11 ~ 12 August, 2016
#32
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Subashiri(5th Station)
[Mountain Day]
#32
Subashiri (5th Station) >> Summit >> Subashiri(5th Station)
[Mountain Day]
Mountain Day was introduced as a new public holiday in Japan in 2014 and falls on August 11. I'd done my last climb just a few weeks early and this provided another opportunity to go once more. The weather forecast predicted light showers on the day but clear skies at the summit the following morning.
The only preparations I made this time were to get extra batteries for my head light and some plastic sheeting to use as a ground sheet in case I decided to snuggle up inside my sleeping bag on the summit. I threw most of my gear into my pack the evening before with the intention of leaving early and heading for the Gotemba 5th Station. I had done the Gotemba Trail only once before and I had been thinking of doing it again for some time.
When I got up in the morning I checked the weather and the only difference was that there was a few extra millimetres of rain forecast during the day. Overall things looked like they would be fine in terms of weather at least. However, for some reason I just couldn't get myself into gear for a very early start and in the end didn't leave home until almost 11 o'clock. With only 3 buses to the Gotemba 5th Station my earliest start now would be around 15:00 if I made the second bus or around 17:30 if I made the last bus.
The thought of walking on an exposed trail in wet conditions was what was probably putting a damper on my spirits so the other option was to head for the Subashiri 5th Station and make a slightly later start. If I was going to get wet then the Subashiri Trail I figured would afford a bit of tree cover on the lower part of the trail. I decided to make my mind up when I got to Gotemba Station where I would need to catch my bus to one or the other 5th Station.
It was a fairly easy journey to Shin-Matsuda where I got of and transferred to the Gotemba Line at Matsuda Station which is just across the street from Shin-Matsuda Station. With a small queue of people buying their tickets from the ticket machine, the slight delay meant that by the time I got up to the platform the Gotemba bound train I was hoping to be on was already pulling away. When I returned and asked the station staff what time the next to Gotemba was I was told it was an express train which meant paying an extra amount on top of the ticket I had already bought. The next local train was not for another 90 minutes.
It had taken me a long time to get myself up and out of my home this morning and it actually occurred to me that I should just head home because the usual enthusiasm I always felt whenever I headed for Mt. Fuji seemed to be strangely lacking for some reason. Thankfully I didn't do that and instead headed away from the station to look for somewhere to eat and spotting an Indian restaurant I headed inside and sat myself down. I like my Japanese food but a bit of spicy Indian food sometimes seems to do wonders so I ordered myself a two curry set with naan bread and asked for 'very spicy'.
I was the only guest in the restaurant. The afternoon lunch time rush had finished the waiter told me. Most Indian restaurants in Japan are for some reason owned and run by Nepalese people. I wasn't really in the mood for talking but I found myself talking to the waiter. He had been working there for 2 years, worked every single day and his shift started early and finished late. We ended up talking about many things, life in Japan, his life in the more remoter part of Japan he was living, yoga, the benefits of an Ayurvedic diet, yoga and a few other things. At some point in the conversation he told me I should visit again on my return from Mt. Fuji the following day because he wanted to give me a special necklace he had. I was happy to return but I wasn't so sure about taking something that might be precious to him. It was time to head back to the station and as I left I told him I would be back the following day.
After a short wait I was on a fairly busy train on my way to Gotemba. I arrived 30 minutes later and plenty of Fuji bound people got off and headed for the exit. I headed first for the ticket office to buy my bus ticket. I had decided I was going to leave the Gotemba Trail for a sunnier day and was going to head instead to the Subashiri 5th Station. The first bus was leaving at 16:00 so I hopped on and an hour later arrived at a very cloudy Subashiri 5th Station. There was a fair number of climbers but not as many as I had expected.
The Subashiri 5th Station is at 2000m and is not as developed as the Yoshida 5th Station which seems to attract the bulk of the visitors given it's closer proximity to Tokyo. There are a few small shops and some seating at the head of the trail and that is about it. An old lady working in the first shop was busy offering hot tea to all new arrivals. I politely declined and sat myself down and stayed put for the next 90 minutes. I didn't want to set off too early and acclimatising a little to the higher altitude is always a good thing.
