01 ~ 02 September, 2016
#33
Gotemba (5th Station) >> Summit >> Gotemba (5th Station)
[The Great Sand Slope]
#33
Gotemba (5th Station) >> Summit >> Gotemba (5th Station)
[The Great Sand Slope]
I had been entertaining thoughts of climbing all four trails around my birthday on August 27. I had the time off work but those thoughts remained just thoughts because the weather on the days around my birthday was forecast to be wet and in fact was decidedly wet on that particular day. I still had another week to climb Fuji and the weather forecast was looking much better for week ahead.
Thoughts of doing all 4 were replaced by thoughts of just doing 3 and a window of opportunity presented itself for a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday climb on the Gotemba, Fujinomiya and Yoshida trails. Well that was what one set of thoughts was telling me. On the other side, procrastinating thoughts were telling me to abandon all idea of going to Fuji. The weather forecast for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looked all clear but the winds on Thursday were forecast to be very strong which led to thoughts of doing just two.
By Wednesday evening I had completed all my usual preparations but last minute procrastinating had resulted in a change to my planned start time. I had planned to start at 12 o'clock but my later departure from now now meant a start around 3 o'clock. An earlier start would have given me the chance to try and do two trails but those procrastinating thoughts seemed to be winning the battle until the very last minute. Procrastinating thoughts aside, I arrived at a beautiful sunny Gotemba 5th Station.
I had climbed up the Gotemba trail once before 5 years ago and all I could remember was that the Gotemba 5th Station was tiny. The last time I had been at the 5th Station all there was a small shop and the bus stop. This time I found several new constructions, basically small porta-cabins promoting Fuji and Gotemba. Since Mt Fuji achieved world heritage status places around Fuji have tried to capitalize on this and the numbers of visitors to Fuji had definitely increased markedly especially on the Yamanashi side. The Gotemba trail still remains the least hiked trail and this seemed to be evident by the relatively small number of people at the Gotemba 5th Station. In fact there seemed to be more staff than visitors on this particular occasion.
An announcement on the bus shortly before we arrived at the 5th Station had asked visitors to make a contribution towards helping the upkeep of facilities on Fuji and it's surroundings. There were 2 staff manning a table and the first thing I did after getting off the bus was to put 1000 yen into a small still empty perspex box. In return I got a badge and a small guide book. One of the staff also offered the free loan of a portable smartphone battery but I politely declined since I didn't plan on using my smartphone.
I had planned to stop about 30 or 40 minutes before making a start because acclimatizing to the higher altitude is always a good idea. Although, the Gotemba 5th Station is located at a relatively low 1400m. The new portacabin like constructions caught my attention so I wondered over to have a look. One was a smoking room, another had various types of climbing equipment and one other was an information station inside which I found 3 staff, one of whom turned out to be a young American called Dylan. He was fluent in Japanese and his job was I guess to help the English speaking visitors. He approached me and asked if I needed any help. I was more curious about the new facilities and what he was doing. Dylan it turned out had studied Japanese and had found his way to working temporarily at the Gotemba 5th Station. I enjoyed our little chat and by the time I readied myself to head up it was approaching 3:30.
I walked through the shrine gate that marks the start of the trail and slowly headed up. About 5 minutes in I came to a cafe/restaurant type of place with seating outside. It had a couple of customers who looked like they had just returned from the summit. I wasn't in need for anything to eat or drink so I continued on up at slowly leisurely pace. The strong sunshine would have made the going a little harder but I had not gone too far before a few clouds blocked out the sun altogether. I couldn't really recall things clearly from my first climb on the Gotemba trail but looking around is just seemed to resemble one large featureless open space.
There had been one or two other possible climbers on the bus but they were nowhere to be seen. They had probably left almost as soon as the bus arrived. I could see climbers returning along the descending trail which I had read was called the 'Great Sand Slope'. I had also read that it was possible to run down this slope but there didn't seem to be much running from the few climbers returning from the summit. The ascending trail near the start seemed to run almost parallel to the descending trail, the only difference being that whilst the descending trail was straight down, the ascending trail zigzagged up at a fairly gentle gradient. At a certain point the ascending trail switched from the left side of the descending trail to the right side and then continued to diverge further away.
