In a bizarre turn of events, it turns out that in just 10 days I will be climbing Mount Fuji with a friend I met here in Osaka. We kinda talked about it for a little while, then all of a sudden we've started booking things and making sure we have appropriate climbing gear?!
Ah, for a little more clarification, Mount Fuji is actually only open to climbers (that aren't professional, and crazy) from early July to early September, as that is the only time that there is little enough snow to actually reach the summit. Apparently its tough, but manageable for amateur climbers. Which is good, as my experience with mountains is 'once I walked across Dartmoor for about 10 minutes, then back to the car'. But I should be climbing it over a weekend, here is my plan in a little more detail:
We will get an overnight bus from Osaka to Tokyo on the 24th July, arriving at Kawaguchiko station (near Tokyo) at 8.30am on Saturday 25th. From there we will get the shuttle bus to Mount Fuji’s 5th station, about 1/3 of the way up the mountain. After adjusting to the change in altitude for an hour or so (and probably grabbing breakfast) we'll start climbing Fuji's Yoshida trail, the easiest and most popular trail, and hike for around 5 hours till we reach the 8th station, where we will be staying overnight and leaving again around 3am to hike the last hour and a half to reach the summit for the sunrise. Then I can't wait to post postcards from Japan's highest post office, and have ramen on the summit too. Then we have a 3-4 hour climb back down before getting the bus back to Osaka (ready for work on Monday morning waaah)
I also felt like I really wanted to make this for a good cause, so I decide to set up a just giving page to support Rowcroft Hospice! They do really amazing things and it would be really great if I could do this cool thing whilst also raising a bit of money for them.
Have some Mount Fuji Facts (possibly to beef this post out a little and make you think you learned something)
Mount Fuji (Fuji-san, 富士山 in Japanese) is the highest volcano and
highest peak in Japan and considered one of the 3 Holy Mountains (along
with Mount Tate and Mount Haku). Fuji is a perfect, beautiful
stratovolcano about 60 miles south-west of Tokyo, with an exceptionally
symmetrical shape making it into famous symbol of Japan and an important
element in Japanese art. It is a popular destination for excursions.
More than 200,000 people climb to the top of the Mt Fuji every year. The
last eruption of Mt Fuji was in 1707–08. Between 2000 and 2001, seismic
activity under the volcano was at slightly elevated levels, rising
concern about a possible reawakening of the volcano.
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| Gotta get to the top of that... |
I'll be posting at least an update when I have finished, maybe even something from on top of the mountain (It has WiFi now...) So keep tuned~
But for now, またね〜 From Osaka
And maybe please consider donating for my climb that'd be cool of you! Click :D
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