I watched people come and head up, and others arrive back from the summit and head down. An old man seemed to be doing a very good trade selling wooden staffs to climbers and showing them how the staff could be used to aid ascending and descending the trail. Occasionally the old lady would break away from her hot tea duties and also show climbers how the staff could help. I definitely recalled this slightly built old lady from previous visits but for the first time I noticed how friendly and engaging she was with everyone.
I finally set out at 18:40 and was expecting to be stopped and asked to pay a 1000 yen donation but instead I was waved on by the staff who were there. In the past couple of years I had paid the 1000 yen donation at the Yoshida 5th Station and received a badge and during my last climb from there last month, a small wooden plaque. I figured the Subashiri 5th Station was not collecting a donation so I headed on up and soon joined the wooded trail.
It was starting to get dark and being in the cloud cover meant the headlight was necessary from the start. I met a few climbers coming towards me and as I headed further on I soon found myself alone and whenever I stopped and switched off my headlight I found myself surrounded in darkness. The night sky was nowhere to be seen and the cloud cover I was in diffused the light from my headlight so that visibility looking forward was pretty limited. I just concentrated on taking careful steps and continued on up at a slow steady pace. Occasionally there would be a slightly strong rain shower but the trees seemed to protect me reasonably well.
About 90 minutes later I arrived at the old 6th Station. I stopped to take a break, eat a few M&Ms and take a few sips of my milk tea. I had picked up a few simple snacks, 2 bottles of milk tea and 1 of water. The lunch back at the Indian restaurant seemed to be sustaining me reasonably well. I recognised some of the climbers who I had seen set out before me from the 5th Station. Some of them looked more than a little tired already and they still had a fair old way to go before reaching the summit. Most first time climbers head up too quickly at the start and then start suffering the effects of tiredness and the higher altitude. A heady mixture of enthusiasm and not understanding that a gentle pace gets you to the summit in a better condition. I had learned this myself from experience. The pace I was going at I was expecting to take around 8 hours to get to the summit and that would still be a few hours before sunrise. With my break over I continued on up again.
I continued on up, stopping at the few remaining huts for quick breaks and an extended break outside the very final hut at the 7th Station on the Subashiri Trail. I was in no rush because I still had plenty of time to get to the summit before sunrise. I put on extra layers over the layers I already had on. In the past I had continued on up and put on all my extra layers only when I got near the top. At the top is when you start to feel the chill the most so this time I made sure I avoided that by preparing myself sooner. Protecting yourself against the wind is the most important thing and with the wind stronger than had been forecast protection was a must. On the positive side, I had cleared the cloud cover and above I could see a almost clear starry night sky.
After leaving the 7th Station I went up the final steep little stretch before you join up with the Yoshida Trail. A hut marks the junction separating the two trails. I stopped outside the hut for another break. The time was coming up to midnight and from past experience I knew I could make it to the top in a slow 2 hours or so but I had decided that I didn't want to arrive on the summit too early before sunrise.
Just has I had approached the hut where the 2 trails join my headlight had started to flash on and off which told me that the batteries were about to give out. About a 50m or so before I got to the hut they had given out but thankfully I was able to make my way safely to the hut. I had seen other climbers again without headlights, relying on the light cast by other's in their groups to make their way. The risk of tripping up is really great but almost every trip I seem to see people without headlights. I had already replaced the batteries in my headlight once on the way up and I didn't have a spare set of 4 AA batteries but I had another headlight along with plenty of AAA batteries so I switched to my backup headlight. I always seem to carry an assortment of gear which never gets used and on this trip I had my sleeping bag, 2 rain jackets, 2 fleeces and plenty more besides. Anyway ti is definitely better to be safe than sorry.
As I stood outside the hut I watched I spotted a very elderly couple who appeared to be climbing alone and not part of a larger group. I guessed they were in their 70s given how old they looked. They were kitted out very well and looked to be doing reasonably well except for the look of tiredness which all climbers seem to have as they get closer to the summit. I didn't talk to them but afterwards I wished I had because as I observed them outside the hut they seemed like one of those happy caring life long couples. I wished I had asked them if it was their first time and to tell them that the distance to the top was not that great. The latter point at least would have reassured them that they were not too far from their target and that they still had plenty of time to make it. Anyway, as it was I never did see them again but I'm sure they would have made it to the top and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise together.
