15 ~ 16 August, 2014
#25
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida(5th Station)
[Unexpected bad weather followed by an amazing sky]
#25
Yoshida (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida(5th Station)
[Unexpected bad weather followed by an amazing sky]
Last weekend Fuji would probably have been the quite an uncomfortable spot to be because Japan and Fuji both were being battered by a typhoon. The winds on Fuji over that weekend were forecast to be 100kph along with heavy rain. Rain, heavy or otherwise makes hiking up Fuji a lot less fun and it usually means that you won't see the sunrise which is one of the main reasons most people climb Fuji. The weather forecast for this planned visit looked perfect. There was very light rain showers (1mm) forecast for Friday evening with clear skies for Saturday morning. Things started as planned but what happened even before I arrived on the summit was quite different. Nevertheless, it made for a great 25th visit to Mt. Fuji.
As usual I took the slow train journey to Mt. Fuji. Between Otsuki and Fujisan Station I found myself sitting in the front carriage and the front seat of a local Fujikyu train. You can glimpse Fuji several times as the train winds it way towards the terminal station at Kawaguchiko. The best view of Fuji is at Mitsutoge Station. Fuji is beautifully framed on all sides with a with scattering of homes in the foreground. I noticed this time that there was also a poster advert on the train which informed visitors to the area of this very fact.
It was a lovely sunny clear day and I arrived at Fujisan Station at around 4 o'clock. The first thing I did was go and buy a round trip ticket to Fuji 5th Station and check the times for the final bus. On a Friday during the climbing season the last bus departs at 18:40. With that done I went back to the station building which includes an outdoor viewing area on the 6th floor. If you use the stairwell to get to the 6th floor the walls are lined with a history of Mt. Fuji which includes old photographs showing how it has developed from mainly a place of pilgrimage into what it is today. From the viewing area I had a very clear view of Fuji, the sky around Fuji was mostly clear with only a few smaller clouds near the summit. Away from Fuji there much more cloud but nothing that would suggest that the forecast would be for nothing more than 1mm of light rain this evening or tonight.
At just after 6 o'clock I made my way to Bus Stop 5 to wait for the 18:40 bus to arrive. If you walk to the end of the bus stop you get another perfect view of Fuji and everything still looked good. As I waited I was joined by 3 others, a young overseas couple dressed in light summer clothes but Fuji climbers for sure. The third person I couldn't quite make out, he was talking to the younger couple until they left to go do something upon which he approached me with hand outstretched and introduced himself and said he was from Myanmar. He had a small pack on his back and was carrying a folded umbrella. He was dressed in jeans, short sleveed shirt and wearing casual shoes. I imagined he was just going to visit the 5th Station but he said he was planning to climb to the summit. My first question was to ask him if he had a headlight and he said he didn't but that he did have a light on his smartphone including an extra battery pack.
For the less prepared it's possible to buy last minute supplies - headlight, gloves, hat, long and short sleeve tops and rain gear at the 5th Station but you are going to be paying a lot more if you do. I suggested to my new friend from Mynamar that he could go to the 100 yen store on the 5th floor of the Fujisan Station building and at least pick up some spare batteries for a headlight which he could buy at the 5th Station. He returned a few minutes later with the wrong size batteries. Asked if he had any drinks or food for the climb, he had none. Buying food and drinks is cheaper before you get to the 5th Station.
I decided I would try and help him. The weather forecast was for very light rain in the evening, clear morning skies and relatively mild temperatues at the top. What my new found friend did have was a good quality weatherproof jacket which would have kept him warm and dry if the weather conditions remained as forecast. I had a spare headlight, other clothing and gloves which I loaned him. He will remain anonymous because I discovered he was a 42 year old visiting spinal surgeon on a 3 month study break in Japan. He had not booked a hotel in the local area before he arrived and had the idea that once he got to the 5th Station he could try and climb and if he couldn't he could find somewhere to stay. I have met and seen many overseas visitors and some Japanese too who turn up to climb Fuji inadequately prepared but this one was possibly the craziest example I am personally familiar with.
