I have done several hikes that require a nighttime departure. Night hiking is so different from day hiking. On this evening there was a strong wind that hit our faces and bodies. Because of this, we did not do much talking. Also with the altitude we were all breathing heavily so it was all we could do to just keep moving forward.
The trail of headlamps shows us the way
By the time we were passing the 8th station, Abby continued to hike well. She never complained to me. Often it was her immediately in front of me sharing my headlamp. I was very impressed with her endurance.
Around the station they call “8.5”, we meet up with Tom and Koji who was feeling a bit better. The path was getting steeper which was making us all go slower. I learned the mantra “pole-pole” while hiking up Kilimanjaro. It means “slowly-slowly” in Swahili. I spent two year in Malawi with the US Peace Corps and learning a cousin language to Swahili called Chichewa. Their version is “pangono-pangono”. Both simply mean, if you take it slowly, you will succeed.
I taught Abby that when hiking at altitude it is important to take smaller steps than normal. But doing so you can actually catch your breath while still moving forward. The moment you stop, your body cools down and hypothermia can set in. Our path past the 8.5 station was littered with bodies of people lying down trying to find the energy to continue. Using the pole-pole method is a much better way of giving your body a rest while not stopping.
This method was working for both Abby and Jane. While they had questioned if they were going to be able to make it, they were finding the internal strength to keep going.
In retrospect, it would have been better to stay in one of the last huts so that we wouldn’t have had to get up so early. I reckon that we could have gotten up at 2:30 a.m. instead of 11:30 p.m. if we had stayed at the 8.5 station. This is very important because it is a long day trying to summit and then walking all the way down back to the 5th station.
In spite of the pitch black darkness, we could see a steady stream of white headlamps snaking up the mountain. We had been warned that there are many false summits meaning that there are many places where you think you can see the end but in reality, it’s much further.
Around 3:30 a.m. we had been hiking for almost four hours in the dark. The temperature had dropped close to 3 or 4 degrees and the wind was strong. As I turned around, I could see the sky beginning to show signs of the new day. I really wanted to get us all up the mountain in time for the sunrise. I knew that if we stopped to rest, it would be hard to get moving again so I pushed us forward well beyond most peoples comfort zones of what they could have imagined was possible.
The dawn of a new day with a fairly unhelpful moon
About the same time the moon finally rose but it was a new moon which did not lighten our way in the least. Our headlamps were our only light until the sun decided to finally rise.
The path next became crowed and people moved in single-file threads often stopping. Passing the stopped people was difficult since the path near the top is so narrow. The eastern sky was beginning to turn deep red then orange. And then finally it turned yellow. The sunrise was upon imminent.
With the sky getting lighter, Abby wasn’t so dependent on my headlamp so I left Jane and Abby in the slow moving queue of people and climbed around the line bouldering up at times. I knew we were very near the top and I really wanted to see it from the summit.
A stream of hikers coming up the hill
Two marble lions and a Japanese gate announced that we were reaching the summit. Tears began flowing down my face. It is for me not to get emotional at such a time. The hours of planning and physical and mental exertion had paid off and we had reached the summit.
A welcoming site at the summit
The same thing happened when I reached the top of Kilimanjaro in 1999 just before sunrise. The tears came and I couldn’t stop them. It was a moment where I thought of my mom. She was an avid hiker and was the one who shared with me the joys of the outdoors and climbing a mountain. She had died three years earlier from brain cancer and the pain of her death was still fresh. She would have been proud our trek to the top of Kilimanjaro.
Now sixteen years later, she would have been proud of her son and her grandson that she never got to meet making it to the top of Mt. Fuji. This is why tears flow when I get to the top of a mountain. I honor the memory of my mom.
Having known Jane since freshman year of high school, she too was close to my parents. Now she and her daughter were also making to the summit. We all hike for different reasons, often many different reasons. What a wonderful way to remember someone who has died.
Almost immediately at the summit I found Corbin and my nephew. They were one of the first people to the summit and were very cold by the time I reached them. The sun was still below the horizon so we had time to take some pre-sunrise picture in the beautifully developing sky.
Having found my son, we take a quick pre-sunrise photo
A gate to Japan
Soon Jane and Abby joined us and then Tom and Koji appeared too. We had all made it for this monumental moment of seeing the sun rise over the Japanese landscape. There was lots of hugging and photos to commemorate the moment.