I was wondering if I would meet anyone on my way up because up ahead I could see absolutely no one. As I was thinking this I came upon a climber who was lying down taking a rest. As I pasted I asked him if he was on his way up and he said he was which meant I would not be alone on the way up. A little further up I was surprised to see a couple coming down towards me. They were overseas visitors and they had started at Subashiri 5th Station the day before and they showed me photographs of the sunrise they had seen from the 8th Station of the Subashiri trail.
I didn't find out why they were descending down the Gotemba trail but they had obviously missed joining the start of the 'Great Sand Slope' much further up. On asking about their plans they said they were hoping to catch the bus back into Gotemba but the last bus down was scheduled to depart at 18:05 and it was 17:40 as I stood talking to them. I'm not sure if they made their bus or not or if there were any other scheduled buses but there would probably still have been staff at the 5th Station when they got down so hopefully they found their way back down without too much trouble.
Way up ahead I could make out 3 spot lights which I assumed were outside the first hut I would come to but it didn't seem to be getting any closer as I made my way up, in fact it seemed to be getting further away. My plan was to take a break outside the first hut I came to and the one with the spot lights definitely didn't seem to be getting any closer, In the dimming light I could make out the rectangular shape of another construction which looked more like the first hut I would get to.
I had been going for over 6 hours when I came to a solitary sign which indicated that I had reached the 3000m point. A little further I came to another more detailed sign which indicated that the first hut I was coming up to was at the 7th Station and that it was called Hidenokan. In fact it was just a short 50m further on. The sign also detailed a further 3 huts - Waraijikan ( 7.4th Station / 300m ), Sunabashirikan ( 7.5th Station / 400m ) and Akaiwahachigokan ( 7.9th Station / 1.2km ).
When I got to Hidenokan I found no sign of life. Given the general condition of the hut I wasn't really sure if it had been boarded up for the rest of year or just abandoned. Whatever it was, I stopped only briefly to look back down the trail to see if I could make out the lone climber I had passed a little earlier. I could just make out a dim headlight further down and much further below him I could make out the headlights of 2 or 3 other climbers who were still several hours away. I pressed on in the hope of finding more life at the next hut.
The next hut was shrouded in darkness but I could hear the sound of a generator as I got closer. Outside in front of the hut I found seating and the first thing I did was set my pack down and put on a few extra layers including my waterproofs. The chance of rain was virtually zero but experience had taught me that it was all to easy to get cold when you stop. About 20 minutes later I was joined by another climber who also sat himself down and put on a few extra layers. He seemed very well equipped and by the time I left another 20 minutes later he was busy heating up some water on a portable stove.
I passed the next hut which looked like it too had closed up for the season and then an hour later I finally came up to the hut with the 3 spot lights. I decided to take another extended break because the time was just after midnight and there was now less than 3km at most to the summit. I had been going for nearly 8.5 hours but somehow the time had gone by very quickly. I stayed put outside Akaiwahachigokan for about 20 minutes just enjoying the city lights out in the distance and star filled night sky overhead. With my break over I continued past the front of the hut and joined the trail heading up.
My pace remained very slow and I found myself stopping often. Sometimes I would switch off my head light and just sit in the dark enjoying the incredible silence. It was a completely different experience to the Yoshida / Subashiri trails. The procrastinating thoughts had evaporated as soon as I had arrived at the Gotemba 5th Station and it was enjoying this kind of incredible stillness and silence I often felt on Mt. Fuji that seemed to keep bringing me back again and again. That and the fact that it was always a great workout too.
It was sometime after 2 o'clock when I finally arrived on the summit. There was just a handful of climbers on the summit as I headed to the main shrine on the Gotemba side. The courtyard of this shrine is where I had pitched my tent during my first climb up the Gotemba trail. On that occasion the weather had taken a bad turn and it had rained heavily all night. Today I had my sleeping bag with me and I just needed to spend a few more hours on the summit before sunrise.
Near the shrine was the only lodging hut on the summit and it appeared not to be in use. In a clearing in front of the hut was a large raised wooden bench and on it was a climber wrapped up in his sleeping bag. It looked like a good idea and with plenty of space on this long wide bench I slipped out of my boots and into my own sleeping bag. It felt just a little cold but I was reasonably snug just lying there staring up at the night sky. It would have been nice to have spent the next few hours like this but more and more climbers continued to come onto the summit.