We arrived at the 5th Station on time. I suggested to my friend to buy some snacks to take up to the summit and extra water. He had only purchased a single 500ml bottle at the bus station. I had already eaten so he was able to eat in the new restaurant/cafe area before started. It's good to acclimatize a little to the higher alitude before setting out but given the time constraints we decided to leave around 9 o'clock which gave us about 8 hours to reach the summit. Time enough to see the sunrise. On my last visit 3 weeks earlier I had taken 6 hours to walk from the 5th Station to the the summit and then half way around the crater to the other side.
The weather conditions were pretty good. The wind was a little stronger than I had expected but it was relatively warm as we set out at a very slow steady pace. There were not many climbers in part because it was Friday and also because it was coming up to obon weekend. Obon is a period during which many Japanese visit their hometowns and family graves to honour the spirits of their ancestors. We continued at a very slow steady pace stopping often for short breaks. The sky below us was patchy cloud but overhead it was mostly clear and I could make out lots of stars. Around 1:00 AM we were still making reasonably good progress but it had started to rain very lightly. I figured this was the 1mm light shower that had been forecast so wasn't unnecessarily worried. My friend too seemed to be doing reasonably well although we were having to rest more and more. Up near the final 8th station huts the wind had really picked up and the rain was starting to come down a little more strongly.
I was now in full wet weather gear and my friend's jacket was giving him the protection he needed but he had no waterproof trousers. I heard one of the guides saying the weather was much worse on the summit but that it was likely to clear up in time for sunrise. This seemed increasingly unlikely because the weather conditions continued to worsen. On my own I would have remained outside and sheltered as best I could under the eaves of one of the huts. For my friend it was now becoming too hard because his jeans were sodden. The only option remaining was go into one of the huts. In the past I have paid a 1000 yen to go inside for an hour. This time they were refusing this option but asking for 3000 yen for a 3 hour stay. My friend was soon out of his wet jeans and fast asleep. I have only ever stayed in a hut on my very first trip to Fuji and since then I have never stayed again, except for the 1 hour stay many many climbs ago which was under similar but possibly even worse conditions.
Many of the climbers who had rested at the hut since yesterday were out of the spaces reserved for sleeping and now waiting inside for the weather to clear. I couldn't sleep and I actually felt cold so I got up looking for a heater which most of the huts have in the hope of warming myelf up. Unfortunately I couldn't find the any heaters but instead found myself chatting to a German visitor who had stayed in the hut since yesterday. Around 4:30 the heavy rain had stopped but there was still lot of cloud swirling around the summit and where we were. It was impossible to see very far. Had it been raining as heavily as it had been the only option would have been to leave the hut at 6:00 AM and walk back down. As it was it looked like we could at least make it to the summit and then walk down. My friend agreed to this idea. I was back in my gear again and chatting to the German climber who was alone and another solo woman climber from overseas but based in Chiba. Every now and then the cloud would clear because of the strong winds and provide a really fantastic sight of the sunrise which was mostly blocked but the effect of the mist clouds getting swept away and this momentary opening into the sunrise was really great.
While I was chatting away and enjoying these sights I found that my Myanmar friend who had been getting himself ready had now disappeared. The plan was to go to the summit with our 2 new friends but I couldn't find him anywhere. Thankfully we spotted him at the hut a little further down looking up towards us and I beckoned to him to come back up to us. We all then set out for the summit. My 2 new friends seemed to be in much better shape having stayed in the hut since yesterday evening and being better prepared I told them we would catch up again on the summit. My friend from Myanmar was now in a pair of shorts he had brought along. The rain was still falling but it was better than wearing a pair of wet sodden jeans.
From the final huts near the 8th station it is only about 600m or so to the summit but this is often where many climbers start feeling extremely tired, especially those who have climbed all night without a proper break. We were not going to see any sunrise now so there was no rush to make it to the summit. I was walking as slowly as I could to keep in touch with my friend who was close by. He was stopping more and more and at one point just shy of the summit I lost sight of him but continued to the summit. The weather had continued to worsen and the winds in particular were extremely strong. I started getting worried for my friend because he should have been up by now. I found my other 2 friends who after a short break decided it was time to get of the summit. They decided to descend by the same route they had come up and I asked them to tell my other friend to find me on the summit. Almost 30 or 40 minutes or so after I had reached the summit I finally spotted him making his way up the final short stretch to the summit itself. He looked absolutely exhausted when I greeted him again at the top. After eating some hot noodles he seemed to have recovered himself and I was ready and keen to start heading down in case the weather didn't improve.
