Yet another Mt Fuji guide
"You're a fool to never climb Fuji-san. You're an even bigger fool to do it twice" -Ancient saying about Mt Fuji.
This one was written for those who are looking to make a 24 hour layover in Tokyo.
I just got back from Japan to see the in-laws, and I started the whole trip by taking my first attempt at climbing a mountain.
More than likely, you'll fly into Tokyo Narita airport. So, I'll start my tip giving from there.
Things you'll need before hand:
Good rain gear
Wind/water resistant jacket/pants
thermal underclothing (nothing cotton)
gloves
good, warm hiking shoes
head mounted flashlight
Good hiking backpack
(edit
A lot of food and water to last you through the entire night, till you are done descending (thanks for the reminder, chickensaw).
Once your through customs, attempt to find a locker at the airport. This will allow you to free yourself of some gear/clothes/luggage that you will not need for a mountain climb. I didn't get a locker at this time, but I only had a backpack weighing about 15lbs. Once your gear is stowed, find the Airport Limousine counter and get a ticket (I don't remember the exact price, about 3000 yen or so) to Shinjuku Station. At Shinjuku, find the Keio Bus station by crossing the street from where they drop you off, follow the first building around to it rear in a counter clockwise fashion. Here, you can purchase a one way ticket straight to the 5th station of Fuji. NOTE: You will want to call a few days ahead to Keio bus lines at 0353762217 to reserve a seat. I reserved mine for the 7:30PM bus, but was able get on via stand-by for the 5:30PM bus. Once you have a ticket, go out of the station, make a left, and find the very little grocery store two blocks down on the right. Buy lots of water and snacks and return back to the bus station and leave on your bus.
Once at the kawaguchiko 5th station (aka Gogome), if you didn't leave gear back at the airport, you can still get a locker at the main store to lighten the load. Also, at the main store, buy a walking stick.
Make a right out of the store to the end of the parking lot. This is where your trail starts. The first part of this trail actually goes downhill for a bit, but you'll come up to fork, with the right trail going uphill. I believe this is marked. Take this right fork and you'll start going uphill. Eventually, you come up to the sixth station. At this station, hand your walking stick to a mamasan working there to burn a stamp into your walking stick for a few hundred yen. Keep going. At this point, the trail will endlessly zig zag up the hill to the first of the seventh stations. The trail up to this point is hard, red dirt and easy to walk on.
You'll start coming up to the seventh station. There are actually several seventh stations, each about 50m higher than the previous. At each one, get a stamp burned into your walking stick for a small price. Right after the Torii seventh station. the trail switches from dirt to walking up a rocky incline (from class 1 to class 2 type trail using American climbing standards). This is where you need to be careful. Your walking stick starts to become a hindrance here. This rocky face zig zags past the rest of the seventh stations up to the eight stations. Once at the eight stations, the trail turns back to dirt again. At this point, you'll notice the lack of oxygen due to the higher altitude. You're about 10,000 ft above sea level now. I think there are 5 "eight" stations, the last ones being numbered 8.5. Get stamps on your walking stick for all of them.
From the last 8.5 station, you only have about 350m of elevation to go. This is the hardest part it seemed. Take breaks as needed. About 200m before the summit, the trail gets rocky again. Before you know it, you'll pass through two more Toriis and you'll be on the summit. It should be between 12-2Am at this point. You'll want to be on the summit before 3AM to avoid the crowds coming up (most sleep on the eight station and leave around 2AM)
Now change into your warmest clothes and find a nice spot quiet spot next to the wooden shacks at the top. Find a spot that shelters you from the wind and take a nap. Wait for sunrise. HERE IS SOMETHING I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH! Even though it might be 95'F in Tokyo, you will spend the night up in the summit in the upper 30's to the lower 40's. The temperature difference is that great. If you don't bring sufficient clothing, you will get cold. Think of winter clothing. This is what you'll want to take.
Around 3:30-4Am, the wooden shacks open up and become stores with a post office, a few places to buy something hot to eat and to rest, and places for souvenirs.
After sunrise, on the south side of the Kawaguchiko summit area, you'll see a trail going down. This trail zig-zags down the hill, about 100-300 meter to the right of the trail you came up. This is the trail to take you down. It's made of small gravel stones that you could easily slip on and land on your rear (I know!). As you descend close enough to get near the 8.5 stations, you'll notice the trail splitting. You'll take the left trail. This is marked in English, so you should be OK. After what seems like eternity as you pass the 8th, 7th, and finally the sixth station, you'll again see the trail fork. The trail to the left takes you back to the 5th station. The trail to the right goes to the bottom of Fuji. You'll take the left trail. After another mile or so, you're at the 5th station.
Now, at the fifth station, at the northern end of the building you saw last night, in a booth is a ticket office. What I found easiest was to purchase a ticket to Kawaguchiko station. Get a ticket, figure out how much time you have before the bus takes off, and then go the opposite side of the parking lot to get a hot bowl of soba (you earned this!).
At the Kawaguchiko station, get a bus ticket back to Shinjuku. I don't remember the bus line, but I think it was the Keio. At Shinjuko, take an Airport Limousine bus back to the Airport.