After leaving the hut I headed slowly up a very steep stretch and kept stopping every 20-25 meters to catch my breath and recover my energy. My heavy pack was certainly one contributory which slowed my progress but I had noticed on my last few visits that the going had just become a lot harder. My fitness was still reasonably OK but with 2 pulmonary embolisms within the last 5 years my stamina seemed to be lacking. The last PE was in 2015, serious but not as serious as the first two, both of which would have put paid to all Fuji climbing had I not been lucky.
2011 had been the peak of my fitness and it was the year I had successfully completed the Mt. Fuji Summit Race. It was also the year I did a double climb and ascended the Subashiri Trail in 3 hours 50 minutes, descended to the Yoshida 5th Station and then made my way back up to the summit a second time. This climb would see me on the summit after 8 hours and 15 minutes. That said I was in no hurry to get to the top.
As I continued up the ascending Subashiri Trail I could see a long string of headlights stretching up the Yoshida Trail further to my right. My pace was very slow and I was passed by a younger couple who quickly pulled away from me. I continued to stop often and during each of these stops I looked up at the starry sky and was almost always rewarded with the sight of a shooting star. It was maybe another lucky coincidence but August 11th and 12th were peak nights for seeing the Perseid Meteor Shower.
A little further on up the trail I found the young couple lying on the ground, lights out and looking up at the sky. Once in a while one would shout out in delight at seeing a shooting star. From the snatched conversation they seemed to trying to catch the same shooting star. I thought about telling them to look at a particular patch of sky and just wait but as with the elderly couple earlier I didn't say anything. They passed me again a little further on and this time they seemed to think they were on the wrong trail because the Subashiri Trail seemed to be taking us further away from the Yoshida Trail. I reassured them and told them they could keep going straight although straight just meant lots of zig zags to the top. They had plenty of time so I didn't say more.
A little further on I found them again in a horizontal position with eyes focused on the sky again. This time I continued on and left them behind. I was looking forward to coming to the final corner which was marked by a large rock because from there the summit was no more than a slow 10 minutes. I was relieved when I finally caught a glimpse of the rock. It was quite a few more short breaks before I made it to the rock and on one such break I caught a glimpse of a particularly big shooting star which seemed to come vertically straight down and leave a longer denser trail in it's wake. After reaching the large rock I decided to take a longer rest before heading up the final stretch to the summit. As I waited I was joined by the younger couple and this time I told them we were at the last corner and that the summit was very close. With that said I was made my way slowly up the final 200m stretch to the summit on the Yoshida side.
When I got onto the summit the wind was much stronger than it had been on the trail up. It was coming up to 3 o'clock and my plan was to make my way around the summit and to the weather station which actually happens to be the highest spot. A lot of climbers were already assembled on the Yoshida side as I left and made my way clockwise to the weather station. The wind unfortunately was continually gusting across the summit and with more and more people gathering in the relatively small space around the weather station I moved down and a little further to the left and set up my camera on my tripod and waited for the sun to come up.
The sky above was nice and clear and Mt. Fuji was surrounded on all sides by beautiful clouds as far as the eye could see. It was starting to get light and as always the colours just before sunrise turned the sky today a graduated reddish yellowy orange. From where I stood I could see the small silhouetted figures of the climbers on the far side of the summit. From where I wide panoramic view across the crater and all the way to the horizon where the sun was going to come up. The bright orange of the sun slowly began to appear from behind the clouds and in just a matter of a minute or so it was clear of the clouds and warming the summit.
I continued to make my way clockwise to the spot where you get a good view of the Fuji shadow. Maybe because of the atmospheric conditions the shadow was not as sharp or as vivid as I have seen it in the past but the top part of the shadow was cast out on the western horizon and after a few snaps I continue on round all the way back to the Yoshida side which was thronged with people. One a busy weekend it would be thronged to the power of 2 or more. I found a bench and sat myself down and ate a few more snacks and started on my second bottle of milk tea.