Thankfully a short while after leaving the summit the weather miraculously just cleared up. The swirling cloud that had mostly obscured everything from the summit had vanished and the view now was of clouds stretching as far as the eye could see below and towering cloud formations here and there above. In between was beautiful blue sky and everywhere bright warm sunshine. The rains had also made the descending trail easier to walk on because in dry conditions the ground is usually very dusty and a lot more difficult to walk on. The fact that many climbers would have descended very soon after reaching the summit or given up making it to the summit, the walk down turned out to be really nice. I was soon out of all my extra layers and enjoying the stunning views all around. The descent when you are tired can feel very hard but when you're surrounded by these kinds of beautiful sights you sometimes witness on and around Fuji the tiredness is soon forgotten. This is one of the main reasons I love visiting Fuji. Not only does the climb provide for a good workout, you can, weather permitting enjoy a sunrise, the amazing Fuji shadow and the sky.
I was no longer worried about my friend and continued at my own pace stopping often to take photographs. Every now and then I would wait for him to catch up and check that he was fine. He looked tired but conditions for returning to the 5th Station were perfect and once past the point where the descending trails for both the Yoshida and Subashiri routes join I was no longer worried that he would be able to make it back to 5th Station even if we no longer walking together. Along the way I stopped and greeted a small Japanese group who turned out to be an extended family - the Yamanishi family. They included a grandmother (Reiko), a husband (Ryo), a wife (Akiko), 2 young girls aged 6 and 9 (Aoi and Chikai) and an aunt Sayaka. They had come to climb Fuji from the north of Japan and had rested in one of the huts overnight but given up on going to the summit because of the poor weather a few hours earlier. They were well prepared and looked in good spirts and it was really nice to share a little time with them.
I had stopped and chatted for probably 15 minutes in which time my friend had joined us and we discovered that Sayaka had recently visited Myanmar so they exchanged contact details. After sharing some candy and snapping a few photographs with the family we waved goodbye and continued on down. Meeting, greeting and talking to fellow climbers is another enjoyable Fuji experience. My friend and I were again walking further apart and when I looked back again I could see that the family we had left behind were now ahead of him. My pack this time had been even heavier than usual because I was carrying my DSLR, an extra lense and tripod. I never did get to use them because of the weather but the extra weight was another reason to stop to rest and take photographs with my small compact camera instead.
After the 7th Station which is basically a rest room area the 5th Station is only about 40 minutes or so away at a slow gentle pace. I stopped for about 10 minutes at the 7th Station to remove some small stones from my shoes and take a final rest. There was no sign of my friend so I continued on and was soon back on the final 1km stretch to the 5th Station. With it being the start of the weekend the larger organized groups were beginning ot make their way up and there were many day visitors too walking along near the start of the trail.
One thing I hadn't seen or maybe noticed so much on previous visitors were the butterflies. Threre were a few species of butterfly which would flit about here and there as I got closer back to the 5th Station. I tried many times to photograph them but each time I was ready to snap them they would flit away. They added an extra joy to my 25th journey. Close up Fuji looks pretty barren but there is wildlife there. On my last visit the bus driver as we left 5th Station and headed down had stopped and drawn our attention to a Japanese serow (or goat-antelope).
I was back at the 5th Station by about 12:15. I got myself cleaned up and checked the time for the first bus down. It was 12:40. My friend was still not back and just to make sure he was OK I continued waiting even after the first bus left. The next bus was 13:25 and just after 1 o'clock I decided I would queue up and head down whether he was back or not. Close to the 5th Station during the climbing season there are lots of people and help is always available so I was not so worried about him anymore. About 13:15 my friend finally made it to the 5th Station. He looked tired but other than that seemed none the worse for his first (and probably last) Mt. Fuji experience. He joined the end of a long queue of other weary Fuji climbers and a few minutes later we were all heading down towards Kawaguchiko and Fujisan stations. We took the train together to Otsuki and there parted company.
It had been an eventful 25th visit to Mt. Fuji to say the least. I had thought I would take some memorable photos of the sunrise and the Fuji shadow. As it was I got to see neither but in their place I was treated to the stunningly beautiful sights in the sky after the sudden storm. They had easily made up for heavy rain and strong winds. The journey to Fuji had also been really great especially the journey between Otsuki and Fujisan stations. It had been a really great trip.
