Jump Ahead:
Day 1 | Drive to Fuji, Begin Hiking
Day 2 | Sunrise at the summit, Hotel stay at Kawaguchi-ko
Final Day 3 | Drive Home
Video Recap
Ever since my first attempt to summit Mt. Fuji the first summer in Japan, I’ve been wanting to return to get some redemption. That time I did an overnight stay in the mountain hut but could not continue on to the summit the next morning due to bad weather. I went with a tour group and had none of my own gear with me. Every year since kept passing by and I never made the attempt again despite my intentions to return.
This year was different… since Marie had never done it before and we were both in the right mind to do it, we made plans and kept an eye on the weather for a good weekend to go on our own. Plan A was to hike through the night without sleep. Plan B was to stay in the mountain hut overnight similiar to my first attempt. As the summer weekends rolled by with less than ideal weather, and the regular hiking season was coming to a close, we finally made the decision to commit on the very last weekend possible for this years hiking season. Deciding to go all in, we went with Plan A, the overnight hike to catch the sunrise in the morning…. This allowed us to be more flexible with our hiking plan as well as save money on the mountain hut stay.
Some helpful links (best when opened in Chrome with auto-translate on):
Official Mt. Fuji Website
http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/
Yoshida Trail Map
http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/i1f37q0000000kz4-att/Yoshida2018_en.pdf
Toilet Map
http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/kankyou/ka-070/fujisanpage/otherlanguage/en/images/toiletmap.pdf
Japan Guide
https://www.japan-guide.com/bus/fuji_season.html
Hokuroku Parking & Shuttle
https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/kankou-sgn/hokurokuchuusyajou.html
Mountain Huts
http://www.mtfuji.jpn.org/
5th Station Shops
http://www17.plala.or.jp/climb_fujiyama/shop_info.html
Day 1
We left Yokohama mid-day on a Friday, driving to Hokuroku Parking lot in time to catch the shuttle to the 5th station (official parking lot for Mt. Fuji Yoshida trail due to road restrictions for private vehicles). Parking is just ¥1000 per vehicle and it’s open 24 hours. You can purchase a round trip shuttle ticket near the bus stops at the parking lot for ¥2000/person and it’s valid for 2 days. There’s also a small info center here with updated hiking/weather info if you need it. We ended up catching the 1630 bus to the 5th station, giving ourselves a couple hours to acclimate prior to our planned starting hike time of 2000.
Once we got to the 5th station, we just walked around a bit, taking our time, scoping out the gift shops. I got just one mini Fuji stick this time since I didn’t feel like getting all the stamps at each station again. The stamps do tend to change from year to year so I could’ve gotten new ones but (1) I wasn’t completely sure all the huts would be open anyway at night and (2) I really only wanted the ones above the 8th station where I had to stop last time. Something smart I saw another person do was instead of buying one huge stick that you have to awkwardly hike with, you can buy 2 smaller sticks that will fit in your pack/suit case easier. Then you can also use your own, more comfortable, trekking poles to hike with. Also, don’t forget to bring a lot of ¥100 coins with you for toilets/snacks/stamps. After walking around the shops for a bit, we settled in the one closest to the bus stop to have dinner.
It took some patience after eating to wait and not immediately start hiking. The recommended time to acclimate at the 5th station is at least 2 hours so that’s what we were shooting for. We planned on leaving by 2000 but instead we decided to leave at 1900 and just walk slower. The beginning doesn’t have that much elevation change and we figured we could just walk slower and take a longer break at the 6th station before hitting the switchbacks. It was interesting staying behind at the 5th station as the sun set and all the tourists left, leaving us is the dark.
This kind of bugged me and I heard other people complaining about it too. At the beginning of the hike at the 5th Station a lady tried to get us to donate ¥1000 each for this Mt. Fuji conservation fund. She was really kind of pushy about it even though it was supposed to be completely voluntary. I said I might do it on the way back since I wanted to make sure I had enough coins for the hike. Then on the way to the 6th station there’s another place where they were even more pushy. They literally ushered us over to this shack and they really tried to make it seem like it was mandatory even though it was not. We finally gave in and they give you a small little wooden pendant as a token of appreciation but the whole thing just really put me off in the wrong way. If the official website talked about it and it was made mandatory and it was advertised as such, I’d have no problem paying the ¥1000 to hike Mt. Fuji… but to say it’s completely voluntary and then be as pushy as they were about it just really irked me. This, along with the general hospitality we received on the mountain in general leaves me to say it’s not the best selling point of the experience and people may need to adjust their expectations accordingly.
