20 ~ 21 September, 2014
#26
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida (5th Station)
[A starry night sky and ice crystals]
#26
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Yoshida (5th Station)
[A starry night sky and ice crystals]
The plan has been for some time now to get to the top early enough to see the sunset. Sunsets are often as amazing as the sunrises if not better. The weather forecast last weekend had not presented the best chance to see a sunset so I had given up the idea of climbing Fuji. The forecast for this trip however, was for cloud at the top which I hoped would clear so I could see something of a sunset. The forecast for sunrise looked reasonably good.
With the climbing season officially ending last weekend I was not expecting so many people on the trails this weekend. I decided to start at the Subashiri 5th Station rather than my usual start point, the Yoshida 5th Station. On the Gotemba Line train to Gotemba there seemed to be several climbers. One of a group of 4 older Japanese climbers commented on the size of my backpack and asked if I was going to climb Fuji to which I answered yes. When I asked if he planned to do the same he told me he and his group were planning to hike around the Subashiri 5th Station in search of mushrooms. The bus from Gotemba to the 5th Station was not particularly busy and most looked like they were day visitors, most likely mushroom hunters.
As I got of the bus there was a chill in the air already because the temperatures were forecast to be in the very low single digits. There were very few people at the 5th Station. The owner of the very first store that makes up a row of about 3 or 4 shops offered the few who had got of the bus a hot cup of mushroom tea which tasted really great. Having finished my tea I was actually on my way towards the trail within about 5 minutes of getting of the bus. I was dressed in long sleeve top with a short sleeve top over that. I just had to put on my woolly hat and some gloves.
The lower part of the Subashiri trail is made up of a combination of a rocky trail and later a wooded trail. I was tracking my progress on my GPS watch and would discover that the length of the trail to the summit is similiar to the the Yoshida trail even though it starts at 2000m as opposed to 2300m for the Yoshida trail. The Subashiri trail seems to take a much steeper route. I met very few people on the trail but came across a few smaller groups at the first rest hut which was still open for business. I stopped there for a water break and was soon on my way again. The weather was overcast but there was little wind so the going was relatively easy in that respect. Once I cleared the tree line I could see look up towards the summit and could see that it was covered in cloud. I hoped it would be clear by the time I got to the top.
I continued at a steady pace and the plan was, weather conditions at the top permitting, to walk around to the opposite end of the crater before sunset. I had set out 11:30 and sunset was around 17:45. That gave me a reasonable amount of time to get around. In the past I have walked up the Subashiri trail in about 3:40 when I've been alone so I figured about 5 hours would see me OK. The trail becomes markedly steeper when it joins the Yoshida trail around the Yoshida 7th Station. I sometimes skip to the ascending Subashiri trail to avoid the crowds on the Yoshida trail but I decided to do the reverse to avoid the steep incline of the Subashiri trail from this point upwards.
I stopped near the last of the 8th Station huts for a break and for something to eat. I also put on an extra layer and my windproof jacket. Last year at about the same time I had arrived on the summit having worked up a sweat and not wearing any gloves. The lower temperatures on the summit and the wind chill and caused me and my hands particularly to get extremely cold. This time I wanted to avoid that. I was passed by 2 climbers as I was resting. One of them asked me where I was from and I said England. Most Japanese climbers are often curious about where non-Japanese climbers are from. They didn't stop to chat and were soon gone. A few minutes later I continued on up and could see the pair of them ahead of me but they seemed in much better shape and were soon nearing the summit and out of sight. I felt far less energetic that I usually do and mentally had to push myself to each turn where I would take a quick rest before heading to the next turn. Once you see the final shrine gate you know you are also there and there are only a few turns to make.
The first sight is usually the gate and the 2 lion guardians as you near the summit on the Yoshida side. The weather which I had hoped would clear up a little had actually clouded over even more. It looked like I was in a fog and visibility was not so great. I continued onto the summit and passed the 2 climbers who passed me a short while earlier. I continued to the place where I had set up myself up last year when I spent nights on the summit. There was absolutely no one around. The spot I had used previously was empty. It was just the raised step under the eaves of one of the buildings. I quickly put on an extra jacket and arranged my sleeping mat and sleeping bag inside my makeshift bivvy bag.
