Mt. Fuji

If you are stationed here in Japan it's a matter of WHEN you're climbing Mt. Fuji, not IF.   So not knowing really anything about it, we made plans this past spring to climb over the 4-day Fourth of July holiday.  And of course I roped Sara into coming all away around the world to join us!

{happy campers}

We spent the Friday night before at a little town at the base of the mountain.  It was awesome.  All the hotels overlooked the water.  We had dinner and were able to relax at the onsen before our 2-day excursion.

{view from our room in kawaguchiko}

{dinner}

{we take great selfies}

Saturday morning we got up and had a traditional Japanese breakfast before heading to the bus station.   No waffles or french toast here!

{we'll need all of this protein}

From Kawaguchiko, the bus ride is about 45 min to the 5th station where we began hiking.   There are souviner shops and a few places to get food or snacks before you go up or at the conclusion of your hike.   There were many people there just to visit the 5th Station and have a bite to eat with no intention of heading up the volcano!

{we're really doing this}

{5th Station}

Most of Saturday was rainy, but not as cold as we had anticipated.  The climb was also a lot more difficult than I think we expected, but it was definitely doable.  Thank goodness for those walking sticks!  You purchase them at the base and then collect stamps at huts along the way.

{close up of stamps}

The entire hike is around 12K feet...we're almost there!!

{only 3 more hours}

As we hiked, we were passed by runners....(people were actually running, not just in running gear).....who were making their way down....crazy!

{yes, he's running.  in shorts.}

{straight. up.}

{seriously!?}

And no one told us there would be actual rock climbing....

{this was no joke}

{snow!}

The weather did let up for us for the last part of our climb the first day.  We're above the clouds! 

{station 8}

{up there!  that's our hut!}

We arrived at our hut around 3:30pm...about 4 hours from when we started.   These huts are not individual to your party...we slept with about 150 other people. Cozy!   All 5 of us slept on a part of the bunk that was probably the size of a king size mattress...maybe.  People come in and get up at all hours so there's not much sleeping going on!  

First thing we do is set up our bunk.  You hang all of our stuff from hooks right above you.

After we had settled in and changed, we went out to the common area of the hut to sit around the small fire, relax and do some much needed yoga. 

{i'm so not flexible}

Then, it was time for dinner...what would it be!? 

{such anticipation}

{surprise!}

Just what you crave after a 4 hour hike...rice, fish and potato salad.  Although not desired, it was good!

{fish!}

We tried to go to bed really early because our plan was to start our accent to the top at 3am to catch the sunrise around 4am.  It wasn't easy to sleep because others were coming in late and some got up as early as 1am!  What were they doing!?   

As we started to gather our things and get ready to go we saw why people started climbing so early.....

{headlamps}

There were thousands of people climbing to the top for sunrise!  Some even climb all night!  After eating pop tarts for breakfast (I couldn't do the salmon they gave us) we put on our own headlamps and were on our way!!

We didn't need them very long because the sun started to come up shortly after we started.  

It's.

Amazing.

{paparazzi} 

These pictures DO NOT do it justice.  I can see why people make this climb.  

Thirty minutes after sunrise we finally made it to the top!  

{brent's a little too close to the edge for me} 

{the mentos made it!}

{overlooking the last hut}

Whew!!  We did it!!!!!!!  It pushed us for sure, but would recommend it to anyone.

Checked off the bucket list. 

Never again. :)

traveling like the locals

This past weekend, we went up to the Hakkoda mountains with our friends Brent & Allyson, which is about a 2 hour drive.  The first stop was to check on lift tickets and see how late the lifts were open.  I know the guys really wanted to try to go up right away, but they were closing in 20 minutes due to weather conditions.  Hakkoda is a difficult mountain so Ally and I were going to sit out this one.

These were taken from the car while we waited....obviously this part of the county had been getting lots of snow for most of the winter.

Since they were going to wait until the next morning, we went to check into our hotel.  We stayed at Sukayu, a traditional Japanese hotel.

Upon entering the lobby, you give them your shoes and they give you these fun slippers that you wear everywhere.  You never wear your slippers in your room and even change into different slippers when you go to the bathroom.
You get your shoes back whenever you want to leave. :)

{the lobby}

{lobby decor}

A woman leads us to our rooms where we dropped off luggage and get settled.  They have green tea and treats filled with sweet bean. :)

{just reading the welcome book}

These robes they provide are worn by everyone, everywhere.

{we look the part}

{perfect}

Before dinner, we headed to the onsen.  At this hotel, they had two different hot spring baths.  This first one was just a soaking bath, no need to shower beforehand, and was co-ed.  It was so hot and steamy in there you couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of you.  And the water was so "natural" it reeked of sulfur and was extremely murky.

{hot spring entrance}

I took a picture of the poster showing the inside of the hot spring.  This was just one side; the women enter on what would be the far corner of this poster. 

After the hot spring we headed to the second onsen they offer which has separate baths for men and women.  This is where you completely scrub down before getting in the hot bath.  It's so relaxing!

Next up...dinner!!!  And we were hungry.  They serve dinner in a private room on the floor.  Your tray is  loaded with lots of Japanese food: sashimi salmon and scallops, hot pot with chicken & veggies, cooked fish, miso soup, salad and tons of other stuff that we had no idea what it was.  

It was still early, so we played one game of Cranium (girls win of course) and then went down to the bar to do some karaoke!  The Japanese LOVE karaoke!!  We were hoping there would be Japanese nationals there and we could just watch, but no luck....we were the only 4!  It took us a second to find the English songs, but once we did there was no stopping us! 

All of us were terrible.   But the owner loved us. ;)

We closed down the bar and decided to go to bed.  While we were at dinner, the hotel staff came to make up our room.  They move the table that was in the middle and put down futons with giant down comforters.  

{comfy futons}

The next morning after breakfast, the boys hit the mountain and Allyson and I hung out, went to the onsen again and wandered more around the hotel visiting the small shop and having soba for lunch.  

{out back}

Here are some pics from Jeff from the mountain.  The visibility wasn't that great at the top, but the snow monsters sure are cool!!  

{rescue crew.  good that he's here or no?}

The lifts close a little earlier than normal because of conditions so we left around 3pm to head back to Misawa.  We did hit some snow, but got back safely!

{oh hey there}

Until next time!