Day 2
Continuing our hike to the summit! Conditions were actually as perfect as could be… not very windy, clear skies, not terribly cold. I was also managing my body temperature fairly well to not sweat so much in the cold, making sure to take a lot of breaks to slow our pace. Most of the hike up was not that crowded, and some of the huts were completely dark so I didn’t get that many stamps. Many of the huts have bad reputations for being rude to non-paying customers and also for being a rip-off. I can kind of see why… they were less than hospitable to passing hikers, even when just getting stamps on the stick. I opened one hut door to ask the guy for a stamp (he was distracted watching TV), he took my stick and told me go back outside and wait… couldn’t even stand inside (still on the dirt) for a couple minutes. Bottom line is, unless you’re staying at one of the huts, don’t expect any assistance from them during your hike.
After hiking through the night, we finally made it to the summit just before 0400 (almost 9 hours from the 5th station). The last stretch from the 8th station was really crowded (despite it being a not so crowded weekend) and it was very slow waiting in line to reach the top. The last 200m seemingly took forever. Eventually, we made it under the torii gate and continued on past some resting areas and shops to our own little sitting place where we could rest in the cold. Layering is so important on this hike. The scheduled sunrise wasn’t for another hour at least (about 0517) so all we could do was wait at the top with everyone else.
The sunrise was more than worth it and we felt extremely lucky this time that the weather and conditions were so perfect. Both of us didn’t get altitude sickness (despite being just flat out exhausted) and so far Marie’s knee was holding up. There is an option at the summit to do the rim hike which supposedly goes to the “true” summit or highest point but that was at least another 90 minutes and we were so tired already that it just didn’t seem worth it. After wandering around the summit for a little while (now that the sun was up and we could see), we started our long descent back down the mountain.
For many, the hike back down is the hardest part of the whole day… especially for those with knee problems (like Marie has). It can definitely be more painful going down the mountain than going up, especially because of all the sloping switchbacks and loose gravel/sandy terrain. This was actually the most worrisome thing to consider for Marie when we were still planning this hike (that and the altitude sickness). You also have to pay attention for falling rocks as well. The view is still amazing but it can definitely be a bit of a grind.
We finally made it back to the 5th station! Got back just after 1000 (about 4 hours hiking back down) for almost 15 hours total since we first left (and no sleep). What a relief! After cleaning up a little at the restroom (was crowded again with the morning tourists) we went back to the same restaurant as the previous day to refill our bellies with some much needed energy. We the bought some souvenirs to take home and then went to the bus stop to catch our ride back to the Hokuroku parking lot where we left the car. We made the mistake of waiting in the wrong line for a different bus at first… the correct waiting spot was actually in the lower lot, same place where we got dropped off. We left the mountain just before noon.
It was a nice relief to get back to the car to unload our packs and change out of our hiking clothes and shoes. I was really glad we got a hotel room nearby for the night because the thought of driving at least 3 hours to get back home seemed impossible then. It was still too early to check-in to our hotel (Route Inn Kawaguchiko) so we stopped by at Starbucks for a much needed caffeine pick-me-up. We also wandered through a grocery store nearby that we’ve never heard of before but seemed new. We then drove to Kawaguchiko area near our hotel to kill more time at the shops there before finally getting to check-in to our room at 1500. We got our much needed shower and nap finally. For dinner, we went to a small restaurant right next to our hotel (there weren’t many options) which ended up being really good… definitely satisfying after the long day and night.
Final Day 3
Our final day was just getting home safely before a big storm hit. We had breakfast at our hotel and was hoping to beat the traffic back to Yokohama being that it was a Sunday and we were expecting some big rain in the early afternoon (we really couldn’t ask for better weather on our hike). All worked out well and we got home early enough to rest for the rest of the day. So glad we can finally say we made it to the top and now I never have to hike it again haha…
Video Recap
Just got my new GoPro so I brought it along to test it out. Here’s a short recap video I put together to practice a bit… easier to see with the lights off… Enjoy!