As I was finishing of the other 2 climbers came over and started to chat to me about whether I was going to stay on the summit. When I asked them what they planned to do they told me they were going to return to the Yoshida 5th Station and sleep in their tents. There are lockers at the 5th Station so they had left their tents back there. They seemed concerned about the cold and the older of the 2 gave me his self heating pack which can provide warmth for your hands or wherever you place the pack. He asked his companion to give me one of his too. I in return just offered some of my snacks to them. I was thinking why they didn't want to see the sunrise and asked if they were going to come back up again. To some that would have sounded like a crazy question to ask but I have been up and down the Yoshida trail twice in one day on more than one occasion. They said no so I told them to take care on the way down, to which they replied, you take more care !
I removed my boots and got into my sleeping bag and tried to keep my hands warm. My body was fine but my feet and hands felt just a little cold but nothing like last year. My only concern was that the weather could worsen. The cloud was just like a gentle swirling mist and I hoped that it would stay that way or just clear up. Rain would have made things very uncomfortable. I had not slept much the previous few days so I hope I would be able to fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, I would not fall asleep at all. I think I may have nodded of for a few minutes once in a while but mostly I would keep turning this way and that.
Around 11 o'clock I noticed what looked like stars peeking through the mist and then disappearing again. The cloud was beginning to break up and the wind which was pretty gentle to non-exisitent was slowly clearing the cloud away. Around midnight I saw the headlights of a couple of climbers and they seemed to be looking for something and then continued on past and were gone. I figured they had gone back down the descending trail like my 2 friends earlier. In the morning I would discover that they had in fact set themselves up in a tent in a position that was not visible to me. I had assumed until the early morning when more climbers arrived that I was the only one on the summit.
As the night drew on the cloud had completely disappeared and as forecast I was seeing a clear night sky full of countless stars. In the past I have noticed that if you focus your attention on a part of the sky you are usually rewarded with the sight of a shooting star. The first one I saw seemed to be a long time in making an appearance but over the course of the night I managed to see about 4 or 5 clearly and many more which I barely caught sight of. I got up several times around 03:00 to try and photograph the appearance of the moon and the lights of the towns below. Without a tripod it was not a very successful endeavour but just the sight of the distance lights, the stars above and the sliver of a moon was quite mesmerizing.
Around 03:30 the first group of the small number of groups that would turn up on the summit appeared. They appeared to be 4 young American guys and all spoke of how cold it was. Thankfully I was reasonably snug in my sleeping bag and just listened to their conversation about what time the sun would come up. They were guessing it would be about 05:00 but the site I had checked shown it to be around 05:30. The colours just before sunrise are usually really worth enjoying so I got out of my sleeping bag put on my windproof jacket and trousers and took some photographs as best I could with my cold hands.
By the time the sun did come up there were probably about 25 people on the summit, far less than you ever get on a typical morning during the climbing season. The sunrise was not as impressive as many I have seen but the main wish was for the sun to come up and warm things up. However, even after the sun came up the chill remained. I had not slept at all and under different circumstances I would have wanted to look at the Fuji shadow but today I just wanted to go back down again. I had been on the summit now 13 hours so I packed everything away and removed most of my extra layers and then joined the down trail and headed for the Yoshida 5th Station. The plan was to try and catch one of the Highway buses back to Shinjuku rather than take the longer train journey home.
There were very few climbers heading down so it was easy to concentrate on the great views you see as you come back down. Lake Yamanaka in particular looked interesting with it's own little cloud system. There were none of the huge clouds I saw on my last visit but the sky was a beautiful blue which created this huge expanse of sky. The best thing this time was the way the mountain ranges appear as different shades. That effect has always been something I have enjoyed on my many visits to Fuji.
