yoshida side to watch the sunrise. Instead I wanted to be on the other side to watch the Fuji shadow appear on the horizon and then grow as the sun got higher. I walked over to the man in tent and asked if he had had a cold night and he said he had. I told him I was headed round the crater to the other side to see the shadow and encouraged him to do the same after seeing the sunrise. There was hardly anyone on the summit as I headed anti-clockwise around the summit. There was absolutely no one around the crater and no one further up near the weather station either. As I looked back towards where I had come from I could just make out the shapes of climbers waiting for the sun to come up.
Not soon after I got to the spot from where I would be able to see the Fuji shadow that the first rays of the sun broke over the edge of the crater on the other side. Almost immediately a Fuji shaped shadow appeared on the opposite horizon. The colours in particualar were really fantatsic and as the sun rose higher the shadow got even sharper. Very few people walk around to the other side of the crater to see the shadow and many more don't even know it is there. I was also one of those who didn't know about it for quite a while but I have to say it is one of the most impressive things to see from the summit of Mt. Fuji.
Having seen the shadow and the sunrise I headed back the way I had come and returned to where the man with the tent had been. He was almost all packed up and ready to head down but he stayed and chatted a little with me first. He asked me which way to head down and I pointed in the direction which during the open season is the start of the descending trail. He shook my hand and left. I removed all my extra layers and packed up and was soon on the descending trail myself. I was hoping to catch up with the man in the tent again, just to warn him about the fork in the trail further down which has sometimes caused people to head away in the wrong direction. Unless, he had literally flown down the mountain, I never came across him again and I hoped very much that he had not taken the summit trail by mistake. The start of the descending trail was roped off but other than that it was still "open". Anyway, if nothing else he would have enjoyed a full circuit of the summit which when the weather is like it was this weekend is quite a nice stroll.
I passed a total of about 5 climbers on the way down and other than it seemed I had Fuji all to myself. The weather was really great. The lack of wind and the rains in the past week meant there was non of the dust that flies everywhere when you come down. The views too were really good. I could make out the mountain ranges in the distance and just enjoy a huge vista of cloud below. Without stopping for a break I was back at the 5th Station in a time of 2:12. I had tracked my return on my GPS watch and the total distance down turned out to be 7.75km. Someone confident of their footing would be down well within 2 hours.
The 5th Station was just starting to get busy and after cleaning myself up, I waited for my local bus back down to Fujisan Station. Including me there was only one other passenger that got on. Last weekend the bus was considerably more full. We arrived back down at Fujisan on time and 3 or so hours later I was back home again.
It had been a really great visit to Mt. Fuji again !
I constructed a new bivi bag to give myself extra movement. I got my things together the evening before and left home at 06:40 with the intention of making the earlier 11:10 bus from Fujisan Station. I got to Fujisan Station with plenty of time to spare. From the train between Otsuki and Fujisan I caught glimpses of Mt. Fuji and it was perfectly clear all round. At Fujisan I got myself a burger and fries from Mos Burger - something I hope won't become a habit but I have to say, the staff there are very nice - and then headed to the bus station and got my ticket.
As I waited at the bus stop for the bus to arrive I had a clear view of Mt. Fuji and since seeing a completely cloud free Mt. Fuji from the train a matter of 30 minutes or so earlier, cloud had now started to accumulate from near the middle and was working it's way to the summit. The summit was partially blocked by cloud as the bus set out for the 5th Station. The bus was again full of day visitors and after stopping in Kawaguchiko we headed up to the 5th Station. As we continued further up, the weather changed from clear sunshine to misty cloud. When we arrived at the 5th Station it felt really cold and it was impossible to see the summit at all.
I went into the large souneviour shop and got a hot canned coffee and started wondering if I had made the right decision after all. It crossed my mind a few times that maybe I should just catch the next bus back down and return home. Thankfully that feeling didn't last long and at 12:55 I slowly set out from the 5th Station. Looking up towards the summit which was not visible at all, it looked like it would start to rain. As I continued a little further on I could see Kawaguchiko and the towns around there bathed in sunshine, just like it had been when I was there not too long ago. The weather forecast is rarely wrong so I just continued on hoping things would get better as I got higher.
Although it didn't rain, darker thicker cloud seemed to keep rolling in. There were not many climbers climbing at all and like last weekend there was little activity at the huts. Unlike last week all the huts this week were closed and shuttered. Things however, started to look better when I got up to around 2800m because above me was a lot of blue sky. All the cloud was now below me and it stretched all the way to the horizon. The forecast seemed to be right after all, the summit forecast was predicting clear skies and little or no wind. There was wispish cloud in the sky but as forecasted there was basically no wind.