At 06:30 I left the crowds behind and joined the descending trail back down to the junction where the Yoshida and Subashiri trails diverge.
The only preparations I made this time were to get extra batteries for my head light and some plastic sheeting to use as a ground sheet in case I decided to snuggle up inside my sleeping bag on the summit. I threw most of my gear into my pack the evening before with the intention of leaving early and heading for the Gotemba 5th Station. I had done the Gotemba Trail only once before and I had been thinking of doing it again for some time.
When I got up in the morning I checked the weather and the only difference was that there was a few extra millimetres of rain forecast during the day. Overall things looked like they would be fine in terms of weather at least. However, for some reason I just couldn't get myself into gear for a very early start and in the end didn't leave home until almost 11 o'clock. With only 3 buses to the Gotemba 5th Station my earliest start now would be around 15:00 if I made the second bus or around 17:30 if I made the last bus.
The thought of walking on an exposed trail in wet conditions was what was probably putting a damper on my spirits so the other option was to head for the Subashiri 5th Station and make a slightly later start. If I was going to get wet then the Subashiri Trail I figured would afford a bit of tree cover on the lower part of the trail. I decided to make my mind up when I got to Gotemba Station where I would need to catch my bus to one or the other 5th Station.
It was a fairly easy journey to Shin-Matsuda where I got of and transferred to the Gotemba Line at Matsuda Station which is just across the street from Shin-Matsuda Station. With a small queue of people buying their tickets from the ticket machine, the slight delay meant that by the time I got up to the platform the Gotemba bound train I was hoping to be on was already pulling away. When I returned and asked the station staff what time the next to Gotemba was I was told it was an express train which meant paying an extra amount on top of the ticket I had already bought. The next local train was not for another 90 minutes.
It had taken me a long time to get myself up and out of my home this morning and it actually occurred to me that I should just head home because the usual enthusiasm I always felt whenever I headed for Mt. Fuji seemed to be strangely lacking for some reason. Thankfully I didn't do that and instead headed away from the station to look for somewhere to eat and spotting an Indian restaurant I headed inside and sat myself down. I like my Japanese food but a bit of spicy Indian food sometimes seems to do wonders so I ordered myself a two curry set with naan bread and asked for 'very spicy'.
I was the only guest in the restaurant. The afternoon lunch time rush had finished the waiter told me. Most Indian restaurants in Japan are for some reason owned and run by Nepalese people. I wasn't really in the mood for talking but I found myself talking to the waiter. He had been working there for 2 years, worked every single day and his shift started early and finished late. We ended up talking about many things, life in Japan, his life in the more remoter part of Japan he was living, yoga, the benefits of an Ayurvedic diet, yoga and a few other things. At some point in the conversation he told me I should visit again on my return from Mt. Fuji the following day because he wanted to give me a special necklace he had. I was happy to return but I wasn't so sure about taking something that might be precious to him. It was time to head back to the station and as I left I told him I would be back the following day.
After a short wait I was on a fairly busy train on my way to Gotemba. I arrived 30 minutes later and plenty of Fuji bound people got off and headed for the exit. I headed first for the ticket office to buy my bus ticket. I had decided I was going to leave the Gotemba Trail for a sunnier day and was going to head instead to the Subashiri 5th Station. The first bus was leaving at 16:00 so I hopped on and an hour later arrived at a very cloudy Subashiri 5th Station. There was a fair number of climbers but not as many as I had expected.
The Subashiri 5th Station is at 2000m and is not as developed as the Yoshida 5th Station which seems to attract the bulk of the visitors given it's closer proximity to Tokyo. There are a few small shops and some seating at the head of the trail and that is about it. An old lady working in the first shop was busy offering hot tea to all new arrivals. I politely declined and sat myself down and stayed put for the next 90 minutes. I didn't want to set off too early and acclimatising a little to the higher altitude is always a good thing.