I continued on down at a steady pace and at a particularly steep bit I lost my footing and found myself sat on my backside. My left hand had taken the brunt of my slip but it wasn't anything serious. I never use hiking poles so my footing is often a little over cautious which can actually incease the risk of losing your footing. It was probably only the second time it had ever happened and I couldn't remember the last. Anyway it didn't change anything and I continued on down at my usual steady pace. The 7th Station rest area is the usual target to look for because once you pass there you are more or less home within the next hour or so. I stopped there to finish the remainder of the apple I had started eating as I took rest breaks. Next stop would be the 5th Station.
As I crossed over the roped off section that marks the start of the trail I stopped to read a large message telling climbers that the official climbing season ended 15th September and that climbers should be extra careful of the dangers given the lack of help available outside of the climbing season. The start of the trail head is about 1km from the 5th Station. As I was reading the notice a Japanese climber had approached from a different descending trail and greeted me in English. The two of us had then continued on together and I discovered that he was a local man and he had started out from near Fujisan Station and made his way to the summit. The old traditional route is way down near the bottom of Fuji and goes via Sengen Shrine. He said he had felt too tired to return all the way back to Fujisan Station on foot so was going to take the bus down from the Yoshida 5th Station.
I asked if he had made his way around the crater to see the Fuji shadow. It turned out he had no knowledge at all of the Fuji shadow despite having made 7 trips to the summit. He had his smartphone with him so I asked him to enter the URL for this website and was totally amazed at the sight to of the shadow which he said he had no idea about at all. When we got to the 5th Station I asked if he minded me taking his photograph so I could include it along with this story. He sat on the ground near the horses and struck and pose and the photo below is of Kaz and next year he plans to hike up to see the shadow for himself.
I had planned to catch the Highway Bus back to Shinjuku but the Bus Information booth was still closed and looking at the timetable there were in fact only 2 scheduled buses with the first at 13:00. We had arrived back at 5th Station at 09:30 and the 09:40 would be leaving soon. I knew the journey back by train would be long but it was better than waiting until 13:00 and risking not even getting a seat so I got on the bus with Kaz and an hour or later we were at Fujisan Station. We said our goodbyes and not soon after I was sat on the small train heading back towards Otsuki. After 3 more stops and changes I was back home again having completed my 26th trip to Fuji.
The highlight was probably the beautiful night sky and the landscape that is now so familiar to me.
With the climbing season officially ending last weekend I was not expecting so many people on the trails this weekend. I decided to start at the Subashiri 5th Station rather than my usual start point, the Yoshida 5th Station. On the Gotemba Line train to Gotemba there seemed to be several climbers. One of a group of 4 older Japanese climbers commented on the size of my backpack and asked if I was going to climb Fuji to which I answered yes. When I asked if he planned to do the same he told me he and his group were planning to hike around the Subashiri 5th Station in search of mushrooms. The bus from Gotemba to the 5th Station was not particularly busy and most looked like they were day visitors, most likely mushroom hunters.
As I got of the bus there was a chill in the air already because the temperatures were forecast to be in the very low single digits. There were very few people at the 5th Station. The owner of the very first store that makes up a row of about 3 or 4 shops offered the few who had got of the bus a hot cup of mushroom tea which tasted really great. Having finished my tea I was actually on my way towards the trail within about 5 minutes of getting of the bus. I was dressed in long sleeve top with a short sleeve top over that. I just had to put on my woolly hat and some gloves.
The lower part of the Subashiri trail is made up of a combination of a rocky trail and later a wooded trail. I was tracking my progress on my GPS watch and would discover that the length of the trail to the summit is similiar to the the Yoshida trail even though it starts at 2000m as opposed to 2300m for the Yoshida trail. The Subashiri trail seems to take a much steeper route. I met very few people on the trail but came across a few smaller groups at the first rest hut which was still open for business. I stopped there for a water break and was soon on my way again. The weather was overcast but there was little wind so the going was relatively easy in that respect. Once I cleared the tree line I could see look up towards the summit and could see that it was covered in cloud. I hoped it would be clear by the time I got to the top.