The sudden change in the weather showed again why it is so important to prepare in advance of your visit to Fuji. The weather forecast is almost always accurate on the site I check but it just goes to show that you can't always be sure so please take care and enjoy your own Fuji experiences safely.
Special thanks to the staff and Machiko-san in particular at the Fujiyoshida Tourist Information Center.
As usual I took the slow train journey to Mt. Fuji. Between Otsuki and Fujisan Station I found myself sitting in the front carriage and the front seat of a local Fujikyu train. You can glimpse Fuji several times as the train winds it way towards the terminal station at Kawaguchiko. The best view of Fuji is at Mitsutoge Station. Fuji is beautifully framed on all sides with a with scattering of homes in the foreground. I noticed this time that there was also a poster advert on the train which informed visitors to the area of this very fact.
It was a lovely sunny clear day and I arrived at Fujisan Station at around 4 o'clock. The first thing I did was go and buy a round trip ticket to Fuji 5th Station and check the times for the final bus. On a Friday during the climbing season the last bus departs at 18:40. With that done I went back to the station building which includes an outdoor viewing area on the 6th floor. If you use the stairwell to get to the 6th floor the walls are lined with a history of Mt. Fuji which includes old photographs showing how it has developed from mainly a place of pilgrimage into what it is today. From the viewing area I had a very clear view of Fuji, the sky around Fuji was mostly clear with only a few smaller clouds near the summit. Away from Fuji there much more cloud but nothing that would suggest that the forecast would be for nothing more than 1mm of light rain this evening or tonight.
At just after 6 o'clock I made my way to Bus Stop 5 to wait for the 18:40 bus to arrive. If you walk to the end of the bus stop you get another perfect view of Fuji and everything still looked good. As I waited I was joined by 3 others, a young overseas couple dressed in light summer clothes but Fuji climbers for sure. The third person I couldn't quite make out, he was talking to the younger couple until they left to go do something upon which he approached me with hand outstretched and introduced himself and said he was from Myanmar. He had a small pack on his back and was carrying a folded umbrella. He was dressed in jeans, short sleveed shirt and wearing casual shoes. I imagined he was just going to visit the 5th Station but he said he was planning to climb to the summit. My first question was to ask him if he had a headlight and he said he didn't but that he did have a light on his smartphone including an extra battery pack.
For the less prepared it's possible to buy last minute supplies - headlight, gloves, hat, long and short sleeve tops and rain gear at the 5th Station but you are going to be paying a lot more if you do. I suggested to my new friend from Mynamar that he could go to the 100 yen store on the 5th floor of the Fujisan Station building and at least pick up some spare batteries for a headlight which he could buy at the 5th Station. He returned a few minutes later with the wrong size batteries. Asked if he had any drinks or food for the climb, he had none. Buying food and drinks is cheaper before you get to the 5th Station.
I decided I would try and help him. The weather forecast was for very light rain in the evening, clear morning skies and relatively mild temperatues at the top. What my new found friend did have was a good quality weatherproof jacket which would have kept him warm and dry if the weather conditions remained as forecast. I had a spare headlight, other clothing and gloves which I loaned him. He will remain anonymous because I discovered he was a 42 year old visiting spinal surgeon on a 3 month study break in Japan. He had not booked a hotel in the local area before he arrived and had the idea that once he got to the 5th Station he could try and climb and if he couldn't he could find somewhere to stay. I have met and seen many overseas visitors and some Japanese too who turn up to climb Fuji inadequately prepared but this one was possibly the craziest example I am personally familiar with.
We arrived at the 5th Station on time. I suggested to my friend to buy some snacks to take up to the summit and extra water. He had only purchased a single 500ml bottle at the bus station. I had already eaten so he was able to eat in the new restaurant/cafe area before started. It's good to acclimatize a little to the higher alitude before setting out but given the time constraints we decided to leave around 9 o'clock which gave us about 8 hours to reach the summit. Time enough to see the sunrise. On my last visit 3 weeks earlier I had taken 6 hours to walk from the 5th Station to the the summit and then half way around the crater to the other side.
