Japanese proverb: You are wise to climb Mt. Fuji once, you are a fool to climb it twice.Moving to Japan and hiking Mt. Fuji went hand in hand. However, had I actually read anything about climbing Mt. Fuji prior to setting out to do so I may have considered otherwise. Convenience nudged us to join the organized tour offered by the language program, which all flexibility. In total the hike took 13hrs. The first part of the hike from the 5th to 7th station took a mere 3hrs. At the rest house we ate curry rice and napped like sardines in one large bunk bed. By 10:30pm were hiking again. Movement was slow and at times halted. The weather changed often and unpredictably; rain, mist, wind, temperature, cloudy.... Fortunately, we were able to watch the 4:30am sunrise with decent visibility while still hiking toward the summit. At 5:30am we were greeted at the summit by snow/freezing rain and limited visibility. At 6:30am we began the 4hr descent in unrelenting precipitation. Afterward, our disgruntled feelings toward the climb slowly lifted after a an hour of relaxing in a nearby indoor natural hot spring. Upon returning to Tokyo the guides departed from us with us with “Please do not hate Mt. Fuji.”
Pictures @ http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=14ywkdrw.8uxi9sac&x=0&y=aym188&localeid=en_US