Weekends are always busy and with it being a Friday I had not expected so many climbers. However, more and more climbers kept coming up to the summit on Fujinomiya trail. The Fujinomiya trail ended just by the shrine and the clearing where I was waiting was the natural place for them to set down their packs and rest. I had hoped to stay put but I made up my mind to leave and start heading back down the Gotemba trail.
It was 04:40 when I left and I hoped I could make it down to the first hut and watch the sunrise from there. I was also mindful that if I left earlier I might be able to make it back to the Gotemba 5th Station to catch the first bus back to Gotemba Station which departed at 09:05. The estimated descent time was 3.5 hours and I figured this was a bit optimistic. Anyway, I descended as rapidly as I could but I was unable to make it to the first hut before the sun came up. As it was what I saw was just good as any of the sunrises I had seen on Fuji. With the sun up, things warmed up fairly quickly and when I got to the first hut I removed all my extra layers. I had just over 2.5 hours or so to get back down to the Gotemba 5th Station. I was not 100% confident I would be able to make it but I decided to give it ago. When I joined the Great Sand Slope I started to track my progress on my GPS sport watch. I didn't know how far I had to go but I assumed it was about 6km and my hope was that if I could pace myself at 3kph I was hopeful I could make it.
As it turned out, the going turned out to be a lot smoother than I had expected. Unlike the sand run down the Subashiri trail the sand run down the Gotemba trail is much easier because there are few if any larger rocks to impede progress. If you get yourself into a rhythm you can just keep heading straight down. At the end of the Great Sand Slope I came to a sign indicating that I was only 45 minutes to the Gotemba 5th Station. I had made really good progress and rather than slow down I continued all the way to the 5th Station and was back in a total time of 2 hours 58 minutes.
I headed straight for the information hut because outside I could see that Dylan was waiting. I was definitely on a high because I really didn't expect to be back down in time to catch my bus. It has turned out to be a great hike up and down. The hardship of going up had all been forgotten. I hadn't had the best view of the sunrise but for some reason it didn't matter. Looking back up towards the summit Fuji just looked great and I was glad I had done another Fuji climb.
The journey back home was all relatively straightforward too. The calmness during the night, the fast descent and chatting to Dylan had turned out to be the main highlights of this particular climb. There is something about enjoying the physical challenge and an indescribable feeling of being connected with the universe which seems to keep drawing me back to Fuji. This really had been a great hike.
Thoughts of doing all 4 were replaced by thoughts of just doing 3 and a window of opportunity presented itself for a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday climb on the Gotemba, Fujinomiya and Yoshida trails. Well that was what one set of thoughts was telling me. On the other side, procrastinating thoughts were telling me to abandon all idea of going to Fuji. The weather forecast for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looked all clear but the winds on Thursday were forecast to be very strong which led to thoughts of doing just two.
By Wednesday evening I had completed all my usual preparations but last minute procrastinating had resulted in a change to my planned start time. I had planned to start at 12 o'clock but my later departure from now now meant a start around 3 o'clock. An earlier start would have given me the chance to try and do two trails but those procrastinating thoughts seemed to be winning the battle until the very last minute. Procrastinating thoughts aside, I arrived at a beautiful sunny Gotemba 5th Station.
I had climbed up the Gotemba trail once before 5 years ago and all I could remember was that the Gotemba 5th Station was tiny. The last time I had been at the 5th Station all there was a small shop and the bus stop. This time I found several new constructions, basically small porta-cabins promoting Fuji and Gotemba. Since Mt Fuji achieved world heritage status places around Fuji have tried to capitalize on this and the numbers of visitors to Fuji had definitely increased markedly especially on the Yamanashi side. The Gotemba trail still remains the least hiked trail and this seemed to be evident by the relatively small number of people at the Gotemba 5th Station. In fact there seemed to be more staff than visitors on this particular occasion.
An announcement on the bus shortly before we arrived at the 5th Station had asked visitors to make a contribution towards helping the upkeep of facilities on Fuji and it's surroundings. There were 2 staff manning a table and the first thing I did after getting off the bus was to put 1000 yen into a small still empty perspex box. In return I got a badge and a small guide book. One of the staff also offered the free loan of a portable smartphone battery but I politely declined since I didn't plan on using my smartphone.