Last weekend I had failed to make it to the summit in time to see the sunset. This time I felt much more confident I could make it to the summit and make it around to see the sunset. As I got up to the 8th station I passed the last of the few people I had seen climbing up. There were a few people returning from the summit back down the ascending trail and I wondered if anyone would be at the summit like last week as I continued to walk past the 8th Station huts. It was here that I stopped to have my only quick drink break and it was here that I met a Japanese climber who was carrying a really large heavy pack. I asked him if he was going to sleep on the summit. He told me he was planning to sleep outside one of the huts because of the wind. I told him the forecast was for very little wind. He didn't seem too convinced by what I said but as I continued on up, I told him it was just another 1 hour to the summit. I then continued all the way to the summit.
When I arrived at the summit I found one person in his sleeping bag lying on one of the benches. There were no tents like last weekend to be seen anywhere. Thoughts of continuing around the summit were quickly banished though because I was absolutely freezing cold. I had not put on any extra layers as I got higher but the temperature despite the sun being out was extremely cold. I quickly changed out of my slightly sweat soaked tops into dry tops and then put on all my extra layers. I got my bivi bag, sleeping mat and sleeping bag all arranged as quickly as possible. My fingers in particular were absolutely frozen. After taking a short video from the summit I got into my sleeping bag and pressed my cold hands against my body to try and warm them up. Thankfully about an hour later my hands and feet seemed to return to normal. Other than this initial cold, the weather conditions looked really great. The sky was slowly clearing up of the last thin cloud and best of all was that there was basically no wind at all.
I just stayed put in my sleeping bag and watched the horizon changing colour as the sun slowly set. About 60 minutes later I made out the shape of the the man I had passed around the 8th station. It had started to get dark so I waved my head light at him and he came over to chat briefly before heading closer to the summit edge and setting up his tent on one of the benches. Had the wind been like it was last weekend it would not have been a good place to pitch a tent. As it was, it was amazingly calm. I watched him set up up his tent but I didn't chat to him again until sometime the next morning.
I had some sweet snacks some of which I ate and I drank a tiny bottle of sweet sake. That seemed to keep me going for the next 12 hours. Like last weekend I just lay there and looked up at the sky. I had to wait another 12 hours at least before it started to get light. So in between listening to some sleep meditation tracks and looking up at the sky I managed to probably get an hour or two of sleep at most.
The best thing of all was that it was just amazingly peaceful and quiet. I had never known it to be so calm on the summit before. It wasn't until around 3 o'clock in the morning that a few more climbers made their way onto the summit and it was only then that the silent calm was broken. From around 4 o'clock onwards I could make out a faint blue tinge on the horizon and by 5 o'clock I was out of my sleeping bag, in my windproofs and all packed and ready.
I didn't plan to stay on the Yoshida side to watch the sunrise. Instead I wanted to be on the other side to watch the Fuji shadow appear on the horizon and then grow as the sun got higher. I walked over to the man in tent and asked if he had had a cold night and he said he had. I told him I was headed round the crater to the other side to see the shadow and encouraged him to do the same after seeing the sunrise. There was hardly anyone on the summit as I headed anti-clockwise around the summit. There was absolutely no one around the crater and no one further up near the weather station either. As I looked back towards where I had come from I could just make out the shapes of climbers waiting for the sun to come up.
Not soon after I got to the spot from where I would be able to see the Fuji shadow that the first rays of the sun broke over the edge of the crater on the other side. Almost immediately a Fuji shaped shadow appeared on the opposite horizon. The colours in particualar were really fantatsic and as the sun rose higher the shadow got even sharper. Very few people walk around to the other side of the crater to see the shadow and many more don't even know it is there. I was also one of those who didn't know about it for quite a while but I have to say it is one of the most impressive things to see from the summit of Mt. Fuji.
Having seen the shadow and the sunrise I headed back the way I had come and returned to where the man with the tent had been. He was almost all packed up and ready to head down but he stayed and chatted a little with me first. He asked me which way to head down and I pointed in the direction which during the open season is the start of the descending trail. He shook my hand and left. I removed all my extra layers and packed up and was soon on the descending trail myself. I was hoping to catch up with the man in the tent again, just to warn him about the fork in the trail further down which has sometimes caused people to head away in the wrong direction. Unless, he had literally flown down the mountain, I never came across him again and I hoped very much that he had not taken the summit trail by mistake. The start of the descending trail was roped off but other than that it was still "open". Anyway, if nothing else he would have enjoyed a full circuit of the summit which when the weather is like it was this weekend is quite a nice stroll.
I passed a total of about 5 climbers on the way down and other than it seemed I had Fuji all to myself. The weather was really great. The lack of wind and the rains in the past week meant there was non of the dust that flies everywhere when you come down. The views too were really good. I could make out the mountain ranges in the distance and just enjoy a huge vista of cloud below. Without stopping for a break I was back at the 5th Station in a time of 2:12. I had tracked my return on my GPS watch and the total distance down turned out to be 7.75km. Someone confident of their footing would be down well within 2 hours.
The 5th Station was just starting to get busy and after cleaning myself up, I waited for my local bus back down to Fujisan Station. Including me there was only one other passenger that got on. Last weekend the bus was considerably more full. We arrived back down at Fujisan on time and 3 or so hours later I was back home again.
It had been a really great visit to Mt. Fuji again !