I watched people come and head up, and others arrive back from the summit and head down. An old man seemed to be doing a very good trade selling wooden staffs to climbers and showing them how the staff could be used to aid ascending and descending the trail. Occasionally the old lady would break away from her hot tea duties and also show climbers how the staff could help. I definitely recalled this slightly built old lady from previous visits but for the first time I noticed how friendly and engaging she was with everyone.
I finally set out at 18:40 and was expecting to be stopped and asked to pay a 1000 yen donation but instead I was waved on by the staff who were there. In the past couple of years I had paid the 1000 yen donation at the Yoshida 5th Station and received a badge and during my last climb from there last month, a small wooden plaque. I figured the Subashiri 5th Station was not collecting a donation so I headed on up and soon joined the wooded trail.
It was starting to get dark and being in the cloud cover meant the headlight was necessary from the start. I met a few climbers coming towards me and as I headed further on I soon found myself alone and whenever I stopped and switched off my headlight I found myself surrounded in darkness. The night sky was nowhere to be seen and the cloud cover I was in diffused the light from my headlight so that visibility looking forward was pretty limited. I just concentrated on taking careful steps and continued on up at a slow steady pace. Occasionally there would be a slightly strong rain shower but the trees seemed to protect me reasonably well.
About 90 minutes later I arrived at the old 6th Station. I stopped to take a break, eat a few M&Ms and take a few sips of my milk tea. I had picked up a few simple snacks, 2 bottles of milk tea and 1 of water. The lunch back at the Indian restaurant seemed to be sustaining me reasonably well. I recognised some of the climbers who I had seen set out before me from the 5th Station. Some of them looked more than a little tired already and they still had a fair old way to go before reaching the summit. Most first time climbers head up too quickly at the start and then start suffering the effects of tiredness and the higher altitude. A heady mixture of enthusiasm and not understanding that a gentle pace gets you to the summit in a better condition. I had learned this myself from experience. The pace I was going at I was expecting to take around 8 hours to get to the summit and that would still be a few hours before sunrise. With my break over I continued on up again.
I continued on up, stopping at the few remaining huts for quick breaks and an extended break outside the very final hut at the 7th Station on the Subashiri Trail. I was in no rush because I still had plenty of time to get to the summit before sunrise. I put on extra layers over the layers I already had on. In the past I had continued on up and put on all my extra layers only when I got near the top. At the top is when you start to feel the chill the most so this time I made sure I avoided that by preparing myself sooner. Protecting yourself against the wind is the most important thing and with the wind stronger than had been forecast protection was a must. On the positive side, I had cleared the cloud cover and above I could see a almost clear starry night sky.
After leaving the 7th Station I went up the final steep little stretch before you join up with the Yoshida Trail. A hut marks the junction separating the two trails. I stopped outside the hut for another break. The time was coming up to midnight and from past experience I knew I could make it to the top in a slow 2 hours or so but I had decided that I didn't want to arrive on the summit too early before sunrise.
Just has I had approached the hut where the 2 trails join my headlight had started to flash on and off which told me that the batteries were about to give out. About a 50m or so before I got to the hut they had given out but thankfully I was able to make my way safely to the hut. I had seen other climbers again without headlights, relying on the light cast by other's in their groups to make their way. The risk of tripping up is really great but almost every trip I seem to see people without headlights. I had already replaced the batteries in my headlight once on the way up and I didn't have a spare set of 4 AA batteries but I had another headlight along with plenty of AAA batteries so I switched to my backup headlight. I always seem to carry an assortment of gear which never gets used and on this trip I had my sleeping bag, 2 rain jackets, 2 fleeces and plenty more besides. Anyway ti is definitely better to be safe than sorry.
As I stood outside the hut I watched I spotted a very elderly couple who appeared to be climbing alone and not part of a larger group. I guessed they were in their 70s given how old they looked. They were kitted out very well and looked to be doing reasonably well except for the look of tiredness which all climbers seem to have as they get closer to the summit. I didn't talk to them but afterwards I wished I had because as I observed them outside the hut they seemed like one of those happy caring life long couples. I wished I had asked them if it was their first time and to tell them that the distance to the top was not that great. The latter point at least would have reassured them that they were not too far from their target and that they still had plenty of time to make it. Anyway, as it was I never did see them again but I'm sure they would have made it to the top and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise together.
