Here for the travel advice and not to read my life story? Jump to Travel Tips // Dos & Don’ts for the tl;dr [too long; didn’t read] on hiking Mt Fuji.
This was the result of a slow, circling gravitational pull that I had managed to escape during my initial five-year tenure in Atlanta. I had finally ended up, unable to avoid the invitation any longer, at a crawfish boil. This signaled my complete transformation from a California girl to a fully-fledged Southern belle. I didn’t love it, but I chalked it up to a cultural experience. And the food, as I have to come to expect in the South, was delicious.
There was only one other person there That I knew besides my husband. I was planning my trip to Japan and this acquaintance had already been. I was eager to ask him all kinds of questions. At the top of my list was climbing Mt Fuji. When I mentioned this he responded emphatically that it was a terrible idea. When I insisted he responded dismissively, Oh you must be a type 2 fun kind of girl.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I certainly wasn’t about to admit that to him. Ichose to passionately disagree instead. When I looked it up later, it turns out, he was absolutely correct. I am a type 2 fun kind of girl. This refers to someone who does things that are not enjoyable in the moment. In retrospect however, the experience is remembered by the individual fondly and seems worth repeating or replicating. This is as opposed to type 1 fun, or just “fun” for normal people. This refers to something that is enjoyable both in the moment and in retrospect.
I’ve written about my love of hiking and exploring mountains specifically before. Maybe it is because I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. I spent even my earliest years teetering behind my dad through the likes of Yosemite Valley and Mt Shasta. Whatever the reason, nothing soothes my soul quite like walking up a steep ass mountain. And what is more, this is for no other reason than to look back and say that I did it.
What is unfortunate is that this guy is going around discouraging people from doing something that is truly a worthy bucket list item. And the reason he was miserable was due to his own poor planning. He hiked up Mt Fuji all night, in the dark, without a guide. He waited to see the sunrise, didn’t, and then hiked back down the same day. No wonder he tried to shut me down. That sounds awful and is quite likely the worst possible way to do this hike. Do not do what this guy did. Do what I did.
I went during the last week of the season. It was cold but bearable. There were crowds but they were nothing compared to what they usually are in August. I booked a two-day group tour through Fuji Mountain Guides. This is the more traditional way to summit the mountain. You climb most of Mt Fuji on the first day and stay the night at a rustic mountain hut. You then summit the mountain to view the sunrise on the second day of the trip.
I was delighted when my good friend and a fellow mountain climbing enthusiast Brittany agreed to join me on yet another adventure together. One of the many things that Japan is known for is being punctual. One of the many things that I am known for is being late. We did not want to get left behind. we arrived at the meetup point a solid 30 minutes early for the 6:45 am departure. I thought we would be the only ones there, arriving maybe even before the guide. I was shocked to discover not only was the guide there, but a dozen or so people had already gathered. So this is how the other, organized half live, I thought.
We boarded a bus headed through the seemingly endless suburbs of Tokyo towards the base of Mt Fuji. While en route we were cautioned sternly. Any trash we brought up with us would need to be carried with us back down the mountain. Anything we needed to buy from the mountain huts was going to be expensive. We stopped for snacks and water and I picked mostly all the wrong things. I was feeling adventurous and tried new snacks that ended up being useless. Like an entire packet of inedibly sour pickled plums, for example.
We began our climb at the Fuji Subaru Line 5th station, about halfway up the mountain. The forest covering quickly gave way to volcanic rock and the ascent remained steep the entire time. In preparation for the trip, I had read that the best way to train for Mt Fuji is using a stair stepper. I told myself during the months and weeks leading up to the trip that I would start. I did not use a stair stepper even one time.
We spent about 7 hours hiking up switchbacks on the first day. We would stop at every hut we came across on the way up to eat something or drink some tea. I bought a walking stick that was branded with a unique stamp at each hut as a souvenir.