I had planned to stop about 30 or 40 minutes before making a start because acclimatizing to the higher altitude is always a good idea. Although, the Gotemba 5th Station is located at a relatively low 1400m. The new portacabin like constructions caught my attention so I wondered over to have a look. One was a smoking room, another had various types of climbing equipment and one other was an information station inside which I found 3 staff, one of whom turned out to be a young American called Dylan. He was fluent in Japanese and his job was I guess to help the English speaking visitors. He approached me and asked if I needed any help. I was more curious about the new facilities and what he was doing. Dylan it turned out had studied Japanese and had found his way to working temporarily at the Gotemba 5th Station. I enjoyed our little chat and by the time I readied myself to head up it was approaching 3:30.
I walked through the shrine gate that marks the start of the trail and slowly headed up. About 5 minutes in I came to a cafe/restaurant type of place with seating outside. It had a couple of customers who looked like they had just returned from the summit. I wasn't in need for anything to eat or drink so I continued on up at slowly leisurely pace. The strong sunshine would have made the going a little harder but I had not gone too far before a few clouds blocked out the sun altogether. I couldn't really recall things clearly from my first climb on the Gotemba trail but looking around is just seemed to resemble one large featureless open space.
There had been one or two other possible climbers on the bus but they were nowhere to be seen. They had probably left almost as soon as the bus arrived. I could see climbers returning along the descending trail which I had read was called the 'Great Sand Slope'. I had also read that it was possible to run down this slope but there didn't seem to be much running from the few climbers returning from the summit. The ascending trail near the start seemed to run almost parallel to the descending trail, the only difference being that whilst the descending trail was straight down, the ascending trail zigzagged up at a fairly gentle gradient. At a certain point the ascending trail switched from the left side of the descending trail to the right side and then continued to diverge further away.
I was wondering if I would meet anyone on my way up because up ahead I could see absolutely no one. As I was thinking this I came upon a climber who was lying down taking a rest. As I pasted I asked him if he was on his way up and he said he was which meant I would not be alone on the way up. A little further up I was surprised to see a couple coming down towards me. They were overseas visitors and they had started at Subashiri 5th Station the day before and they showed me photographs of the sunrise they had seen from the 8th Station of the Subashiri trail.
I didn't find out why they were descending down the Gotemba trail but they had obviously missed joining the start of the 'Great Sand Slope' much further up. On asking about their plans they said they were hoping to catch the bus back into Gotemba but the last bus down was scheduled to depart at 18:05 and it was 17:40 as I stood talking to them. I'm not sure if they made their bus or not or if there were any other scheduled buses but there would probably still have been staff at the 5th Station when they got down so hopefully they found their way back down without too much trouble.
Way up ahead I could make out 3 spot lights which I assumed were outside the first hut I would come to but it didn't seem to be getting any closer as I made my way up, in fact it seemed to be getting further away. My plan was to take a break outside the first hut I came to and the one with the spot lights definitely didn't seem to be getting any closer, In the dimming light I could make out the rectangular shape of another construction which looked more like the first hut I would get to.
I had been going for over 6 hours when I came to a solitary sign which indicated that I had reached the 3000m point. A little further I came to another more detailed sign which indicated that the first hut I was coming up to was at the 7th Station and that it was called Hidenokan. In fact it was just a short 50m further on. The sign also detailed a further 3 huts - Waraijikan ( 7.4th Station / 300m ), Sunabashirikan ( 7.5th Station / 400m ) and Akaiwahachigokan ( 7.9th Station / 1.2km ).
When I got to Hidenokan I found no sign of life. Given the general condition of the hut I wasn't really sure if it had been boarded up for the rest of year or just abandoned. Whatever it was, I stopped only briefly to look back down the trail to see if I could make out the lone climber I had passed a little earlier. I could just make out a dim headlight further down and much further below him I could make out the headlights of 2 or 3 other climbers who were still several hours away. I pressed on in the hope of finding more life at the next hut.
The next hut was shrouded in darkness but I could hear the sound of a generator as I got closer. Outside in front of the hut I found seating and the first thing I did was set my pack down and put on a few extra layers including my waterproofs. The chance of rain was virtually zero but experience had taught me that it was all to easy to get cold when you stop. About 20 minutes later I was joined by another climber who also sat himself down and put on a few extra layers. He seemed very well equipped and by the time I left another 20 minutes later he was busy heating up some water on a portable stove.