The weather conditions were pretty good. The wind was a little stronger than I had expected but it was relatively warm as we set out at a very slow steady pace. There were not many climbers in part because it was Friday and also because it was coming up to obon weekend. Obon is a period during which many Japanese visit their hometowns and family graves to honour the spirits of their ancestors. We continued at a very slow steady pace stopping often for short breaks. The sky below us was patchy cloud but overhead it was mostly clear and I could make out lots of stars. Around 1:00 AM we were still making reasonably good progress but it had started to rain very lightly. I figured this was the 1mm light shower that had been forecast so wasn't unnecessarily worried. My friend too seemed to be doing reasonably well although we were having to rest more and more. Up near the final 8th station huts the wind had really picked up and the rain was starting to come down a little more strongly.
I was now in full wet weather gear and my friend's jacket was giving him the protection he needed but he had no waterproof trousers. I heard one of the guides saying the weather was much worse on the summit but that it was likely to clear up in time for sunrise. This seemed increasingly unlikely because the weather conditions continued to worsen. On my own I would have remained outside and sheltered as best I could under the eaves of one of the huts. For my friend it was now becoming too hard because his jeans were sodden. The only option remaining was go into one of the huts. In the past I have paid a 1000 yen to go inside for an hour. This time they were refusing this option but asking for 3000 yen for a 3 hour stay. My friend was soon out of his wet jeans and fast asleep. I have only ever stayed in a hut on my very first trip to Fuji and since then I have never stayed again, except for the 1 hour stay many many climbs ago which was under similar but possibly even worse conditions.
Many of the climbers who had rested at the hut since yesterday were out of the spaces reserved for sleeping and now waiting inside for the weather to clear. I couldn't sleep and I actually felt cold so I got up looking for a heater which most of the huts have in the hope of warming myelf up. Unfortunately I couldn't find the any heaters but instead found myself chatting to a German visitor who had stayed in the hut since yesterday. Around 4:30 the heavy rain had stopped but there was still lot of cloud swirling around the summit and where we were. It was impossible to see very far. Had it been raining as heavily as it had been the only option would have been to leave the hut at 6:00 AM and walk back down. As it was it looked like we could at least make it to the summit and then walk down. My friend agreed to this idea. I was back in my gear again and chatting to the German climber who was alone and another solo woman climber from overseas but based in Chiba. Every now and then the cloud would clear because of the strong winds and provide a really fantastic sight of the sunrise which was mostly blocked but the effect of the mist clouds getting swept away and this momentary opening into the sunrise was really great.
While I was chatting away and enjoying these sights I found that my Myanmar friend who had been getting himself ready had now disappeared. The plan was to go to the summit with our 2 new friends but I couldn't find him anywhere. Thankfully we spotted him at the hut a little further down looking up towards us and I beckoned to him to come back up to us. We all then set out for the summit. My 2 new friends seemed to be in much better shape having stayed in the hut since yesterday evening and being better prepared I told them we would catch up again on the summit. My friend from Myanmar was now in a pair of shorts he had brought along. The rain was still falling but it was better than wearing a pair of wet sodden jeans.
From the final huts near the 8th station it is only about 600m or so to the summit but this is often where many climbers start feeling extremely tired, especially those who have climbed all night without a proper break. We were not going to see any sunrise now so there was no rush to make it to the summit. I was walking as slowly as I could to keep in touch with my friend who was close by. He was stopping more and more and at one point just shy of the summit I lost sight of him but continued to the summit. The weather had continued to worsen and the winds in particular were extremely strong. I started getting worried for my friend because he should have been up by now. I found my other 2 friends who after a short break decided it was time to get of the summit. They decided to descend by the same route they had come up and I asked them to tell my other friend to find me on the summit. Almost 30 or 40 minutes or so after I had reached the summit I finally spotted him making his way up the final short stretch to the summit itself. He looked absolutely exhausted when I greeted him again at the top. After eating some hot noodles he seemed to have recovered himself and I was ready and keen to start heading down in case the weather didn't improve.