The hike was brutal but I fortunately didn’t get altitude sickness despite my lack of training for the trip. We arrived at our accommodations for the night, a rustic mountain hut at the 8th station. This hut is situated 3,100 meters/10,000 feet above sea level. We watched the shadow of Mt Fuji creep across Tokyo below and ate the worst beef curry of my life. After dinner we were at eye level with a slowly gathering storm. We watched lightning in its infancy as it flickered inside a group of dark clouds.
After the sun went down it was too cold to stay outside. Longing for a hot shower, I settled for the wet wipes I had brought with me instead. I hauled myself onto the top bunk I had been designated in my signature ungainly fashion. I then tried unsuccessfully to Tetris myself and my pack into what is considered a reasonable space for one person in Japan. We had a 3 am start the next day to catch the sunrise at the summit. Despite being shoulder to shoulder with other smelly, snoring travelers, I slept blissfully through the night. I learned the next morning that a rat getting had snuck into the hut. This interloper then incited a total panic among the habitants of the lower bunk.
The guides woke us up and we all trekked out into the dark. We were delayed by some rain but made it to the summit after another 2 hours or so. This was the steepest hiking we had done yet. Our guides took us on a side trail, avoiding the main path. It was packed with people, forming a solid line of headlamps in the dark.
Nothing is guaranteed of course, especially when it comes to nature. But still, I couldn’t help but hope for a clear view of the sunrise. The weather at the top of Mt Fuji is alpine conditions, meaning that the weather can change very quickly. As we were hiking up and the sky began to lighten, we had some good, clear views. By the time we got to the top, it was completely cloudy again. I was worried we wouldn’t see anything. But then suddenly everyone gasped and stood in their tracks. The sun broke through the clouds completely, treating us to a brilliant and glorious sunrise.
It took us about 9 hours to reach the summit of Mt Fuji. We were able to speed back down to the 5th station in 3 hours. For the next several days Brittany and I could barely walk. We were made acutely aware of this fact as we got off the bus to continue our journey to Kyoto. As usual, we were running late again.
We began to sprint up the stairs to the station to catch our train. We were both stopped in our tracks just a few steps in by the burning in our legs. It happened in such a wildly synchronized fashion it would be hard for an onlooker to believe that we had not choreographed it ourselves. We stood there, bent over on the steps, laughing and unbelieving that our bodies could fail us so completely. We hobbled as diligently as we could the rest of the way to the platform. Somehow, we made it onboard the ever-punctual Japanese rail system and onwards towards our next adventure.
Travel Tips // Dos & Don’ts to hike Mt Fuji
- Do hire a guide, and book early! Tours will sell out. There aren’t a ton of English-speaking options that I could find. A lot of business closed during the pandemic. I was really happy with Fuji Mountain Guides.
- Do train on a stair stepper or be prepared to suffer the consequences. The best case is sore legs and the worst case is altitude sickness otherwise.
- Do bring coins. You will need coins to use the bathrooms. Also bring cash to buy water and food as you go up the mountain.
- Do take extra snacks and water. Even though you have to carry the trash it is too expensive to buy everything at the mountain huts. It is also not the best quality. I recommend bringing a small sturdy trash bag with you. Store it on the outside of your pack. That way it doesn’t take up space and everything else will be kept clean. The general rule of thumb is that the food gets worse the higher up on the mountain that you go.
- Do buy the wooden stick and get it branded as you go. Such a unique memento of your trip!
- Don’t go in August. Avoid visiting during the peak tourist season and especially the Japanese holiday Mountain Day, August 11th. The climbing season is short, from early July to early September. This is when trails are open, mountain huts are operating and the weather is relatively mild.
- Don’t hike the rim trail. Hiking the rim isn’t worth it in my opinion, unless you get there very early or are staying an extra night. That way you can wait for the crowd to thin out after sunrise.
Happy hiking out there, regardless of which type of fun you enjoy!
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