I passed the next hut which looked like it too had closed up for the season and then an hour later I finally came up to the hut with the 3 spot lights. I decided to take another extended break because the time was just after midnight and there was now less than 3km at most to the summit. I had been going for nearly 8.5 hours but somehow the time had gone by very quickly. I stayed put outside Akaiwahachigokan for about 20 minutes just enjoying the city lights out in the distance and star filled night sky overhead. With my break over I continued past the front of the hut and joined the trail heading up.
My pace remained very slow and I found myself stopping often. Sometimes I would switch off my head light and just sit in the dark enjoying the incredible silence. It was a completely different experience to the Yoshida / Subashiri trails. The procrastinating thoughts had evaporated as soon as I had arrived at the Gotemba 5th Station and it was enjoying this kind of incredible stillness and silence I often felt on Mt. Fuji that seemed to keep bringing me back again and again. That and the fact that it was always a great workout too.
It was sometime after 2 o'clock when I finally arrived on the summit. There was just a handful of climbers on the summit as I headed to the main shrine on the Gotemba side. The courtyard of this shrine is where I had pitched my tent during my first climb up the Gotemba trail. On that occasion the weather had taken a bad turn and it had rained heavily all night. Today I had my sleeping bag with me and I just needed to spend a few more hours on the summit before sunrise.
Near the shrine was the only lodging hut on the summit and it appeared not to be in use. In a clearing in front of the hut was a large raised wooden bench and on it was a climber wrapped up in his sleeping bag. It looked like a good idea and with plenty of space on this long wide bench I slipped out of my boots and into my own sleeping bag. It felt just a little cold but I was reasonably snug just lying there staring up at the night sky. It would have been nice to have spent the next few hours like this but more and more climbers continued to come onto the summit.
Weekends are always busy and with it being a Friday I had not expected so many climbers. However, more and more climbers kept coming up to the summit on Fujinomiya trail. The Fujinomiya trail ended just by the shrine and the clearing where I was waiting was the natural place for them to set down their packs and rest. I had hoped to stay put but I made up my mind to leave and start heading back down the Gotemba trail.
It was 04:40 when I left and I hoped I could make it down to the first hut and watch the sunrise from there. I was also mindful that if I left earlier I might be able to make it back to the Gotemba 5th Station to catch the first bus back to Gotemba Station which departed at 09:05. The estimated descent time was 3.5 hours and I figured this was a bit optimistic. Anyway, I descended as rapidly as I could but I was unable to make it to the first hut before the sun came up. As it was what I saw was just good as any of the sunrises I had seen on Fuji. With the sun up, things warmed up fairly quickly and when I got to the first hut I removed all my extra layers. I had just over 2.5 hours or so to get back down to the Gotemba 5th Station. I was not 100% confident I would be able to make it but I decided to give it ago. When I joined the Great Sand Slope I started to track my progress on my GPS sport watch. I didn't know how far I had to go but I assumed it was about 6km and my hope was that if I could pace myself at 3kph I was hopeful I could make it.
As it turned out, the going turned out to be a lot smoother than I had expected. Unlike the sand run down the Subashiri trail the sand run down the Gotemba trail is much easier because there are few if any larger rocks to impede progress. If you get yourself into a rhythm you can just keep heading straight down. At the end of the Great Sand Slope I came to a sign indicating that I was only 45 minutes to the Gotemba 5th Station. I had made really good progress and rather than slow down I continued all the way to the 5th Station and was back in a total time of 2 hours 58 minutes.
I headed straight for the information hut because outside I could see that Dylan was waiting. I was definitely on a high because I really didn't expect to be back down in time to catch my bus. It has turned out to be a great hike up and down. The hardship of going up had all been forgotten. I hadn't had the best view of the sunrise but for some reason it didn't matter. Looking back up towards the summit Fuji just looked great and I was glad I had done another Fuji climb.
The journey back home was all relatively straightforward too. The calmness during the night, the fast descent and chatting to Dylan had turned out to be the main highlights of this particular climb. There is something about enjoying the physical challenge and an indescribable feeling of being connected with the universe which seems to keep drawing me back to Fuji. This really had been a great hike.