Our entire group makes it to the summit in time for a stunning sunrise
There were hundreds of people at the top sharing this moment together. When the sun finally decided to reveal itself, there was a brief calmness to the joys of the hikers in spite of the howling winds. We had walked away from the big crowd to savor the sunrise and it did not fail to impress us. Here we were at 4:20 a.m. in the morning atop Mt Fuji in Japan watching a sunrise that none of us would ever forget.
Watching the sunrise in the howling wind
Waiting for the sun to officially rise
Our first glimpse of a new day
So happy to be at the top
The crater is just over a kilometer wide at the top and the route around its edge is about 4 km. The wind was so bitterly cold that we decided to appreciate the crater from one edge near the huts at the top. Instead we went inside a hut and had some hot milk tea.
At one point I returned outside to check the progress of the sun. I was met by one of the most beautiful sky capes of my life. It was breathtaking. I was pleased that the photo I took captured what was being offered.
The blazing sun from the top
A view of the crater
The sun warms us up nicely
The path down veered south of the route of ascension. It was volcanic scree that went on and on. Our legs and knees were giving an unusual workout as we descended. The 40 and 50 year olds began to feel the toll our hike had taken on our aging bodies. The path down was much steeper than the winding path up. The goal was to get us off the mountain. It was a long, hard four hour journey down. The elation of getting to the summit was a distant memory as we looked forward to getting back to the 5th station.
We arrived down around 9:10 a.m. We had been up since 11:30 p.m. the previous night. It had been a long day and we were shocked each time we looked at our watches. We joined up at a restaurant for some ramen before catching the 10:30 local bus to the train station.
We had anticipated that we would be very tired at this point. I had read that there were several spa hotels with natural hot mineral springs where we could recuperate. Tom booked us into one that was on the bank of a lake facing the mountain. It was beautifully relaxing way to end our huge endeavor.
Our “ryokan” was a Japanese style inn/hotel. The rooms were Japanese style with tatami mats and futons that were prepared for sleeping. Luckily we were able to get into rooms earlier than the normal 2 p.m. check-in. We were tired puppies.
Tom, Koji and I immediately headed to the traditional public bathing area of the hotel. This onsen had an indoor spa and dry sauna and an outdoor warm pool in a peaceful Japanese garden with views of the lake and Mt. Fuji. Paradise.
For the uninitiated, the onsen experience is delightful. You are required to be totally naked in the spa. No swimsuits allowed. Instead you bring down a “modesty towelette” that use hold in front of your bits as you walk around. It never goes into the water. Instead most Japanese fold it up and store it on top of their heads as they sit in the soothing waters. One word of caution: if you have any tattoos, you must cover them with medical bandages in order to use the onsen. Tattoos are linked to their mafia and are forbidden in the public baths.
Also in our room we had a robe that hotel guests wore to meals and when relaxing. We took some amazing picture just before dinner on the shores of the lake with our mountain in the background.
Tired puppies at the end of a long day
Our entire group
Our afternoon nap after soaking in the hot springs was heavenly. It was one of the best naps of my life. When I woke, the boys and I played cards and raided the mini-bar. There was no wifi in the rooms so we got to entertain ourselves.
The price of our stay there was about $150 a person which included the hotel room, use of the onsen, a traditional dinner served in a private dining room and Japanese buffet breakfast in the morning. I really consider it to be a great bargan!
The dinner was incredible. The table was beautifully set as we entered the dining room. I was thankful that they had used normal chairs and table instead of making us sit on mat as tradition would have dictated. I saw that in the rooms for the Japanese clients, the tables were all low!
Our private dining room
The menu
We ate a variety of fish, sushi, crab, pork, soups, shabu shabu… it was a meal that would not stop. Our server kept bringing out more and more courses. Paired with a nice bottle of sake and we were content. It was a perfect way to end an incredible day of hiking up Mt. Fuji.
The preset course
Lovely sashimi
After dinner the boys finally got over their shyness about having to be naked and went down to the onsen for an evening soak. When we visited Japan five years ago as part of our year of travel, Corbin loved his onsen experience in Tokyo with us. But with puberty hitting, he is less comfortable being naked around others.
Of course, Corbin and his cousin loved the public bath experience especially the outdoor pool. There is nothing like it in the world. My nephew is one quarter Japanese and really enjoyed learning about all the Japanese customs.
After a great night’s sleep, we all met up for a delicious Japanese breakfast buffet: sushi, miso soup, tempura, cooked fish, salad… it was great experience. The hotel definitely feed us well during our stay. I would highly recommend getting out of Tokyo and staying at one of the lakeside ryokans even if you don’t hike up Mt. Fuji. Of course, it’s a better experience if it’s the treat after you long hike!