After leaving the hut I headed slowly up a very steep stretch and kept stopping every 20-25 meters to catch my breath and recover my energy. My heavy pack was certainly one contributory which slowed my progress but I had noticed on my last few visits that the going had just become a lot harder. My fitness was still reasonably OK but with 2 pulmonary embolisms within the last 5 years my stamina seemed to be lacking. The last PE was in 2015, serious but not as serious as the first two, both of which would have put paid to all Fuji climbing had I not been lucky.
2011 had been the peak of my fitness and it was the year I had successfully completed the Mt. Fuji Summit Race. It was also the year I did a double climb and ascended the Subashiri Trail in 3 hours 50 minutes, descended to the Yoshida 5th Station and then made my way back up to the summit a second time. This climb would see me on the summit after 8 hours and 15 minutes. That said I was in no hurry to get to the top.
As I continued up the ascending Subashiri Trail I could see a long string of headlights stretching up the Yoshida Trail further to my right. My pace was very slow and I was passed by a younger couple who quickly pulled away from me. I continued to stop often and during each of these stops I looked up at the starry sky and was almost always rewarded with the sight of a shooting star. It was maybe another lucky coincidence but August 11th and 12th were peak nights for seeing the Perseid Meteor Shower.
A little further on up the trail I found the young couple lying on the ground, lights out and looking up at the sky. Once in a while one would shout out in delight at seeing a shooting star. From the snatched conversation they seemed to trying to catch the same shooting star. I thought about telling them to look at a particular patch of sky and just wait but as with the elderly couple earlier I didn't say anything. They passed me again a little further on and this time they seemed to think they were on the wrong trail because the Subashiri Trail seemed to be taking us further away from the Yoshida Trail. I reassured them and told them they could keep going straight although straight just meant lots of zig zags to the top. They had plenty of time so I didn't say more.
A little further on I found them again in a horizontal position with eyes focused on the sky again. This time I continued on and left them behind. I was looking forward to coming to the final corner which was marked by a large rock because from there the summit was no more than a slow 10 minutes. I was relieved when I finally caught a glimpse of the rock. It was quite a few more short breaks before I made it to the rock and on one such break I caught a glimpse of a particularly big shooting star which seemed to come vertically straight down and leave a longer denser trail in it's wake. After reaching the large rock I decided to take a longer rest before heading up the final stretch to the summit. As I waited I was joined by the younger couple and this time I told them we were at the last corner and that the summit was very close. With that said I was made my way slowly up the final 200m stretch to the summit on the Yoshida side.
When I got onto the summit the wind was much stronger than it had been on the trail up. It was coming up to 3 o'clock and my plan was to make my way around the summit and to the weather station which actually happens to be the highest spot. A lot of climbers were already assembled on the Yoshida side as I left and made my way clockwise to the weather station. The wind unfortunately was continually gusting across the summit and with more and more people gathering in the relatively small space around the weather station I moved down and a little further to the left and set up my camera on my tripod and waited for the sun to come up.
The sky above was nice and clear and Mt. Fuji was surrounded on all sides by beautiful clouds as far as the eye could see. It was starting to get light and as always the colours just before sunrise turned the sky today a graduated reddish yellowy orange. From where I stood I could see the small silhouetted figures of the climbers on the far side of the summit. From where I wide panoramic view across the crater and all the way to the horizon where the sun was going to come up. The bright orange of the sun slowly began to appear from behind the clouds and in just a matter of a minute or so it was clear of the clouds and warming the summit.
I continued to make my way clockwise to the spot where you get a good view of the Fuji shadow. Maybe because of the atmospheric conditions the shadow was not as sharp or as vivid as I have seen it in the past but the top part of the shadow was cast out on the western horizon and after a few snaps I continue on round all the way back to the Yoshida side which was thronged with people. One a busy weekend it would be thronged to the power of 2 or more. I found a bench and sat myself down and ate a few more snacks and started on my second bottle of milk tea.
At 06:30 I left the crowds behind and joined the descending trail back down to the junction where the Yoshida and Subashiri trails diverge.