I continued at a steady pace and the plan was, weather conditions at the top permitting, to walk around to the opposite end of the crater before sunset. I had set out 11:30 and sunset was around 17:45. That gave me a reasonable amount of time to get around. In the past I have walked up the Subashiri trail in about 3:40 when I've been alone so I figured about 5 hours would see me OK. The trail becomes markedly steeper when it joins the Yoshida trail around the Yoshida 7th Station. I sometimes skip to the ascending Subashiri trail to avoid the crowds on the Yoshida trail but I decided to do the reverse to avoid the steep incline of the Subashiri trail from this point upwards.
I stopped near the last of the 8th Station huts for a break and for something to eat. I also put on an extra layer and my windproof jacket. Last year at about the same time I had arrived on the summit having worked up a sweat and not wearing any gloves. The lower temperatures on the summit and the wind chill and caused me and my hands particularly to get extremely cold. This time I wanted to avoid that. I was passed by 2 climbers as I was resting. One of them asked me where I was from and I said England. Most Japanese climbers are often curious about where non-Japanese climbers are from. They didn't stop to chat and were soon gone. A few minutes later I continued on up and could see the pair of them ahead of me but they seemed in much better shape and were soon nearing the summit and out of sight. I felt far less energetic that I usually do and mentally had to push myself to each turn where I would take a quick rest before heading to the next turn. Once you see the final shrine gate you know you are also there and there are only a few turns to make.
The first sight is usually the gate and the 2 lion guardians as you near the summit on the Yoshida side. The weather which I had hoped would clear up a little had actually clouded over even more. It looked like I was in a fog and visibility was not so great. I continued onto the summit and passed the 2 climbers who passed me a short while earlier. I continued to the place where I had set up myself up last year when I spent nights on the summit. There was absolutely no one around. The spot I had used previously was empty. It was just the raised step under the eaves of one of the buildings. I quickly put on an extra jacket and arranged my sleeping mat and sleeping bag inside my makeshift bivvy bag.
As I was finishing of the other 2 climbers came over and started to chat to me about whether I was going to stay on the summit. When I asked them what they planned to do they told me they were going to return to the Yoshida 5th Station and sleep in their tents. There are lockers at the 5th Station so they had left their tents back there. They seemed concerned about the cold and the older of the 2 gave me his self heating pack which can provide warmth for your hands or wherever you place the pack. He asked his companion to give me one of his too. I in return just offered some of my snacks to them. I was thinking why they didn't want to see the sunrise and asked if they were going to come back up again. To some that would have sounded like a crazy question to ask but I have been up and down the Yoshida trail twice in one day on more than one occasion. They said no so I told them to take care on the way down, to which they replied, you take more care !
I removed my boots and got into my sleeping bag and tried to keep my hands warm. My body was fine but my feet and hands felt just a little cold but nothing like last year. My only concern was that the weather could worsen. The cloud was just like a gentle swirling mist and I hoped that it would stay that way or just clear up. Rain would have made things very uncomfortable. I had not slept much the previous few days so I hope I would be able to fall asleep quickly. Unfortunately, I would not fall asleep at all. I think I may have nodded of for a few minutes once in a while but mostly I would keep turning this way and that.
Around 11 o'clock I noticed what looked like stars peeking through the mist and then disappearing again. The cloud was beginning to break up and the wind which was pretty gentle to non-exisitent was slowly clearing the cloud away. Around midnight I saw the headlights of a couple of climbers and they seemed to be looking for something and then continued on past and were gone. I figured they had gone back down the descending trail like my 2 friends earlier. In the morning I would discover that they had in fact set themselves up in a tent in a position that was not visible to me. I had assumed until the early morning when more climbers arrived that I was the only one on the summit.
As the night drew on the cloud had completely disappeared and as forecast I was seeing a clear night sky full of countless stars. In the past I have noticed that if you focus your attention on a part of the sky you are usually rewarded with the sight of a shooting star. The first one I saw seemed to be a long time in making an appearance but over the course of the night I managed to see about 4 or 5 clearly and many more which I barely caught sight of. I got up several times around 03:00 to try and photograph the appearance of the moon and the lights of the towns below. Without a tripod it was not a very successful endeavour but just the sight of the distance lights, the stars above and the sliver of a moon was quite mesmerizing.