Don't worry about checking the walking stick onto the plane. They see these all the time and know what to do with it.t
"You're a fool to never climb Fuji-san. You're an even bigger fool to do it twice" -Ancient saying about Mt Fuji.
This one was written for those who are looking to make a 24 hour layover in Tokyo.
I just got back from Japan to see the in-laws, and I started the whole trip by taking my first attempt at climbing a mountain.
More than likely, you'll fly into Tokyo Narita airport. So, I'll start my tip giving from there.
Things you'll need before hand:
Good rain gear
Wind/water resistant jacket/pants
thermal underclothing (nothing cotton)
gloves
good, warm hiking shoes
head mounted flashlight
Good hiking backpack
(edit
A lot of food and water to last you through the entire night, till you are done descending (thanks for the reminder, chickensaw
).Once your through customs, attempt to find a locker at the airport. This will allow you to free yourself of some gear/clothes/luggage that you will not need for a mountain climb. I didn't get a locker at this time, but I only had a backpack weighing about 15lbs. Once your gear is stowed, find the Airport Limousine counter and get a ticket (I don't remember the exact price, about 3000 yen or so) to Shinjuku Station. At Shinjuku, find the Keio Bus station by crossing the street from where they drop you off, follow the first building around to it rear in a counter clockwise fashion. Here, you can purchase a one way ticket straight to the 5th station of Fuji. NOTE: You will want to call a few days ahead to Keio bus lines at 0353762217 to reserve a seat. I reserved mine for the 7:30PM bus, but was able get on via stand-by for the 5:30PM bus. Once you have a ticket, go out of the station, make a left, and find the very little grocery store two blocks down on the right. Buy lots of water and snacks and return back to the bus station and leave on your bus.
Once at the kawaguchiko 5th station (aka Gogome), if you didn't leave gear back at the airport, you can still get a locker at the main store to lighten the load. Also, at the main store, buy a walking stick.
Make a right out of the store to the end of the parking lot. This is where your trail starts. The first part of this trail actually goes downhill for a bit, but you'll come up to fork, with the right trail going uphill. I believe this is marked. Take this right fork and you'll start going uphill. Eventually, you come up to the sixth station. At this station, hand your walking stick to a mamasan working there to burn a stamp into your walking stick for a few hundred yen. Keep going. At this point, the trail will endlessly zig zag up the hill to the first of the seventh stations. The trail up to this point is hard, red dirt and easy to walk on.
You'll start coming up to the seventh station. There are actually several seventh stations, each about 50m higher than the previous. At each one, get a stamp burned into your walking stick for a small price. Right after the Torii seventh station. the trail switches from dirt to walking up a rocky incline (from class 1 to class 2 type trail using American climbing standards). This is where you need to be careful. Your walking stick starts to become a hindrance here. This rocky face zig zags past the rest of the seventh stations up to the eight stations. Once at the eight stations, the trail turns back to dirt again. At this point, you'll notice the lack of oxygen due to the higher altitude. You're about 10,000 ft above sea level now. I think there are 5 "eight" stations, the last ones being numbered 8.5. Get stamps on your walking stick for all of them.
From the last 8.5 station, you only have about 350m of elevation to go. This is the hardest part it seemed. Take breaks as needed. About 200m before the summit, the trail gets rocky again. Before you know it, you'll pass through two more Toriis and you'll be on the summit. It should be between 12-2Am at this point. You'll want to be on the summit before 3AM to avoid the crowds coming up (most sleep on the eight station and leave around 2AM)
Now change into your warmest clothes and find a nice spot quiet spot next to the wooden shacks at the top. Find a spot that shelters you from the wind and take a nap. Wait for sunrise. HERE IS SOMETHING I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH! Even though it might be 95'F in Tokyo, you will spend the night up in the summit in the upper 30's to the lower 40's. The temperature difference is that great. If you don't bring sufficient clothing, you will get cold. Think of winter clothing. This is what you'll want to take.
Around 3:30-4Am, the wooden shacks open up and become stores with a post office, a few places to buy something hot to eat and to rest, and places for souvenirs.
After sunrise, on the south side of the Kawaguchiko summit area, you'll see a trail going down. This trail zig-zags down the hill, about 100-300 meter to the right of the trail you came up. This is the trail to take you down. It's made of small gravel stones that you could easily slip on and land on your rear (I know!). As you descend close enough to get near the 8.5 stations, you'll notice the trail splitting. You'll take the left trail. This is marked in English, so you should be OK. After what seems like eternity as you pass the 8th, 7th, and finally the sixth station, you'll again see the trail fork. The trail to the left takes you back to the 5th station. The trail to the right goes to the bottom of Fuji. You'll take the left trail. After another mile or so, you're at the 5th station.
Now, at the fifth station, at the northern end of the building you saw last night, in a booth is a ticket office. What I found easiest was to purchase a ticket to Kawaguchiko station. Get a ticket, figure out how much time you have before the bus takes off, and then go the opposite side of the parking lot to get a hot bowl of soba (you earned this!).
At the Kawaguchiko station, get a bus ticket back to Shinjuku. I don't remember the bus line, but I think it was the Keio. At Shinjuko, take an Airport Limousine bus back to the Airport.
Don't worry about checking the walking stick onto the plane. They see these all the time and know what to do with it.t