Thankfully a short while after leaving the summit the weather miraculously just cleared up. The swirling cloud that had mostly obscured everything from the summit had vanished and the view now was of clouds stretching as far as the eye could see below and towering cloud formations here and there above. In between was beautiful blue sky and everywhere bright warm sunshine. The rains had also made the descending trail easier to walk on because in dry conditions the ground is usually very dusty and a lot more difficult to walk on. The fact that many climbers would have descended very soon after reaching the summit or given up making it to the summit, the walk down turned out to be really nice. I was soon out of all my extra layers and enjoying the stunning views all around. The descent when you are tired can feel very hard but when you're surrounded by these kinds of beautiful sights you sometimes witness on and around Fuji the tiredness is soon forgotten. This is one of the main reasons I love visiting Fuji. Not only does the climb provide for a good workout, you can, weather permitting enjoy a sunrise, the amazing Fuji shadow and the sky.
I was no longer worried about my friend and continued at my own pace stopping often to take photographs. Every now and then I would wait for him to catch up and check that he was fine. He looked tired but conditions for returning to the 5th Station were perfect and once past the point where the descending trails for both the Yoshida and Subashiri routes join I was no longer worried that he would be able to make it back to 5th Station even if we no longer walking together. Along the way I stopped and greeted a small Japanese group who turned out to be an extended family - the Yamanishi family. They included a grandmother (Reiko), a husband (Ryo), a wife (Akiko), 2 young girls aged 6 and 9 (Aoi and Chikai) and an aunt Sayaka. They had come to climb Fuji from the north of Japan and had rested in one of the huts overnight but given up on going to the summit because of the poor weather a few hours earlier. They were well prepared and looked in good spirts and it was really nice to share a little time with them.
I had stopped and chatted for probably 15 minutes in which time my friend had joined us and we discovered that Sayaka had recently visited Myanmar so they exchanged contact details. After sharing some candy and snapping a few photographs with the family we waved goodbye and continued on down. Meeting, greeting and talking to fellow climbers is another enjoyable Fuji experience. My friend and I were again walking further apart and when I looked back again I could see that the family we had left behind were now ahead of him. My pack this time had been even heavier than usual because I was carrying my DSLR, an extra lense and tripod. I never did get to use them because of the weather but the extra weight was another reason to stop to rest and take photographs with my small compact camera instead.
After the 7th Station which is basically a rest room area the 5th Station is only about 40 minutes or so away at a slow gentle pace. I stopped for about 10 minutes at the 7th Station to remove some small stones from my shoes and take a final rest. There was no sign of my friend so I continued on and was soon back on the final 1km stretch to the 5th Station. With it being the start of the weekend the larger organized groups were beginning ot make their way up and there were many day visitors too walking along near the start of the trail.
One thing I hadn't seen or maybe noticed so much on previous visitors were the butterflies. Threre were a few species of butterfly which would flit about here and there as I got closer back to the 5th Station. I tried many times to photograph them but each time I was ready to snap them they would flit away. They added an extra joy to my 25th journey. Close up Fuji looks pretty barren but there is wildlife there. On my last visit the bus driver as we left 5th Station and headed down had stopped and drawn our attention to a Japanese serow (or goat-antelope).
I was back at the 5th Station by about 12:15. I got myself cleaned up and checked the time for the first bus down. It was 12:40. My friend was still not back and just to make sure he was OK I continued waiting even after the first bus left. The next bus was 13:25 and just after 1 o'clock I decided I would queue up and head down whether he was back or not. Close to the 5th Station during the climbing season there are lots of people and help is always available so I was not so worried about him anymore. About 13:15 my friend finally made it to the 5th Station. He looked tired but other than that seemed none the worse for his first (and probably last) Mt. Fuji experience. He joined the end of a long queue of other weary Fuji climbers and a few minutes later we were all heading down towards Kawaguchiko and Fujisan stations. We took the train together to Otsuki and there parted company.
It had been an eventful 25th visit to Mt. Fuji to say the least. I had thought I would take some memorable photos of the sunrise and the Fuji shadow. As it was I got to see neither but in their place I was treated to the stunningly beautiful sights in the sky after the sudden storm. They had easily made up for heavy rain and strong winds. The journey to Fuji had also been really great especially the journey between Otsuki and Fujisan stations. It had been a really great trip.
The sudden change in the weather showed again why it is so important to prepare in advance of your visit to Fuji. The weather forecast is almost always accurate on the site I check but it just goes to show that you can't always be sure so please take care and enjoy your own Fuji experiences safely.
Special thanks to the staff and Machiko-san in particular at the Fujiyoshida Tourist Information Center.