Around 03:30 the first group of the small number of groups that would turn up on the summit appeared. They appeared to be 4 young American guys and all spoke of how cold it was. Thankfully I was reasonably snug in my sleeping bag and just listened to their conversation about what time the sun would come up. They were guessing it would be about 05:00 but the site I had checked shown it to be around 05:30. The colours just before sunrise are usually really worth enjoying so I got out of my sleeping bag put on my windproof jacket and trousers and took some photographs as best I could with my cold hands.
By the time the sun did come up there were probably about 25 people on the summit, far less than you ever get on a typical morning during the climbing season. The sunrise was not as impressive as many I have seen but the main wish was for the sun to come up and warm things up. However, even after the sun came up the chill remained. I had not slept at all and under different circumstances I would have wanted to look at the Fuji shadow but today I just wanted to go back down again. I had been on the summit now 13 hours so I packed everything away and removed most of my extra layers and then joined the down trail and headed for the Yoshida 5th Station. The plan was to try and catch one of the Highway buses back to Shinjuku rather than take the longer train journey home.
There were very few climbers heading down so it was easy to concentrate on the great views you see as you come back down. Lake Yamanaka in particular looked interesting with it's own little cloud system. There were none of the huge clouds I saw on my last visit but the sky was a beautiful blue which created this huge expanse of sky. The best thing this time was the way the mountain ranges appear as different shades. That effect has always been something I have enjoyed on my many visits to Fuji.
I continued on down at a steady pace and at a particularly steep bit I lost my footing and found myself sat on my backside. My left hand had taken the brunt of my slip but it wasn't anything serious. I never use hiking poles so my footing is often a little over cautious which can actually incease the risk of losing your footing. It was probably only the second time it had ever happened and I couldn't remember the last. Anyway it didn't change anything and I continued on down at my usual steady pace. The 7th Station rest area is the usual target to look for because once you pass there you are more or less home within the next hour or so. I stopped there to finish the remainder of the apple I had started eating as I took rest breaks. Next stop would be the 5th Station.
As I crossed over the roped off section that marks the start of the trail I stopped to read a large message telling climbers that the official climbing season ended 15th September and that climbers should be extra careful of the dangers given the lack of help available outside of the climbing season. The start of the trail head is about 1km from the 5th Station. As I was reading the notice a Japanese climber had approached from a different descending trail and greeted me in English. The two of us had then continued on together and I discovered that he was a local man and he had started out from near Fujisan Station and made his way to the summit. The old traditional route is way down near the bottom of Fuji and goes via Sengen Shrine. He said he had felt too tired to return all the way back to Fujisan Station on foot so was going to take the bus down from the Yoshida 5th Station.
I asked if he had made his way around the crater to see the Fuji shadow. It turned out he had no knowledge at all of the Fuji shadow despite having made 7 trips to the summit. He had his smartphone with him so I asked him to enter the URL for this website and was totally amazed at the sight to of the shadow which he said he had no idea about at all. When we got to the 5th Station I asked if he minded me taking his photograph so I could include it along with this story. He sat on the ground near the horses and struck and pose and the photo below is of Kaz and next year he plans to hike up to see the shadow for himself.
I had planned to catch the Highway Bus back to Shinjuku but the Bus Information booth was still closed and looking at the timetable there were in fact only 2 scheduled buses with the first at 13:00. We had arrived back at 5th Station at 09:30 and the 09:40 would be leaving soon. I knew the journey back by train would be long but it was better than waiting until 13:00 and risking not even getting a seat so I got on the bus with Kaz and an hour or later we were at Fujisan Station. We said our goodbyes and not soon after I was sat on the small train heading back towards Otsuki. After 3 more stops and changes I was back home again having completed my 26th trip to Fuji.
The highlight was probably the beautiful night sky and the landscape that is now so familiar to me.